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#intellectualdisabilities

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'The Effect of Choice Making Opportunities and Supporting Positive Behavior Strategies in Self-Advocacy among Students with Intellectual Disabilities' - a new article from the Journal of #EducationalSciences (JES) on #ScienceOpen:

📚 scienceopen.com/document?vid=5

ScienceOpenThe Effect of Choice Making Opportunities and Supporting Positive Behavior Strategies in Self-Advocacy among Students with Intellectual Disabilities <span class="so-article-trans-title" dir="auto"> Translated title: فاعليةُ استراتيجيَتَي (إعطاءُ فُرصِ الاختيار) و(دعمُ السُلوكِ الإيجابي) في انتصارِ الطُلاب ذوي الإعاقةِ العقليةِ لحُقوقهم </span><p xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" class="first" dir="auto" id="d19307416e39">The study aimed at identifying the effect of choice making provision strategies in self-advocacy among students with intellectual disabilities from the point of view of their teachers. The sample of the study included (48) teachers who teach in government institution for students with intellectual disabilities in Al-Ahsa. The researcher used the quasi-experimental design for pre and post measurements for one group, and applied the two measurements for opportunities of choice and self-advocacy of students with intellectual disabilities in the first baseline stage. Then, the teachers were trained on the strategy of choice making opportunities provision and support for positive behavior. Finally, there was a follow-up baseline stage. The averages of the pre and post measurements of the study sample were calculated using the Independent sample T test and the one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results of the study indicated that there were statistically significant differences between the pre and post measurements in the strategy of choice opportunities for teachers of students with intellectual disabilities, and there were statistically significant differences among teachers of students with intellectual disabilities in self-advocacy of their students with intellectual disabilities. The arithmetic mean reached the level of significance with regard to the teacher's experience variable and the teacher's access to training in the field, while it was found that there were no statistically significant differences between the dimensional measurements in the strategy of providing choice opportunities according to the level of severity of the students' disability. </p><p xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" class="first" dir="auto" id="d19307416e42">هَدفت الدراسةُ إلى التعرف على فاعلية استراتيجيَّتي "إعطاء فُرص الاختيار" و"دعم السلوك الإيجابي" في انتصارِ الطلاب ذوي الإعاقة العقلية لحقوقهم من وجهة نظر معلميهم. واشتملت عينة الدراسة على (48) معلمًا يُدرِّسون في مَعاهد الطلاب ذوي الإعاقة العقلية في الأحساءِ، واستخدم الباحث المنهج شبهَ التجريبي للقياسيْن القبلي والبعدي لمجموعة واحدة، وطبَّق مقياسَ إعطاء فُرص الاختيار ومقياس انتصار الطلاب ذوي الإعاقة العقلية لحقوقهم في مرحلة الخطِّ القاعدي الأول، وتدريب المعلمِ على استراتيجية إعطاء فُرص الاختيار ودعم السلوك الإيجابي، ثم مرحلة الخط القاعدي التالية. وحُسِبت متوسطات القياسات القبلية والبعدية لعينة الدراسة، واستُخدِم اختبار Independent sample T Test واختبار تحليل التبايُن الأحادي ANOVA. وأشارت نتائجُ الدراسة إلى وجود فروق دالة إحصائيًا بين القياسيْن القبلي والبعدي في استراتيجية إعطاء فُرص الاختيار لدى معلمي الطلاب ذوي الاعاقة العقلية، ووجودِ فروق دالة إحصائيًا لدى معلمي الطلاب ذوي الإعاقة العقلية في انتصار الطلاب ذوي الإعاقة العقلية لحقوقهم. وبلغت المتوسطاتُ الحسابية مستوى الدلالة فيما يتعلق بمتغير خبرة المعلم، ومتغير حصول المعلم على التدريب في المجال، في حين تبيَّن عدم وجود فروق دالة إحصائيًا بين القياسات البعدية في إعطاء فرص الاختيار وفقًا لمستوى شدة إعاقة الطلاب. </p>

Echoes of IDD abuses around the world. People with #intellectualdisabilities are so vulnerable. The good news in this report is that the BBC is helping to expose the mocking and bullying...

