Lynne, funny story, I had a client in an electric wheelchair. Every time one of the staff had their back turned working with someone else she would run them down. In the end we had a mainenence man tinker with her chair and make it so that it just wasn't so darn silent. It at least gave the staff a chance to duck and cover when they heard her coming! ;)

Anyone notice that the repeated pattern is similar to the entrance door to the ward?

One thing to remember is that for people with Mental Retardation, developmental disabilities or many mental illnesses, the institutional life could be very comfortable.

Now, I don't mean comfortable in the down comforter and feather bead sense of the word, but things in the institution are stable and unchanging. Meals are served on time at the same time. Everything is done on a routine and therefore there are no surprises, nothing unexpected. When you are MR/DD or have certain mental disorders changes and surprises can be down right intimidating if not plain frightening.

Moving out of a place like this after years or decades would be like being suddenly dropped in a foreign country. That was what I did. I worked in transitional facilities for Mentally Retarded multiply diagnossed former institutional "inmates." My clients' biggest fears were not communal showers or bed checks, but living in a world where life does not happen the same way every day.

Definitely a sitz bath, part of hydrotherapy.