My first artifact from Special Education Law is our class field trip to Pineland Farms. On this field trip, we were guided through the history of Pineland Farms (which used to be the Maine school for the feeble minded) by a wonderful tour guide who explained some of the horrors that took place on the grounds. She led us through the woods to a cemetery where many patients of the Maine school for the feeble minded were buried. The tales of those passed away were shared to the group with honesty and reflection.
This trip impacted me in several ways. One of them being that as a teacher, I couldn’t even imagine the level of trauma those poor souls went through. This experience reinforced the idea that UNE is always teaching its future teachers: you never know what is in someone’s theoretical backpack so empathy is always the answer. While it is certainly true that some in our community require hospital level care, it does not seem like the Maine school for the feeble minded was the place to get that care. The experience made me think of how far we have come as a society in our treatment of those with disabilities as well as the importance of reflecting on the past. If we do not learn from our mistakes in the past, we can not progress in the future.