"An undercover reporter spent almost 7 weeks at Life Wirral in Wallasey & witnessed staff using offensive language to mock pupils for their neurodiversity or learning disabilities, as well as manhandling them into dangerous headlocks."

bbc.com/news/articles/cp6643jd

www.bbc.comChildren mocked and bullied by staff at special needs schoolOne staff member was recorded saying he wanted to drown a pupil “like a kitten” - Panorama undercover.

How did we protect my sister Teresa's Rights and help her regain control of her life when she was wrongly put into a nursing home?

Join us & Community Living Ontario for a Zoom webinar on May 23:
- Stephanie Dickson (Partner, PooranLaw),
- Franke James and Teresa Heartchild (Authors of Freeing Teresa: A True Story about My Sister and Me),
- Nicole Flynn (President, Council of CLO)

Thursday, May 23, 2024, 12:00 to 1:30 pm EDT:
bit.ly/ProtectingRightsandIncr #downsyndrome #intellectualdisabilities

When bus driver Hue Sze Wei found out that service 173 that he operates will have a #bus featuring #artwork by #students with #IntellectualDisabilities, the 41-year-old was happy to hop on board with the initiative.

He is no stranger to the invasive stares & rude remarks that members of public sometimes have for those with intellectual #disabilities, as he has a son who attended a kindergarten for autistic children.

channelnewsasia.com/singapore/

CNA‘No need to be harsh’: Public buses feature artwork by students with intellectual disabilities to fight stigmaThe two buses are operated by Tower Transit on service 173 and service 859.
Continued thread

"Many people with disabilities face stigma, prejudice and discrimination because of their disability... a general pattern was for #MentalHealth conditions, #IntellectualDisabilities and #autism to be judged more negatively than #PhysicalDisability or #SensoryDisability, despite everything else in the scenario being the same. #PhysicallyDisabled #women are judged more negatively than physically disabled #men with respect to having #relationships."

esri.ie/publications/degree-of

ESRI · Degree of “ableism” depends on disability, gender and the social contextThis Bulletin summaries the findings from: Timmons, S., McGinnity, F., & Carroll, E. (2023). Ableism differs by disability, gender and social context: Evidence from vignette experiments. British Journal of Social Psychology. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1111/bjso.12696 Introduction Many people with disabilities face stigma, prejudice and discrimination because of their disability. Some may experience higher levels of this “ableism” due to negative stereotypes of the type of disability they have or because of other characteristics, such as their gender. Our aim was to test whether the public judge potential forms of discrimination differently depending on an individual’s disability and gender. We were interested in judgements of potential discrimination towards a disabled person and judgements of how people with disabilities behave. Data and Methods A nationally representative sample of 2,000 adults took part in the experimental study online. They read short descriptions of different social scenarios relevant for people with disabilities: a job candidate failing to secure a role; a single parent starting a new relationship; a welfare recipient refusing poorly paid work; a schoolchild being placed on a reduced timetable; and a community resident protesting against people with disabilities being housed in their neighbourhood. The study used an experimental design and participants were randomised to read one of three different versions of each scenario. The descriptions varied by three factors: whether the individual had a disability, the type of disability (e.g., a physical disability or a mental health condition) and their gender. Participants rated how acceptable the action in each scenario was. Although no scenario described an explicit form of discrimination, the logic was that using an experimental design allows any differences in judgements between types of disabilities (or gender) to be attributed to differences in how people perceive the disability in question; judging the same action to be more or less acceptable for someone with a disability than without is a signal for ableist attitudes. At the end of the study, participants reported whether they have a family member, friend or colleague who has a disability, in addition to socio-demographic characteristics like their age, gender and level of educational attainment.   Results The findings show broadly positive attitudes towards people with disability. However, the degree of ableism depended on the scenario and the type of disability. Despite everything else being equal, participants judged it to be more acceptable to restrict the school timetable of a child with autism than one with a speech and language disorder and to not hire a candidate with an anxiety disorder than a candidate with a spinal disorder. They also judged it more acceptable to protest housing former mental health patients in a community than former patients with intellectual disabilities. Gender also mattered for some judgements. Participants judged it to be much more acceptable for a male wheelchair user to start a new relationship than a female wheelchair user, but there was no gender difference when the individual had an intellectual disability. Participants judged it equally acceptable for welfare recipients to refuse poorly paid work, regardless of whether they had a disability. Across all scenarios, participants who reported being close to someone with a disability (e.g., their parent, child or partner) were less include to make ableist judgements, suggesting that being familiar with disabled people and the challenges they face may reduce ableism. Conclusions The findings imply that negative stereotypes of some disabilities may be lead to higher levels of ableist judgements. Although there are differences across the type of disabilities used in the study, a general pattern was for mental health conditions,  intellectual disabilities and autism to be judged more negatively than physical or sensory disabilities, despite everything else in the scenario being the same. The finding that physically disabled women are judged more negatively than physically disabled men with respect to having relationships implies that other characteristics of individuals with disability may exacerbate the challenges they face. The results highlight the need for the further research on the forms ableism can take and to identify groups most at risk. The link between being close to someone with a disability and more positive judgements suggests that increasing the inclusion of disabled people in communities may help to combat ableism.  

