Second annual report of the trustees of the New-York State Asylum for Idiots.

  • New York State Asylum for Idiots
Date:
[1853?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Second annual report of the trustees of the New-York State Asylum for Idiots. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    17/38 (page 17)
    I should add a consideration, drawn from my own experience, that it is a mistaken notion that such children as we propose to educate, are all unconscious of their deficiencies, or unsoli- citous entirely with regard to their position as compared to their equals in age. Many of them feel their inferiority, and have de¬ sires for improvement and elevation in the scale of being, but the desire, from the very nature of their infirmity, is not accompanied by the energy necessary for its fulfillment. Many of them expe¬ rience delight in the acquisition of knowledge, for they can ap¬ preciate, to some extent, the good results of such increased knowledge upon themselves. What, then, shall be done for our asylum 1 From what I al¬ ready know of your feelings and opinions, I am assured that you would not consent to its abandonment; that you would not con¬ sent that our present pupils should be deprived of the means of continuing their education. The question can only be, in your minds, ought the institution to be continued in its present form, or should it receive enlarged capacity and increased means of do¬ ing good 1 For the former, a continuation of the present annual appropriation (|7,500) will amply suffice for the maintenance and instruction of the present number ot State pupils (30), and give us, also, an opportunity of taking care of ten pay pupils, some of whom, as now, can be received for a very moderate compensation, when the pecuniary condition of their parents require a reduction of the ordinary charges. On the other hand, to increase our number of pupils, we shall have to seek new quarters, for we now have all the present building will accommodate. We cannot purchase the building we occupy, and the policy of improving it to the necessary ex¬ tent (even with the present very low rent), with any lease we could obtain, is a very questionable one. New buildings would therefore be necessary. These, with the land and additional fur¬ niture requisite, would cost some $20,000, giving us accommoda¬ tions for 120 pupils. With such buildings, a very moderate in¬ crease in the annual appropriation would provide for more than double the present of State pupils, besides giving room for a [Assembly, No. 29.] 2