Forget They Were Ever Born

By Sharon Flanagan-Hyde ’77. Flanagan-Hyde Associates, October 2019. Available on Amazon. When the author’s sister, Mary Jean, was diagnosed with severe mental retardation in 1962, doctors said to put defective children in an institution and forget they were ever born. Mary Jean was sent away as a toddler, but she was not forgotten. Decades of witnessing maltreatment and horrific conditions at Belchertown State School devastated the entire family. Mary Jean finally found a safe home, but shocking neglect and abuse continue throughout the United States.