"An #ESRI survey of 2,000 adults showed higher levels of #ableism towards #MentalHealth conditions, #Intellectualdisabilities #ID and #autism than physical or sensory disabilities...
While they judged potential #prejudice against #DisabledPeople as unacceptable, they viewed it as more acceptable, for example, to reduce the school hours of a child with #autism than a child with a speech and language disorder."
#discrimination #autistic #Ireland

rte.ie/news/ireland/2024/0123/

People with #disabilities have long struggled to access quality #healthcare and research shows that many physicians are ill-equipped to care for this population in the same way as others. disabilityscoop.com/2023/12/15

As a result of the hardships faced, the National Institutes of Health agreed in September to designate people with disabilities as a health disparity population.
#WomenWithDisabilities #WomensHealth #WomensMentalHealth #IntellectualDisabilities #DisabilityPolicy #accessibility

People with #disabilities have long struggled to access quality #healthcare and research shows that many physicians are ill-equipped to care for this population in the same way as others. disabilityscoop.com/2023/12/15

As a result of the hardships faced, the National Institutes of Health agreed in September to designate people with disabilities as a health disparity population.
#WomenWithDisabilities #WomensHealth #WomensMentalHealth #IntellectualDisabilities #DisabilityPolicy #accessibility

After Tackling ‘R-Word,’ Disability Group Seeks To Erase Stigma Associated With ‘Special’

"With a new campaign, #Special Olympics wants to take back the word “special” and other language that they say has been turned against people with #disabilities.

The international sports org for people with #intellectualdisabilities is rolling out the effort dubbed “Yeah, I am Special” with a pair of NYC billboards and a video voiced by ESPN's Stephen A. Smith"

disabilityscoop.com/2023/12/11 #downsyndrome

Disability Scoop · After Tackling 'R-Word,' Disability Group Seeks To Erase Stigma Associated With 'Special'With a new campaign, Special Olympics wants to take back the word "special" and other language that they say has been turned against people with disabilities.

Anger in #Japan as report reveals children were forcibly sterilised

“The report noted that #sterilisation under the now defunct #eugenics law – which allowed authorities to carry out the procedure on people with #intellectualdisabilities, mental illness or hereditary #disorders to prevent the birth of “inferior” children…”

“The report did not reveal why the law was created, why it took 48 years to amend it or why the victims were never compensated,” Niisato said.” theguardian.com/world/2023/jun

The GuardianAnger in Japan as report reveals children were forcibly sterilisedBy Justin McCurry

International Women’s Day Hero of Invisible Disability Rights – Elaine Wilson:

In celebration of International Women's Day, OutOfExile_IDR honors Elaine Wilson, champion of invisible disability rights and the Olmstead Act.  It seems germane, as March is also Developmental Disabilities Month.

