The summer of 1966

During the summer of 1966, I was the recipient of a WICHE scholarship, which was awarded to college students, who were interested in pursuing a career in mental health.  I was paid $600 and worked 5 days per week for 6 weeks.  I received an “A” for the 6 credit course.

I was assigned to Waimano Home and Hospital in Pearl City, where mentally retarded boys resided. These boys were unable to speak.  They grunted, yelled, and laughed.  My job was to train them to use the toilet, brush their teeth, change their clothes, and eat with a spoon or fork.

There was a ten year old boy, who was autistic and retarded.  Now and then, his mother would visit him, but after she left the hospital, the boy would shriek and scream, spinning like a top out of control.  The staff had to restrain him by putting his arms in a strait jacket.  He was then allowed to pace back and forth in a narrow corridor until he calmed down and stopped banging his head against the padded walls.

On one occasion, the staff took the boys to Kahuku Beach to play in the water, followed by a picnic lunch.  The boys had fun, and it was so nice for them to get some fresh air and exercise.

As part of the WICHE program, we students toured the rest of the grounds at Waimano Home and Hospital.  There was a large room, where hydrocephalic boys stayed in individual cribs.  In another building, we met a boy with cerebral palsy, who painted pretty pictures by holding a paintbrush between his toes.

We also toured the State Hospital in Kaneohe, where we saw a catatonic woman seated in a chair, not moving or blinking.  We also spoke to a young woman, who was there  because she had attempted suicide.  She showed us the scars on her two wrists.

Waimano Home and Hospital in Pearl City is now defunct and has been abandoned.  But, the State Hospital in Kaneohe still exists.

Those 6 weeks during the summer of 1966 were enlightening.  I went on to graduate from the University of Hawaii with a BA in Sociology in 1968.