Forum for residents of St Georges Park and Long Leys Road Lincoln

[SteveW]

At the risk of being pulled up for political incorrectness by one of the many increasing do gooders, is it me or are there more & more sub normal people walking unsupervised around the estate. I have witnessed several of late. One getting off the bus and walking up the access road into St Georges Hospital shouting about willies and testicles at the top of his voice.

I know someone will come on here in their defence but are they ALL really harmless, given the increased number of children playing around the estate.

[cl12]

I wouldn't quote have put it like that but you are right. I have noticed a couple of people from the hospital wondering around. I had one walk straight out in front of my car without looking. I don't know what the supervision rules are but from speaking to people most think that they should be supervised if leaving the hospital grounds.

[Bluejean]

Nice to see that the hospital, which has been on this site for many years, has such very tolerant and understanding neighbours, who have such a good understanding of modern medical terminology…..

One only prays that they do not become one of the 1 in 10 who succumbs to mental illness at some point in their lives…..

[SteveW]

1 in 10 hey, I'm surprised it isn't alot higher given that this hospital has sold off every other department to make way for housing.

This must be the only one surviving that makes money. Not surprising if the patients are unsupervised!

[simon73]

with free speech and all that your entitled to your opinion,but i find your comments not only insulting but incredibly ignorant.
and no im not a do gooder,but the parent of a severly mentally disabled child who completly understands the work the hospital does and the type of people they help.as for implying that the patients are a risk to our children,what planet are you on????these are vulenrable innocents and many of the patients at st georges where born that way,it might not be normal to you but it is to them.
are you sure that the people you see walking about the estate arnt a much loved member of somomes family who lives on the estate?
to be honest id much rather spend time with them than people who discriminate against disabled people-because thats what they are at the end of the day.
if it was a unit looking after people with physical disabilities i doubt comments like this would be posted on the site.
i know the unit also deals with drug/alcohol rehab but the patients going for daily walks are the adults with severe learning difficulties.
due to the comments from fellow residents about our child at the carols in 2006 we no longer bother with any of the residents activites so i know your not alone in your views ,which makes me incredibly sad for the life my child will face as an adult.
try living with this kind of prejudice every day and youd understand how angry i am about your post .

simon

[SteveW]

I am not getting at the individuals I have witnessed walking around the estate more the fact they are unsupervised by hospital staff.

You tell me should they be left in that position. The people this one individual was shouting at were also offended just like you.

[deb]

Simon, I've tried to counter all this before but be assured that though some people will always be worried/firghtened/worse, there are plenty either with or without experience that do not share the views. There is a new patient, a youngish man who talks to himself but he shows no signs of being of any harm to anyone and although always out with a dog when I see him he always crosses the road to avoid either me or the dog. Today I wondered whether to warn him I was behind him as he didn't appear to hear us but I didn't want to spook him. You're right, many are allowed out unsupervised and often have only temporary troubles and yes there is alot of ignorance but again usually based around fear of the unknown. Time and again we get comments that somehow equate mental disability with 'harms children' and I don't expect them to go away. But it's true we can never say with 100% certainty that there will never be any trouble any more than we can say that about any of our neighbours. It's the same as racism, sexism, ageism and all the other 'isms' out there. It's difficult to understand people that promote them. Not that I necessarily think that Steve is promoting it but definitely his choice of title would not pass a diversity course!!

I am very sad to hear what you said about the Carol Service a couple of years ago - Pete would definitely have approached the people who made you feel uncomfotable if he had known.

One thing about offensive language, or maybe it was just inappropriate, if that's what you mean Steve, is that this person has been diagnosed with a problem. You assumed he was a patient so presumably there was something else about his demeanour that didn't make you pick him out as a member of staff so the people that were offended, if they live around here will soon get to know why and that they probably weren't being picked on as a purely personal thing.

[robcrack]

"Nutters!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! - I am not getting at the individuals " What a narrow minded individual...rather sad.

[deb]

due to the comments from fellow residents about our child at the carols in 2006 we no longer bother with any of the residents activites

Now you can see Simon that all views exist and that you must not let people feeling uncomfortable put you off. It can be a two way street. I don't know your circumstances or how 'obvious' your child's disability is but if it could be in any way taken as bad behaviour perhaps you have felt, because you know, that there is no need to explain it - but it's a learning curve for those not in it. One of my sisters and I used to have to travel on a public bus and before she went into an 'episode ' she often used to shout and flail her arms getting all sorts of 'tut, tut' type comments. She had a boyfriend for a while with cerebral palsy who always used to wear a helmet as he fell over quite often. As kids or even young adults we'd find his appearance funny and we should have been used to it. I suppose what I'm saying is don't give up educating those that don't know. Your child like my sister will come across people that view them differently but she takes no prisoners!

There aren't any residents' activities for now as originally the money was to be raised for the SEC as a community facility which sometimes seems so far off there's no point at the moment. However, the money raised from those few events will give us free Carol Service goodies for a few years yet!

[john shipton]

Jon Wilkinson was a former resident of Ashby Ward before it was transfered to the Lincoln County Hospital and the building renamed as Yarborough Court.
He had severe disabilities and people talking to him found it very difficult to understand him. Because of this, many gave him a wide berth.
He became a friend of mine and I got to know him well. He was the same age as me too.
Jon, despite being what he was, did not deter him in doing things.
He became wheel chaired bound but he was bright in his approach to life. He was the first disabled person to cross to and fro on the Humber Bridge to raise money for charity.
He sometimes went horse riding with a little help on nearby Baker's Field.
And to top all things up, he studied for a B.Sc and passed with honours getting a 1st class honours degree.
He was determined to leave Ashby Ward to get back into the community. He did this and has a flat somewhere in the North Hyeham area.
So never judge a book by looking at its cover. Read the pages first!

[squeak]

Talk to the staff if you are concerned about the lack of supervision. The unit does a fantastic job at trying to maintain as much independence as possible for the people they care for and if the staff don't know that there are issues with individuals then they cannot resolve them.

Thankfully it has been a number of years since this country locked people with learning disabilities and mental illness away.

[iggy]

thanks for that info squeak
as some of you are know i am and will still i may add fight the onset of a medical problem to which there is no cure for i have Parkinson's
its very reassuring to know that in a few years time as it gets worse and as i go for a walk around the village for some exercise i to will probably be classed as a

nutter

[by the people out there who judge before finding out the problems
i have not put this posting on here for sympathy i have put it on behalf of myself and the others in the village who have health problems they have to live with and others who will its a fact of life develop problems
lets hope your one of the very few of us that do not develop a problem