During Martin Luther King week, I posted about Lois Curtis, a champion for Invisible Disability Rights (link below).  Lois, togather with another woman, Elaine Wilson, fought all the way to the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) for the right to live in the community, rather than being institutionalized.  Fighting courageously for their freedom, they won the right to freedom for all people with invisible disabilities.  The case is often refered to as the “Brown v. Board of Education” for people with (Invisible) disabilities.

Excerpt below & image of Elaine from:
olmsteadrights.org/iamolmstead

[“Elaine Wilson became seriously ill when she was one years old. She was hospitalized with a raging fever and it was unclear whether she would survive... When the fever finally broke and Elaine was …sent home, ….Elaine had lost some of her early motor function abilities, such as crawling or even sitting up by herself. The doctors assured Elaine's mother that (it) was only a lingering effect of the illness…. Elaine eventually did recover, but very slowly”.[]

In school, Elaine lagged behind other students having difficulties with focus and learning , eventually being diagnosed with an Acquired Brain Injury (ABI) attributed to the prolonged high fever as an infant.  Likley, this was the correct diagnosis.

She was reevaluated as a teen upon enrollment at “Gracewood State School and Hospitol” in Georgia.  There, she was diagnosed with an ableist slur containing the “R" word, once used in reference to PEOPLE living with Down Syndrome. Providers believed the only recourse was institutionalization. (I am bitting my tongue and holding back my opinions on the lot of it.)

She would spend about a decade living in institutions (State hospitals) against her will.  Following that, in the 1980s, she would be “ping-ponged" from care homes to hospitals, back and forth for nearly two decades of her life.

“When I was in an institution, I didn't like myself," Elaine says. "I was trapped. . . . I had no hope. I thought, Oh God, Oh God - When am I ever going to leave here?"

Another hero deserving mention on IWD is Sue Jamieson, the Atlanta Legal Aid Society Attorney who brought the case.  Sue and Lois Curtis were joined by co-plaintiff Elaine Wilson, to blaze the path of freedom for countless individuals with disabilities in their wake.

After more than 30 years and 36 psychiatric institutions, at times living homeless and in varous “care homes", Elaine along with Lois Curtis, was victorious and finally free.

The 1997 ruling by Senior U.S. District Judge Marvin H. Shoob said that “… denying the women a community-based life amounted to segregation of people covered by the Americans With Disabilities Act.” Judge Shoob later remarked “They were both so articulate” in regard to the testimony of Elaine Wilson and Lois Curitis.

Elaine passed in 2004 at the age of 53 but, will be forever remembered as a Disability Rights Legend for her resilience, strength and courage.  As part of her testimony, she told the court: “When I was in an institution, I felt like I was in a little box and there was no way out”.

Thanks to Elaine Wilson and Lois Curtis, people with invisible disabilities are afforded the right to live in freedom at home, instead of confinement in a “box", cage or institution, merely because of a health issue.  Thanks and honor to Elaine, Lois and Sue on this International Women’s Day.

“The Brave and the Strong” Lois Curitis – OutOfExile_IDR:
kolektiva.social/@OutOfExile_I

Elaine’s story continued:
olmsteadrights.org/iamolmstead

More on Olmstead and Elaine’s impact:
olmsteadrights.wordpress.com/t

More from disabilityjustice.org:
disabilityjustice.org/olmstead

ADA – Community Intergration for Everyone:
archive.ada.gov/olmstead/olmst

International Women’s Day Image from:
desicomments.com/womens-day/in

IMAGE CW - (eye contact)
Don't forget the ALT text.

#InternationalWomensDay #ElaineWilson #LoisCurtis #Hero #OlmsteadAct #SueJamieson #SCOTUS #freedom #home #gratitude #CommunityIntergration #DevelopmentalDisabilities #IntellectualDisabilities #BrainInjury #TBI #ABI #AcquiredBrainInjury #MentalHealth #disability #InvisibleDisabilityRights #Hero #DisabilityJustice #EmbraceEquity

@disabilityjustice
@disability

Student with Downs Syndrome Excluded:

A post by @JDS linked an article about an Alabama elementary school girls basketball team that won the championship in a boys league.  Despite defeating all the boys teams they faced enroute to the top, the league refused to award the trophy to the girls team.  As if this example of “exclusion by bigotry” was not enough to get the juices flowing, the article linked another #disability related story that I couldn’t pass up.  So much for easing back into it.

