Throughout this unit you have focused on the example of one place, Lennox Castle Hospital. It has been a case study through which you have been able to consider what is meant by institutional life and how views of this changed during the twentieth century. You have had an opportunity to get to know one place and some of the people who lived and worked there, as a means to finding out how people felt about the place and look back on their experiences now. You have also looked at what the alternatives are for people with learning disabilities in the twenty-first century.
Throughout the unit you have seen that certain values and principles have helped to characterise and inform debates and discussions. These include an emphasis on independence, choice and citizenship through participation. As an institution, Lennox Castle Hospital offered very little to residents in line with these principles. Participation was limited to activities defined by its particular philosophy of care, and opportunities for independence and choice appear to have been completely absent. The testimonies of ex-residents and staff make this very clear.
Following on from Lennox Castle and other institutions like it, ensuring that people with learning disabilities can choose how and where they live has led to major changes in the ways in which they have come to be regarded as citizens, participating in society just as anyone else might expect to do. However, as you have also seen, the story is not yet over. There are still challenges to be met, in relation to resourcing care and support and in relation to attitudes and expectations in society.
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