Developmentally disabled children in Willowbrook Institution.

Two to a cart.

Willowbrook was designed to house 4,000 residents, but there were over 6,000 in 1965, when Senator Robert F.
Kennedy toured the facility and called it a "snake pit." He described the residents as "living in filth and dirt, their clothing in rags, in rooms less comfortable and cheertul than the cages in which we put animals in a zoo." In some of the deepest wards, such as Building 6, there was only one attendant for approximately 50 severely and profoundly disabled children.
Even after Geraldo Rivera's investigative report, exposing the horrific conditions on camera in 1972, Willowbrook didn't close its doors for good until 1987.
Not going back.

#developmentaldisabilities #intellectualdisabilities
#specialneeds #disability

As a Deaf autistic mother of a child with autism, this terrifies me.
For 27 years, the answer was supposed to be simple: if disabled people can live in their communities, they should not be forced into institutions.
Now the DOJ is arguing that protection was never legally required.
Nothing has changed yet. Nobody is being rounded up. But when governments start questioning rights that generations fought for, people pay attention.
My son is not a burden.
I am not a burden.
Disabled people belong in our communities, not hidden away from them.

Looking at racism and ableism separately can overlook those experiences. If society fails to protect disabled babies and children—by denying them dignity, autonomy, language access, and family stability—then concern for vulnerable elders rings hollow. Systems that do not respect disabled people at the beginning of life will not suddenly respect them at the end. How we treat disabled children is the truest measure of our values.

As the parent of a nonverbal autistic child, I continue to have serious concerns about how reports involving the safety of disabled children are handled. I have sought assistance and accountability regarding an incident at a Pittsburgh-area school bus stop, yet I still feel many of my questions remain unanswered.

Families of children with disabilities deserve thorough investigations, transparent communication, and equal treatment under the law. Public trust depends on the willingness of institutions to review concerns fairly, regardless of who may be involved.

I respectfully ask elected officials, law enforcement agencies, and community leaders to ensure that reports involving vulnerable and disabled children receive the attention, diligence, and accountability they deserve.

The safety and rights of children with disabilities should never be an afterthought.

UPDATE: I have already contacted Congresswoman Summer Lee’s office multiple times over the years, which is actually why I made this post. I appreciate the suggestion, but I am looking for additional ideas and resources because I have been trying many of the traditional channels since 2019 without much success.

As a disabled person, it can be incredibly difficult to find meaningful help or accountability. Too often, it feels like people assume that if you haven’t received assistance, you simply haven’t asked. In reality, many of us have spent years contacting elected officials, agencies, advocacy organizations, and other resources, only to find ourselves going in circles.

I am genuinely interested in hearing what has worked for other people. If you have suggestions, experiences, or resources that helped you navigate disability-related issues in the Pittsburgh area, I would welcome them.

I will also say that discussing disability online can be challenging. Questions about disability rights, accessibility, or discrimination are sometimes met with skepticism, hostility, or personal attacks rather than constructive discussion. That makes it even harder for disabled people to seek information and support.

I am not looking for an argument. I am looking for solutions.

Lastly, Idk why my comment won’t show so let me try this again.

Since some of you can’t read other comments let me repost this instead of having to repeat myself.

Updated: The problem is that my issue doesn’t fit neatly into a one-sentence Reddit comment. If it did, I probably wouldn’t have spent years trying to solve it. The link is there for context, not because I expect everyone to watch it. Either way, I appreciate you taking the time to respond, and I hope you enjoy the nice weather.

1.) My concerns are not about anyone’s race. They are about my experiences and the responses I received when seeking help. I understand that people may disagree with my conclusions, but I am discussing matters that I personally experienced and reported through the channels available to me.

2.)Just because people are disabled doesn’t mean we are stupid. You’re probably right that a TikTok link alone isn’t enough. I included it because it was the easiest way to share part of what I’m talking about. Unfortunately, this subreddit doesn’t allow me to post the video evidence directly. If you know of a better way to document or report concerns involving a disabled child, I’m genuinely open to suggestions.

3.) good job keeping racism alive while trying to call me racist for calling her ableist. You are just as ableist as she and that is where racism came from, ableism
As explained by Isabella Kres-Nash:
“Racism and ableism are often thought of as parallel systems of oppression that work separately to perpetuate social hierarchy. Not only does this way of looking at the world ignore the experiences of people of color with disabilities, but it also fails to examine how race is pathologized in order to create racism. Meaning that society treats people of color in specific ways to create barriers, and these poor conditions create disability. The concept of disability has been used to justify discrimination against other groups by attributing disability to them.”

I had a question about Pittsburgh leash ordinances because I have received mixed answers from different people. Are dogs within city neighborhoods legally required to be leashed and under control in public/shared spaces? As the parent of an autistic child, I take public safety concerns seriously, especially involving unpredictable situations involving animals in neighborhoods. I contacted animal control for clarification, but I am still trying to better understand how the ordinances are supposed to work and be enforced.

I muted the audio in the video for privacy reasons and to keep the focus on the ordinance question itself rather than individuals involved.

Genuinely asking for clarification from anyone familiar with the city rules.

I don’t why but I can’t seem to make a post in here so I am gonna post this here as a comment to see if anyone can help me. I have been off of Facebook since 2021 because someone started hacking me and impersonating me. They knew of my every move and who my family, friends and neighbors were. Now there is page called Pittsburgh Disability ADAPT Network that is claiming to be me according to my neighbors. Well it is not me not ever was. How do I get it taken down as it also has been inactivate since 2024? There is a lot of legal background into this as well. It was never my page nor me and if I don’t get the page taken down I will probably be ending up in jail. The link I am providing is a reel of my neighbors and they think I made it and posted and I never did. I think it is my neighbors. Please help and report the page to get taken down Please delete this page and reel