40th Anniversary of "Willowbrook; The Last Great Disgrace"

[HockeyMom]

Next year will mark the anniversary of the making of this film by Geraldo Rivera. I believe we are on the verge of history repeating itself in light of: a people who have never seen this, AND a Congress more interested in serving the wants of a corporate, greedy elite.

I watched this contemporaneously in 1972 and was appalled at what I saw. When I started working with the developmentally disabled in 2004, I had to watch the entire 30 minute film as a new hire. Every year thereafter, I had to watch it again as part of my in-service. After the second year, I could no longer watch it without crying. You see, some of the "consumers" I worked with every day had been little children at the Willowbrook State School. Was that Jessie tied to his crib? Was that Sara crawling on the floor in her own filth? I didn't want to know. Each year it got harder and harder to watch this film. I do not fault those 2 or 3 staff members working in a room with 70 kids. It would be not be humanly possible to care for all those kids. Hell, it was difficult enough with a staff of 3 people and 9 in a room.

This is just a very small clip of a 30 minute video. It is very graphic, and if you don't think it can get any worse, oh yes, it does.



http://sproutflix.org/content/willowbrook-last-great-disgrace


We simply cannot let this ever happen again. Let 1972 BE the "Last Great Disgrace".