Anne Baber Wallis has written an op-ed piece in the local Iowa City newspaper that highlights a case of physical abuse that occurred here not so very long ago. In this case a young man with a developmental disability was physically assaulted in his group home.
These stories are legion. We have blogged about their dreadful ubiquity on this site and we shall continue to do so as long as it takes to bring about reform.
In effect, the abuse of people with disabilities and the abuses of elders or of children are “of a package” insofar as all three circumstances often involve the parings of untrained and underpaid strangers alongside people who are in need of assistance, assistance which is a complicated matter more often than not.
There have been many wake up calls in this nation over the past several years. I’d say the ringing of these bells signals a three alarm fire.
S.K.
Planet of the Blind 