Episode 115: The Ladd School
The abandoned Ladd School prior to it’s demolition
In the year 1909, The Rhode Island School for the Feeble Minded opened it’s doors, welcoming in eight patients to the small facility that had undergone planning for the last two years. The school was to be the first institution in Rhode Island for those with developmental disabilities, and showed great promise in taking care of loved ones who needed a little extra help. By the year 1923, however, the population of the school had swelled to more than 365 residents, which was far more than the school had planned for, with even more on a waiting list. Due to the increasing population of the school, the funds were running dry, and simple necessities were not being met for the residents, such as dental care or even a morgue. By the year 1950, over 900 patients were living at the newly titled Ladd School.
Due to the massive overpopulation issue, and the harsh reality of shrinking funds and lack of staffing, the patients were not treated with the best care possible. Many patients died of overdoses due to improperly prescribed medication. Patients had boils covering their skin and were underfed, dirty, and constantly under-stimulated. The common ailments that can happen to any person would end in serious complications for the residents here, as treatment was not available or simply not administered.
For an example, teenager Douglas Dodd had spent 18 months suffering with a massively distended, rock-hard abdomen that caused him much pain. It was clearly constipation turned into fecal impaction that could’ve been treated (and even avoided) with the proper diet and simple medication. Douglas was not given any sort of treatment until four hours before he died, where two enemas were administered and ultimately perforated his bowel, killing him. Douglas was not the first patient to have his medical condition ignored and then die as a result, and unfortunately he would not be the last.
After several changes in doctors and with multiple probes and investigations, a class-action lawsuit was finally filed against the Ladd School in 1983, almost eight decades into the birth of the institution. While a new doctor was placed in charge, who made decent attempts at improving the state of the school, the Governor of Rhode Island announced in 1986 that the Ladd School was to be closed. In March of 1994, the last five residents who remained got into a van and were taken to their new homes, and eventually, the buildings that remained on the campus were destroyed.
Prior to the buildings being torn down urban explorers and paranormal investigators reported hearing crying, children talking and playing and even footsteps and growling. Objects were taken from their hands and thrown across the room, doors slammed open and shut and locked at random and glowing orbs or shadows were caught in photographs. Many feel that the decades of torment and deplorable conditions led to the facility being haunted.
Image sources:
theladdschool.com - “The Neglected Stepchild of State Institutions”
abandonedamerica.us - “The Ladd School”