Morgyn Arnold, who lives with down syndrome, worked as the manager of her Junior high school’s cheerleading team. The cheer team at Shoreline Junior High School in Layton, Utah, chose to take two team photos; one with Morgyn and one without.  The photo excluding her is the one used on social media and printed in the yearbook.  Her name was not even mentioned as part of the team.  Despite all of her “hard work and dedication to the team”, she was excluded .

 According to a relative of Morgyn's,  this “was the second time in three years” that she had “been left out of the yearbook” and had been left off the class list of students by the school in the past.  The school issued a statement on social media that was later deleted.  Is that the “swooshing" of brooms I hear?

I personally have had a similar taste of this elixir of exclusion during my time broadcasting for one university hockey team.  Among the numerous discriminatory and ableist acts I experienced, I too was never mentioned or thanked in anyway by that team.  I felt as if I was a dirty secret or that the team that raved about my broadcasts, was ashamed of me. 

The big difference? Down Syndrome is not one of my disabilities and I was not 14 years old like Morgyn.  Even with my experience, I can’t imagine how she must have felt being subjected to these patronizing, demeaning and deplorable ableist acts of exclusion.

In the mind of the offenders, exclusion, discrimination and bigotry doesn’t have to make sense.  Oftentimes, they assume the people living with invisible, developmental or intellectual disabilities to be clueless or lacking reason and intelligence.  In actuality, this type of behavior and “stigmatude” suggests that perpetrators may be lacking in some of these areas.

For this blatant act of ableism and oblivion to inclusion, Community Intergration and equality I have no cheers, only jeers.
“HIP HIP! Shame on you.”

OutOfExile_IDR #InvisibleDisabilityRights

Link to the article and photos: ibtimes.sg/utah-school-under-f

#EndAbleism #EndBigotry #InvisibleDisabilities #IntellectualDisabilities #DevelopmentalDisabilities #DownSyndrome #CommunityIntergration #inclusion #equality #stigmatude

@disabilityjustice @disability

Worth reading: Mental Age Theory Hurts: Every adult has the right to grow up. -
By Ivanova Smith
"Have you ever heard the phrase, “That person has the mind of a five-year-old in an adult body?” We often hear the term “mental age of” when medical professionals or news media describe adults with intellectual and developmental #disabilities (#IDD). It is something very harmful that many adults with #intellectualdisabilities have to deal with." spectrumlife.org/blog/mental-a #MentalAgeTheory

Spectrum Life MagazineMental Age Theory HurtsMental Age Theory Hurts - Autistic and Disability Rights Advocate Ivanova Smith explains how mental age theory harms adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Every adult should have the right to grow up.

I've been looking for new #books on #neurodiversity and #disability to request or donate to my local library. I've got tons of books on ADHD and autism to go through now, and a few on dyspraxia, but we need more...well...diversity!

Can anyone recommend books on these topics? Preferably new (2021-2023) and written by neurodivergent authours, but all suggestions are welcome. Looking for queer and BIPOC authours, especially. Thanks!

#BPD
#OCD
#OCPD
#Tourettes
#FASD
#Dyspraxia
#Dyslexia
#Dysgraphia
#Dyscalculia
#LearningDisabilities
#IntellectualDisabilities
#PhysicalDisabilities
#MentalIllness
#Trauma
#CPTSD

#ActuallyAutistic #Bookstodon #Fiction #NonFiction #Libraries #Literature #ChildrensLiterature #KidLit

Edited to add a few tags. Kids books and fiction books with ND, disabled, queer, or otherwise marginalized protagonists are welcome, too!

A social experiment.
👇 👇
The results are in and somewhat sad.

I did a social experiment last night: "Rolos vs IDR - Invisible Disability Rights."

I posted two pieces and the above "social experiment" toot simultaneously so they would appear on the timeline together. Links to both are below.

