Institutionalised at Orchard Hill!!

The resent press coverage of Orchard Hill has been very interesting.

The criticism of this last long-stay learning disabled insitution was inevitable as it has been slowly run down over a number of years.

The people who must feel besieged are the elderly parents of some of the learning disabled people living there. They acted in good faith by placing their children there, when there was no community living options.

As things have changed, they have naturally defended their original decision and now feel attacked for making it.

We should therefore recognise that all the people in this saga have been "institutionalised" to some degree and thus coverage of this issue needs to much more sensitve to that.

My own view has always been that one or two community living facilities should be built on the site to respect parent wishes. I am also happy if Stanley Park school relocates there, but I still think this may prove difficult with resident opposition and financing issues acting as key barriers.