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You’ve just heard about Johnny. He’s been causing discipline problems here at Pennhurst. So they thought they would send him to Q2. We thought you would like to see where Johnny lives. Johnny, can you talk?
- Yes.
Do you like it here at Pennhurst?
- No.
Why not John?
- Um. There’s… It’s bad.
Let me ask you this John. Do you remember living anywhere except Pennhurst?
- No.
Do you like talking to the people up here?
- Yeah.
Why John?
- Cause they like to talk to me.
How about the other kids, the ones that can talk, do they like to talk to you too?
- Yes.
Do you like to talk to them better than the kids up here?
- Yes.
Have you been talking more lately or less?
- Less.
Why are you here in Q2 John?
- I did something I wasn’t supposed to be doing.
So they punished you and put you here?
- Yes.
And they do this to you all the time John?
- Yes.

The doctor had warned me that it would be bad… it was horrible. There was one attendant for perhaps 50 severely and profoundly retarded children

The ones that we saw were the most severely and profoundly retarded. There are thousands here like them, not going to school, sitting on the ward all day, not being talked to by anyone, only one or two or three people to take care of 70 people on the ward… Sharing the same toilets, contracting the same diseases.

Can the children be trained?
- Yes. Every child can be trained. You know, these kids… There’s no effort, we don’t know what these kids are capable of doing.