They are perhaps our most vulnerable citizens. We refer to them as developmentally disabled, today. We used to refer to them as mentally retarded. Whatever the name, they deserve better. Trial over the so-called fight club at Corpus Christi State School has started. Developmentally disabled function at many different levels. Some can live quite independently. Others, must rely on places like our state school system. But, all deserve better than what they got at Corpus Christi State School.
My previous employer, Advocacy, Inc. is charged with overseeing state schools and other mental institutions. As Beth Mitchell mentions in this story, the larger concern is that administrators had to have had some idea of what was going on. What, if anything, did they do about the fight club? Why did it take news reports for them to finally take some action? For more information regarding the state wide problem, see Advocacy’s report.
I visited San Antonio State School many times. SASS residents are developmentally disabled. I found many of the administrators to be concerned, dedicated professionals. But, we do pay the first line aids bottom dollar. State schools suffer from a high turnover. We can do better. Will we?