WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.361
A lot of people were very

00:00:01.361 --> 00:00:03.227
uncomfortable about talking about

00:00:03.227 --> 00:00:04.971
disabilities or seeing people with

00:00:04.971 --> 00:00:06.272
disabilities, particularly at

00:00:06.272 --> 00:00:07.512
the State Hospitals, where they

00:00:07.512 --> 00:00:09.818
had the more seriously impaired.

00:00:09.818 --> 00:00:10.947
And some people were very

00:00:10.947 --> 00:00:14.362
physically impaired and even,

00:00:14.362 --> 00:00:16.515
or especially for a parent it was

00:00:16.515 --> 00:00:18.773
very hard to see, too. But when

00:00:18.773 --> 00:00:20.339
legislators went down, and we would

00:00:20.339 --> 00:00:22.350
organize bus tours. First we

00:00:22.350 --> 00:00:23.892
worked on the wives of the

00:00:23.892 --> 00:00:25.892
legislators, because they were in

00:00:25.892 --> 00:00:27.860
St. Paul and not at home if they

00:00:27.860 --> 00:00:28.892
came from around the state.

00:00:28.892 --> 00:00:30.062
And we had bus tours for them.

00:00:30.062 --> 00:00:31.529
And then we worked on the key

00:00:31.529 --> 00:00:33.706
legislators themselves and had bus tours.

00:00:33.706 --> 00:00:35.907
And, you know, what they wanted to do

00:00:35.907 --> 00:00:36.756
when they went down there.

00:00:36.756 --> 00:00:38.082
Of course, they also had

00:00:38.082 --> 00:00:39.628
hearings down there eventually,

00:00:39.628 --> 00:00:40.646
because they had to deal with

00:00:40.646 --> 00:00:41.564
all the appropriations.

00:00:41.564 --> 00:00:44.141
All the State Hospitals had farms

00:00:44.141 --> 00:00:45.736
in those days to provide food for

00:00:45.736 --> 00:00:47.745
the residents. And they used to

00:00:47.745 --> 00:00:49.184
love to go out to the barns.

00:00:49.184 --> 00:00:50.625
Of course, they were mostly farmers

00:00:50.625 --> 00:00:52.772
in those days. And so we always

00:00:52.772 --> 00:00:53.945
had a hard time getting them

00:00:53.945 --> 00:00:55.910
to stay in the hospital and look

00:00:55.910 --> 00:00:58.519
at the residents and get involved

00:00:58.519 --> 00:01:00.161
in the programs. I can remember

00:01:00.161 --> 00:01:01.950
going to the very hospital

00:01:01.950 --> 00:01:03.425
unit at Faribault, that's where

00:01:03.425 --> 00:01:05.784
the most severely damaged people

00:01:05.784 --> 00:01:08.188
were in. It's a difficult experience.

00:01:08.188 --> 00:01:10.099
And I saw a legislator

00:01:10.099 --> 00:01:11.536
go in, sort of take a look,

00:01:11.536 --> 00:01:12.798
and turn around and leave.

00:01:12.798 --> 00:01:14.412
Obviously it was emotionally

00:01:14.412 --> 00:01:15.574
too painful for him.

00:01:15.574 --> 00:01:16.974
And I've often thought

00:01:16.974 --> 00:01:18.271
about this. So, what I did,

00:01:18.271 --> 00:01:19.504
I intercepted him and I began

00:01:19.504 --> 00:01:21.039
talking to him and sort of turned

00:01:21.039 --> 00:01:22.102
him around and took him back

00:01:22.102 --> 00:01:23.351
in and said, "I'd like to explain

00:01:23.351 --> 00:01:25.111
some things." So I sort of

00:01:25.111 --> 00:01:26.981
verbally led him through there,

00:01:26.981 --> 00:01:28.103
and I've always felt, you know,

00:01:28.103 --> 00:01:30.614
he wanted to duck out, as it was painful.

00:01:30.614 --> 00:01:32.047
And I've often wondered,

00:01:32.047 --> 00:01:33.156
"Was that appropriate or not?"

00:01:33.156 --> 00:01:34.951
But we just had the feeling

00:01:34.951 --> 00:01:36.612
if you're a legislator, you've

00:01:36.612 --> 00:01:38.231
got to see it. You've got to see

00:01:38.231 --> 00:01:39.266
what it's like, because you're

00:01:39.266 --> 00:01:40.694
responsible for these people.

00:01:40.694 --> 00:01:43.995
And it's too easy just to turn

00:01:43.995 --> 00:01:45.696
it off and not realize it.

00:01:45.696 --> 00:01:47.430
This is why the visiting program was

00:01:47.430 --> 00:01:48.933
always so terribly important.