Thm gtateeimcgfc'gnledn, Oregon, gunnery Dtml)t 13, 1343-1-13
r
Many Mentally
DefidentsAr
Placed in Jobs
By Lester -Cear
SUff Writer. Tb Statesman
Jregon no longer has an insti
tution for the feeble minded in the
usual sense.
The age-old dead end, a tradi
tional place of despair and lost
hopes. Is a thing of the past. To
day the state's mentally deficient,
children and adults alike, are be
coming useful citizens at the Ore-
fon Fairview Home southeast of
alem.
Guiding the quasi-educational in
stitution one of America's best
is Dr. Irvin B. Hill, an energetic
young physician who became su
perintendent in 1946 shortly after
finishing his training.
Many Get Jebs
Dr. Hill says, and believes sin
cerely, there is no such person as
a feeble-minded one. And the doc
tor has ample proof to back his
contention. Nearly 200 employes on
his staff feel the same way.
Unknown to most Oregon tax
payers, one in every 11 persons at
the home are placed on wage earn
ing jobs each year. Since the
home's training program and place
ment service was instituted in
1932, nearly 900 mentally deficient
persons have been discharged and
l a c e a as sen-sustaining wage
placed
earners.
Dr. Hill pointed out that without
training these persons would have
remained as permanent inmates of
the home. Had they remained, the
Institution would now necessarily
be twice its present size. The pres
ent population is about 1,200- The
saving to taxpayers alone is stag-
Sering since it costs $700 annually
keep each person.
fceheeUag Available
Also unknown to most persons,
the home is equipped with a school
which offers the equivalent of a
seventh grade education. Due to
a space shortage three school rooms
and an auditorium are utilized in
one building, two in the basement
of another and the two other In
separate buildings on the grounds.
Classes are taught by 10 specially-trained
men and women under
the supervision of Mrs. L. Daye
Idleman, the principal. Pupils
range from g to 25 years old.
How do children and adults be
come inmates of Fairview? All
must be residents of Oregon for at
least six months and all are com
mitted by court orders after a hear-
sere are three definite claxsM
at the institution. Infants with or
ganic difficulties are cared for in
modem nurseries. Few of these
will ever leave the home. In the
middle group are children of grade
school age. The remainder are
adults, unable to support themsel
ves because of mental deficiencies.
Jest Like Anyone Else"
Most of the children attending
academic classes are those whose
mental limitations were noticed by
teachers of regular schools in the
first, second or third grades.'
The adults between the ages of
18 and 10 are those who found
they were unable to find suitable
employment because of limited
learning capacity. Dr- Hill pointed
out that many of these persons
were passed through grade school
and entered Fairview unable to
read or write-
"These people are just like any
one else," Dr. Hill said. "They are
able to learn, but learn slowly.
They may be slow in certain lines
but are very good in others."
Dr. Kill said there is no definite
line of demarcation dividing the
normal and more sub-normal into
separate classes. Persons with an
intelligence quotient of less than 70
are considered mentally deficient.
Two per cent of America's popu
lation falls in this class, as do the
Fairview patients.
Are Given Edaestien
The Fairview children are given
i grade school education, usually
eaving the institution or schooling
at the age of 18. They and the
adults are taught to read and write
and then prepared for life by spe
cial occupational training afforded
by the institution.
Adults men and women alike
are trained to hold jobs as farmers,
truck drivers, green housemen,
cooks, waitresses, laundry workers,
baby sitters, convalescent attend
ants, domestics and section hands.
Men are trained as farmers on
lw . - CAUSE
- ,r-, Mr
mi i mi mmMsSiiLmw
Mother, you know what won
derful relief you get when you
rub en Vicxs VapoBubl
Ham when your child waxes
up in the nlgnt tormented with
s cioupy couch of a cold, here's
special way to use Vicks
VapoRub. It's VapoBub Strnm
and it brings relief ehaotc
tuMtantljft
Put a rood spoonful of Vicxs
VapoRub in a bowl of bofttng
water or vaporizer. Then . . . lei
your child breathe in the
soothing VapoRitb Steam. Med
icated vapors penetrate deep
into cold-congested upper bron
chial tubes and.
the home's 500 acres' of surround
ing land. Dr. Hill said farming is
encouraged as a trade for patients
because the mentally deficient men
do better in; a rural environment
The institution's farm lis operated
successfully i with the j aid of 12
supervisors. ; I i
Cooks and waitresses! are trained
in the institution's kitchens,! gar
deners on the beautiful Jy-landscap-ped
grounds and laundry workers
in a new, modern laiindry-' Wo
men patients are also given a com
plete home economics pourseJ
Aided in Getting Jobs
When a patient is feady to re
enter society, the institution's
placement service is set in motion.
The service is headed by Mrs! Lil
lian L. Bristow, who fame to the
home three years ago About one
person is discharged tq a job every
nine days. , f j
After placing the graduate on a
job, Mrs. Bristow Checks each
week to determine the person's
progress. Monthly reports are mail
ed to her by employer throughout
the state. It is a fact that most
Fairview graduates mke good and
only a few return far 'additional
training. j i
Dr. Hill stressed that mentally
handicapped persons must be plac
ed on routine jobs under the place
ment service. Since their learning
capacity is impaired, they must be
employed where the jobs do not
require additional daily learning.
Fairview graduates have an out
standing record in World War IL
Forty-five former inmates served
in the armed forces and all were
discharged with good records.
Former women inmates have
proved their stability in society af
ter leaving Fairview. Of 208 who
married, only one has been di
vorced, the records show.
Dr- Hill, a graduate of the Uni
versity of Oregon and the U. of O.
Medical school, is proud of the
home's training program, and even
has further plans for development
of the institution's facilities.
"Well Get Them Dene"
For the next biennium he is ask
ing the 1949 legislature for a Sl.
500,000 capital outlay appropria
tion to expand Fairview. He wants
a new hospital. When this is-built
the school will be moved into the
hospital building. Other innova
tions also are on the proposed
buildings even more up to date.
. The youthful - appearing physi
cian from Cushman figured "it
might take a couple of bienniums
to get things the way they should
be, but we'll get them done."
' '" i,?-' 'Si-'- 7r: :krf- hrJ- - - 1 L
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Patients ef Fairview heme are shewn processing laundry la the institution's new and modern laundry.
At the right is a portion ef one ef the new lavatories for younger patients who are given Job train
lag in many lines and seme ef whom retara to private life as self -sapper-tin- citizen.
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