Content warning: This story involves intense subjects like family separation, institutionalization, and language deprivation. You have the option to read extra-sensitive material by clicking the green buttons. Please read with care.
Judith Scott was born on May 1, 1943 in Columbus, Ohio.
She had a twin sister named Joyce and three older brothers. Judith and Joyce spent most of their time together and were extremely close. Unlike her sister, Judith was born with a genetic condition now called Down syndrome. At that time most people didn’t understand Down syndrome which made it hard to know how best to support her.
Scarlet Fever & Language Deprivation
Early Childhood
As a young child Judith contracted an infection called Scarlet Fever. This caused her to become deaf at a young age. Her deafness was unknown for many years and it may not have been until she was in her 30s before anyone understood this. Because people misunderstood her needs and experience, when Judith and Joyce became old enough to begin school, Judith was deemed “ineducable,” so while Joyce started school, Judith did not.
Learn more Judith's experience as a Deaf person
This includes sensitive information about language deprivation, please take care when reading.
Because it was unknown for so long that Judith was deaf, she did not have the opportunity to learn to communicate in a way that worked for her. Even today, many other Deaf people have had similar experiences of not having access to their natural language - sign language. This is called language deprivation, and can have effects on a person’s development and life experience.
+ National Association of the Deaf Resource on Language Deprivation
Institutionalization
Young Adulthood - Adulthood
At the time, many people did not have access to resources to help them care for family members with disabilities at home. They were often led to believe that disabled people would be most successful living away from the home at state-sanctioned institutions.
It was decided that Judith would go live at the Columbus State School in October of 1950 when she was 7 years old. The Columbus State School was many hours drive away from her family home, which separated her physically from her family. Then, Judith went to the Gallipolis Developmental Center, also in Ohio. Places like the Columbus School and the Gallipolis Developmental Center are commonly referred to as “institutions”.
Judith spent 35 years away from her family while at the Columbus State School and Gallipolis Developmental Center, during which many important events happened in the disability and civil rights movements.
You can learn more about what institutions were like here, including Judith's experience.
This subject is intense. Please take care when reading.
During this era many disabled and mentally ill people were forced to live in state-sanctioned institutions which separated them from the rest of society.
There was not yet an organized mass movement advocating for the rights of disabled people. While the intent of these institutions was to provide support for those institutionalized, understandings of disability and mental illness were extremely limited.
Many institutions have a legacy of isolation, harm, and trauma. Gallipolis Center where Judith spent much of her life, for example, was overcrowded with many more people living there than it was designed to serve. There wasn’t access to reliable medical care so many people contracted diseases while living there. Many staff at these institutions had no confidence in Judith.
They believed she was violent and could not communicate. They believed she was incapable of making art and confiscated her art making materials. One note from her time there said, “Her presence on the ward is a disturbing influence”.
Reunion with Joyce
Adolescence
Meanwhile, Judith’s sister Joyce graduated school and began working as a developmental specialist with children with Down syndrome and other disabilities at UCSF Medical Center. After years of separation Joyce decided that she wanted to live with Judith again. After talking with Judith’s social worker she learned for the first time that her sister was deaf, and was known to be deaf for at least seven years.
After a lengthy legal process, Judith finally moved to California to live with her sister. On April 1, 1987 Judith began practicing at Creative Growth Art Center in Oakland where she found art and community.