State Moves People with Disabilities into Community

MONSON, Mass. - Lawrence T. Davis became mentally disabled when he contracted whooping cough as a child. Now 71, he uses a feeding tube for nutrition and a wheelchair or a walker to get around. He can't read. He uses an electric razor and dresses himself, but is prompted to wash his face, his sister said.
Davis became a resident of the Monson Development Center in 1951 and lived there until September of this year. That month, as part of a plan to gradually close the center and three similar campuses for the mentally disabled, he moved into a state-operated group home in Woburn, along with seven other longtime residents.