The score was:
Rolos 9 - IDR 1

The response for Rolo included favoring, boosting and two comments from the same Mastodonian that seemed to want to give a lesson on geometry in reference to the shape of Rolos.

Only one responce for IDR, a single boost. Thanks Jack. :solidarity:

Social change comes with support from all, abled and disabled individuals alike. As long as candy takes precedence over the abuse, mistreatment, exclusion and inequality of human beings, the future looks bleak for persons with invisible disabilities. Experiment failure.

Invisible Disability Rights are #HumanRights and #DisabilityIsDiversity

Heinous abuse of people with invisible disabilities by humanity (cw):
kolektiva.social/@OutOfExile_I

Rolos candy:
kolektiva.social/@OutOfExile_I

#equality #change #amplify #inclusion #support #listen #EndBigotry #EndAbleism #disability #MentalHealth #DevelopmentalDisabilities #IntellectualDisabilities #TBI
#DisabilitySolidarity #Love4All #DisabilityCommunity #InvisibleDisabilityRights #Legend #LoisCurtis #ElaineWilson #OlmsteadDecision #heros

@autisticadvocacy @disabilityjustice @disability

Image courtesy of psu.com

Replied in thread

@MarkRuffalo

Click here 🧠 to expand.
Your wisdom and opinions here are greatly appreciated. The oppression of POC was, and is an ongoing plague on society. MLK and his wisdoms have always inspired and fueled my fight for Invisible Disability Rights (IDR) as well.

To paraphrase your statement, I feel it is equally important to:
"listen to the (disabled) community, uplift their voices, celebrate their achievements, and lend support in the ongoing fight for (disability) justice and equality.

Below are two articles. One about oppression and one about a great achievement from a black woman who is a hero to people with invisible disabilities. Lois Curtis' landmark SCOTUS case is touted as the "Brown vs Board Education" for persons with invisible disabilities yet, so few know who she is and fail to honor her for what she did.

Two of my favorites from MLK:

 “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.”
― Martin Luther King Jr.

  He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it,” King said. “He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it. - Martin Luther King Jr.

Oppression:
kolektiva.social/@OutOfExile_I

Achievement of Lois Curtis:
kolektiva.social/@OutOfExile_I

#equality #change #amplify #inclusion #support #listen #BLM #EndBigotry #EndAbleism #disability #MentalHealth #DevelopmentalDisabilities #IntellectualDisabilities #TBI
#DisabilitySolidarity #Love4All #DisabilityCommunity #InvisibleDisabilityRights #Legend #LoisCurtis #MLK #ElaineWilson #OlmsteadDecision #JohnLewis MartinLutherKingJr #heros

