Laura
10-13-2007, 10:55 PM
http://www.silive.com/news/advance/index.ssf?/base/news/1192260692310760.xml&coll=1Mental health advocates mark Willowbrook watershed
'Respect the past, never repeat it,' CSI president tells assemblage on 20th anniversary of closing
Saturday, October 13, 2007
By JUDY L. RANDALL
ADVANCE STAFF WRITER
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Saying the disabled rights movement was born in the aftermath of Willowbrook, mental health advocates gathered yesterday on the grounds of the one-time state school to officially commemorate the 20th anniversary of its closing.
"We respect the past of the grounds our campus is situated on," College of Staten Island president Dr. Tomas Morales said during a conference in the Williamson Theater, adding, "We resolve never to repeat it."
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Willowbrook State School, which came to be synonymous with the mistreatment of those with developmental disabilities, was shut by the state on Sept. 17, 1987, after media reports and parents highlighted abuses there.
While "human lives were reduced to bare existence" in buildings where teaching and learning now thrive, Dr. Morales said, the transition occasioned a "natural synergy" between all that transpired and "hope for a better future."
He spoke before a standing-room-only crowd of more than 250 people, including some who grew up in Willowbrook.
Joann Maddy said she was 3 when her parents "put me away here, where people weren't very nice, because they thought I was retarded."
"I wasn't," added Ms. Maddy, "but I do need help and understanding."
Carolyn Velez, who also grew up in Willowbrook, said she was routinely beaten with a belt and "made to walk around without clothes on."
Both women now live in community residences.
Kathleen Broderick, downstate commissioner of the state Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, said of Willowbrook: "You can't justify it. You can't rectify it. It just never should have been."
"People with disabilities," she added, "deserve to be right next to you, right in front of you; never behind you."
Willowbrook and other institutions like it, she said, were "too big, too crowded and too isolating" to allow individuals to blossom.
Echoing Dr. Morales, parent and advocate Hal Kennedy said, "Like the landmarked Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas, Willowbrook played a critical role in the civil rights movement for the developmentally disabled. It was 'ground zero,' and it needs to be recognized."
Kennedy is chairman of the landmarking committee for the Staten Island Disability Council, which is investigating landmarking a portion of the Willowbrook property.
Another speaker, Nona Brathwaite, who grew up in Willowbrook with a misdiagnosis of "mentally retarded," called it a "rough experience," adding, "I thank the Lord, He pulled me through it."
Other speakers, like parent advocates Lorraine DeSantis, who also chairs the Staten Island Developmental Disabilities Council, and Christine Cea, said the closing of Willowbrook created opportunities for community living and social integration for their children that had not been possible previously.
Judy L. Randall is a news reporter for the Advance. She may be reached at randall@siadvance.com.
'Respect the past, never repeat it,' CSI president tells assemblage on 20th anniversary of closing
Saturday, October 13, 2007
By JUDY L. RANDALL
ADVANCE STAFF WRITER
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Saying the disabled rights movement was born in the aftermath of Willowbrook, mental health advocates gathered yesterday on the grounds of the one-time state school to officially commemorate the 20th anniversary of its closing.
"We respect the past of the grounds our campus is situated on," College of Staten Island president Dr. Tomas Morales said during a conference in the Williamson Theater, adding, "We resolve never to repeat it."
Advertisement
Willowbrook State School, which came to be synonymous with the mistreatment of those with developmental disabilities, was shut by the state on Sept. 17, 1987, after media reports and parents highlighted abuses there.
While "human lives were reduced to bare existence" in buildings where teaching and learning now thrive, Dr. Morales said, the transition occasioned a "natural synergy" between all that transpired and "hope for a better future."
He spoke before a standing-room-only crowd of more than 250 people, including some who grew up in Willowbrook.
Joann Maddy said she was 3 when her parents "put me away here, where people weren't very nice, because they thought I was retarded."
"I wasn't," added Ms. Maddy, "but I do need help and understanding."
Carolyn Velez, who also grew up in Willowbrook, said she was routinely beaten with a belt and "made to walk around without clothes on."
Both women now live in community residences.
Kathleen Broderick, downstate commissioner of the state Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, said of Willowbrook: "You can't justify it. You can't rectify it. It just never should have been."
"People with disabilities," she added, "deserve to be right next to you, right in front of you; never behind you."
Willowbrook and other institutions like it, she said, were "too big, too crowded and too isolating" to allow individuals to blossom.
Echoing Dr. Morales, parent and advocate Hal Kennedy said, "Like the landmarked Little Rock Central High School in Arkansas, Willowbrook played a critical role in the civil rights movement for the developmentally disabled. It was 'ground zero,' and it needs to be recognized."
Kennedy is chairman of the landmarking committee for the Staten Island Disability Council, which is investigating landmarking a portion of the Willowbrook property.
Another speaker, Nona Brathwaite, who grew up in Willowbrook with a misdiagnosis of "mentally retarded," called it a "rough experience," adding, "I thank the Lord, He pulled me through it."
Other speakers, like parent advocates Lorraine DeSantis, who also chairs the Staten Island Developmental Disabilities Council, and Christine Cea, said the closing of Willowbrook created opportunities for community living and social integration for their children that had not been possible previously.
Judy L. Randall is a news reporter for the Advance. She may be reached at randall@siadvance.com.