My name is Roberta Gallant. I am 57years old. I reside in Concord, New
Hampshire. I was born on May 4, 1951,
in Berlin, New Hampshire. During birth,
the umbilical cord wrapped around my
neck decreasing the oxygen to my brain; therefore, my brain did not develop properly.
My sister Jocelyn was born on September 1, 1952, in Berlin. Five days after Jocelyn's birth developed a blood clot in her brain. A doctor diagnosed Jocelyn and me with significant disabilities.
I resided at the Laconia State School
and Training Center from age 5 to thirty. On October 27, 1956, Mom and Dad admitted
my sister Jocelyn and me to the Laconia State School and Training Center (a residential
placement) in Laconia, New Hampshire, because of our mental disabilities. Our mother
and father separated us from them in Berlin, New Hampshire. Mom and Dad had a hard
time dealing with Jocelyn and me at home due to our disabilities. Our parents were
unable to care for her and me themselves. They felt uncomfortable around us staying
at their apartment. They never understood what having a disability was like for Jocelyn
and me as they were not born with challenges. At the Laconia State School and Training
Center, many attendants physically, verbally, emotionally, and sexually assaulted me.
The employees ignored and neglected me. The staff members hit and kicked me
with their hands and feet, whipped me with wooden or metal coat hangers; leather
belts and straps; mop-and-broom handlers, dustpan brushes, and dustpans;
stainless serving utensils; rulers and yardsticks; wet towels and clothes; hairbrushes;
While Jocelyn and I lived as children at Laconia State School, the New Hampshire
legislature deprived us of opportunities to receive proper elementary and secondary
educational services through public or private schools. The Laconia State School
and Training Center offered no personal tutoring, which we needed! Instead,
the teaching staff made me color, cut pictures out from books and magazines,
and play with paper dolls. The teachers taught me almost nothing in the classrooms
within the School House at Laconia State School. To learn how to read and write
better, I convinced the decent attendants to teach me.
On June 22, 1981, I transitioned from the Laconia State School and Training Center
to the community to live an appropriate life. The Lakes Region Community Services
Council, the area agency in Laconia, game me life-skills training that taught me how
to use the public transportation system, cook, grocery shop, and do laundry. After
living at four or five different places, I finally moved to an apartment in downtown
Concord, New Hampshire. Now I work at the New Hampshire Bureau of Developmental
Services as a data entry operator every Tuesday and People First of New Hampshire
as a self-advocacy consultant occasionally. Finally, I am receiving more reading
and writing education through Parker Academy in Concord.
Life is normal for Jocelyn and me. I know how to access the necessary services
for problem solving. I work closly with the Disabilities Rights Center and Community
Bridges. For Thanksgiving and Christmas, I visit my sister Jocelyn in Salem, New
Hampshire. Jocelyn does well. She works at the Home Depot and earns a paycheck.
To succeed in life, I learned that fantastic self-advocacy skills, taking risks, and
persistence are essential.