@disabilityjustice @disability @actuallyautistic

kolektiva.socialOutOfExile_IDR § Voice ®™️ (@OutOfExile_IDR_Voice@kolektiva.social)Attached: 1 image "Ridge Home for Mental Defectives" [⚠️ CW: Historically, the treatment of people with invisible disabilities by institutions, policies and society, has often been inhumane. Examples cited in this piece, though not gory, may be unsettling to some.] "Ridge Home for Mental Defectives – Are You a Mental Defective?": Do I belong in a cage because I have invisible disabilities (IDs)? Should I be abused under the guise of “caretaking" that I do not require?  Should I be jailed, even if I did not commit a crime, soley because I live with #TBI, am #ActuallyAutistic and have other #InvisibleDisabilities. Do I belong locked away from sunshine and society? Am I mentally incompetent or a “Mental Defective”? That’s exactly what so many others with invisible disabilities were categorized as, and subjected to, in a part of Colorado's dark history. “The Ridge State Home and Training Center for Mental Defectives ”, and some state laws that still existed in just the last decade, are only two examples of some of the barbaric practices.  Some of the articles linked below even demonstrate #stigmatude with use of words like “inmates" and the mental “R" slur.  People with downs syndrome are not the “R" word and those with invisible disabilities and mental health chalenges, are not defectictives. Did you know, if you were having a mental health crisis, that you could be jailed in Colorado if there was no room in medical facilities?  That law was recently changed and funding from cannabis tax revenues was redirected for that purpose but, in some places, it still occurs.  Colorado law gives officials 28 days to get people with such experience proper treatment and placement but, in some cases people with invisible disabilities spent six months incarcerated without even an evaluation.  Is it any wonder that many do not want to ask for help? So, what about the home for “Mental Defectives ”? My blood boils and I cringe everytime I hear that name… “Mental Defective", as if we are a broken toy or a factory second.  We are people with health issues just like someone with cancer or diabetes.  What if your loved one was locked away because they had #covid? In 1909, Colorado chose 310 acres just west of Arvada to establish the “Ridge State Home and Training Center for Mental Defectives”.  The wording in the “Golden History” link below refers to residents as “inmates" and cites the first such “inmate” arrived in July, 1912. By 1936, the Ridge Home’s capacity of 300 was already at 260 people with IDs, many of which, were “exiled” and abandoned by their own families. I will surely expend my generous character limit if I give all of my thoughts, so I will give just a few of the low-lights. The 1937 newspaper headline in the image below claimed that “Everyone”s Happy at Ridge Home for Mental Defectives".  This propaganda is easily refuted by many accounts of actual occurrences at Colorado’s “prison” for people with ID and Mental Illnesses. Aside from residents being forced to work on the “Ridge farm”, other abuses and atrocities were common.  One employee was charged with crimes of abuse against multiple residents after he bragged about his deplorable actions to friends.  The only means of release was by transfer to relative’s homes, to the so called “asylum” in Pueblo or death. In the 1940s, the facility practiced “forced sterilization” of people with invisible disabilities, which some feel was a  attempt at a form of genocide. In the 50s, stories of underfunding, overcrowding and abuse began to surface.  One administrator was quoted in a news article saying that many held captive in “Ridge” were “much too competent” to be in the home but, laws and family abandonment kept them there. In the 1970s, fire safety issues, cracked walls and foundation caused part of the facility to be closed by order of the state. There were no proper fire exit routes, and not even a single fire escape.  In the 80s reports of neglect allegedly due to funding and staffing problems came to light. As recently as the 1980s, “time outs” for those with behavioral issues resulted in some being put in cages.  One report cites a child was caged for nine month with only a bucket and a mattress. Others were said to be packed in wet sheets and ice for acting up.  Does that sound like treatment that will improve mental health, or torture that would make matters worse? From Denver ABC 7: “They were so mistreated. It just wasn’t right,” said Rhonda Sherill, who said she worked at Ridge in the 1980s. “Some of them would be put in what they call time out, which was basically a cage they would put him in until they weren’t combative.” Eventually, this “section of hell" disguised as a medical facility was closed and sat abandon for years. Now, mostly demolished, “Ridge Home and Training Center for Mental Defectives” is the site of apartments and shops. I personally would rather be homeless and not shop than to step one foot on those grounds. One can only imagine the horrors that these individuals must have lived but, one thing is apparent: Everyone was not happy at "Ridge Home for Mental Defectives." Sadly, despite these changes, there is still much work to be done in bringing people living with invisible disabilities and mental illness “out of exile". OutOfExile_IDR © 2022 https://www.denver7.com/news/local-news/memories-remain-of-abandoned-state-hospital-that-spawned-eerie-stories https://history.denverlibrary.org/news/spooky-history-arvadas-ridge-home https://disabilitylawco.org/mental-illness-protection-and-advocacy-program https://www.mentalhealthcolorado.org/colorado-jails-wont-used-hold-mentally-ill/ https://www.asylumprojects.org/index.php?title=State_Home_and_Training_School_for_Mental_Defectives Golden History - 303-278-3557:   https://www.goldenhistory.org/places/ridge-home/ Pictures: http://www.coloradoaerialphoto.com/pow.cgi?POW_ID=63 #stigmatude #MentalHealth #MedicalIndustry #abuse #advocacy #disabilities #InvisibleDisability #colorado #InvisibleDisabilityRights #evil #DarkHistory #DownSyndrome #MentalDefectives #BrainInjury #HashtagsNobodyWillEverSearch