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p>It sure seems that the DMR has just given us the initial push back down that slippery slope to 30+ years ago.  When civil rights, the right to choose, and quality of life were foreign concepts where the care and treatment of the mentally retarded were concerned.

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p>Given the womens age I can only hope that her remaining days are not filled with the same fear and terror of her youth.

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p>  

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p> My brother lives on the men’s side in they same cottage, and has been at Fernald since 3 years old – He just turned 61…

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p> They also mis-represented a trip to him with a re-location
attempt without his knowledge to the Templeton colony during his adolescence -

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p> It traumatized him so severely – he still to this day will not leave his residence willingly for fear he will not return to his home!

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p> Decades of psychiatric effort has been applied to “undo” his “phobic tendencies”.

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p> These mentally challenged, forever children, rely on familiar staff, familiar routine, familiar surroundings to stay balanced -

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p> Transfer trauma is real for this group of residents still at Fernald -

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p> For corporate guardians, linked to the organizations who will clearly benefit most from the privatization of service contracts if this facility is eliminated, as they continue to represent otherwise with their well financed mis-information campaigns – to insist that these “relocations” are in the resident’s “best” interest — is obscene!!!

For the severely mentally retarded, such a loss of familiar surroundings and most importantly people, could have devastating effects that unravel years of positive, non-abusive behavior…Change for most of us comes at a cost, for the most vulnerable, the slightest change can have dramatic and permanent consequences.

Unfortunately, it doesn't appear GBARC, this woman's guardian, read Sullivan's report.

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p>All of a sudden, when she is so old, they find that she really wants to be in a different place, with nonverbal housemates and unfamiliar staff???

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p>This is poor guardianship. No one 97 at any mental status wants to move from their longtime home and away from familiar companions. While the Bedford home is new and probably very well equipped and accessable, and the staff are caring and good and well trained, this is not a move in the ward’s interest.

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p>This is politics, and the timing is revealing.

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p>Moe

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p>(Disclosure: I am a consultant to COFAR, a coalition which includes the Fernald League.)  

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p>The Governor better hope that there was no collusion between the “bought and paid for” guardian and his administration.  

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p>The Governor should start answering questions as to why he cut the DMR line items, which serve the weakest and most diabled among us…while people are applauding the billion bucks for the bio-tech industry.

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p>I guess anyone would be hard-pressed to come up with a plausible explanation for moving this person at this stage of her life.

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p>I might even consider the DMRs explanation had a shred of validity if it at least contained ONE NEW WORD rather that the standard answer to any question “….part of a national trend to move individuals…..blah, blah, blah.”

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p>To move this person, it was snowing and raining that day, under the guise of doing something enjoyable–going out for coffee–with no idea she would not be returning to home of 50 years–CRUEL and INHUMANE are the only words that come to my mind.

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p>I too would like to know how these people sleep at night.