Muscatatuck Oral History - Leland Verrick Interview
"I had all the jobs." When Leland Verrick was at Muscatatuck State School, later Muscatatuck State Hospital and Training Center, it was not yet illegal for residents to perform the same duties as the hired staff. Leland says he bathed, diapered, and put to bed other clients who had physical…
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"I had all the jobs." When Leland Verrick was at Muscatatuck State School, later Muscatatuck State Hospital and Training Center, it was not yet illegal for residents to perform the same duties as the hired staff. Leland says he bathed, diapered, and put to bed other clients who had physical disabilities. He worked in the kitchen and the nursery, he mopped floors. Leland recalls these jobs with pride and satisfaction. "I made a lot of money out there."
Leland remembers drinking milk at breakfast from the institution's dairy operation. He slept in a dormitory with four rows of beds, and never interacted with female residents in the approximately 20 years he spent at the institution. When Leland needed a tooth pulled, they brought in a dentist rather than take him off grounds.
Leland was discharged decades before the 2005 closure of Muscatatuck State Developmental Center. When he was interviewed in 2004, he had already spent as much time in the community as he had spent at the institution. He was 57 years old, living in a group home, employed at a sheltered workshop, and had a girlfriend.
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