Remembering Rose Ellen Part 5: Evaluating Rose Ellen In my work as a clinician, my first introduction to a child and their family often came from previous evaluations and reports. I too, wrote evaluations not all that different from what I read in the Indiana State archives. Learning about Rose Ellen from this clinical perspective,...Read More

Remembering Rose Ellen Part 4: The Indiana State Archives: Rose Ellen was admitted to The Indiana State School for Feeble-Minded Children in Fort Wayne, IN, in January 1933 at 19 years of age. She spent 38 years there. To receive the documents from the Indiana State Archives required a simple form.  I filled out the...Read More

Remembering Rose Ellen Part 3: A Timeline of Her Life ⬦⬦⬦ Rose Ellen:Birth to Age 6 1913-1919 My grandparents had more than their fair share of difficulties starting a family. Their first daughter, Virginia, was born on May 21, 1911 and died just a few days later, on June 4, 1911.  My Mother, Lou Ann...Read More

Remembering Rose Ellen Skeen: Part 2: Unraveling the story Many thousands of children deemed feeble-minded, idiots, morons and imbeciles were institutionalized from the 1920s right up to the 1970s. There were no services or support for parents and their children with disabilities in the community, no schools or therapy clinics. The prevailing belief was that...Read More

For many years, my brothers and sisters and I were raised to believe that our mother was an only child. We had just one aunt, on my father’s side of the family. No aunts, uncles, or cousins on my mom’s side. But that was not true. My mother had a sister that was kept secret...Read More

This last month we have had so many great people and organizations come and volunteer at the PlayGarden.  Thank you to Devon and Noosh from Seattle Tree Care for donating 10 yards of wood chips to mulch our trails!  Thank you to PlayGarden preschool parent Paul Olczak for organizing a work party with 8 members of his team from Microsoft on Thursday, 10/24....Read More

Looking to get more involved in the community? Do you believe in the PlayGarden’s mission and work? Check out our opening to join the Board of Directors. To learn more about joining the PlayGarden Board of Directors visit this link: https://seattleplaygarden.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Board-Opportunity-2024-25.pdfRead More

PlayGarden Job Coach for Supported Employment Staff The PlayGarden has been growing our supported employment for the last seven years. Supported employment allows us to hire adults with disabilities to work in our programs. Those employees are supported by a job coach who helps them to begin their careers, learn new tasks and skills, and...Read More