Paragraph Unity and Coherence Question

Does the following essay lack paragraph unity and coherence? If yes or no, please let me know.

Thank you,

Roberta

I was born on May 4, 1951 in . During my birth,

the umbilical cord wrapped around my neck, causing me not to have enough

oxygen going to my brain. As a result, my brain did not develop properly.

My sister Jocelyn was born on . Five days after her birth,

she developed a blood clot in her brain. A doctor diagnosed both of us with

significant disabilities.


On , Mom and Dad admitted my sister, Jocelyn, and me
to the and . Jocelyn and I were 4 and 5

years old respectively. In the 1950s and early 1960s, parents frequently placed

their children with disabilities in institutions. Every State in had

a residential institution for people with mental retardation and other significant

disabilities. The and was the institution

in . My parents, like many others, did not have the knowledge

and skills to take care of their own children. They already had two sons and one

infant daughter and money was tight.



Going to the and was very difficult for Jocelyn

and me. We hated leaving our home in . Jocelyn and I never imagined that our

parents would leave us at the the way they did. I was afraid that

people at the institution would injure me. Our parents abandoned us. They did not

come to visit or take us home very often. We were extremely homesick. I constantly

sobbed and threw severe temper tantrums. Jocelyn and I were so angry with our

parents because they were seldom with us.



Some of the attendants and residents at the sexually, verbally,

emotionally, and physically abused and assaulted me. The staff said that they did

this to me because I misbehaved or acted "silly." The attendants and residents there

hit and kicked me with their hands and feet. They pulled my hair, whipped me with

wooden or metal coat hangers, wet towels, hairbrushes, mop-and-broom handles,

hard leather belts, straps, rulers, and yardsticks, stainless steel serving utensils,

and clothes. Additionally, they bullied me by laughing at me and calling me names.

They spat at me, bit and pinched my arms and other body parts causing me pain.

The employees and supervisors at the institution threw buckets of cold water on

my body-clothes and all. They did this to me because I was acting out physically

and aggressively. They apparently thought the cold water would calm me down.

They put me into straitjackets for acting out violently to other people or to myself.



I picked up weird habits from many residents. I picked my nose, sneezed and coughed

without turning my head and covering my mouth, stuck pencil-and-ink pen tips in my

ear canals, burped and broke wind without excusing myself, put things into my mouth,

jumped up and down, stood on furniture pieces: couches, chairs, and tables, pulled hair

out from my head, and played with myself. The staff punished me by slapping my face

and shoving me up against walls.



The employees, supervisors, and residents always took advantage of me for my money

and snack-food items. They stole my belongings including: my clothes and footwear,

prayer beads, a harmonica, jewelry, money, toys, ink pens, pencils, crayons, and coloring

books. Mom and Dad and some of the attendants gave me these items for Christmas. I

also bought myself some items with money my parents sent me for Christmas. Jocelyn

had the same types of abusive experiences. When I went to the administration office

and filed complaints, no one helped me.



When I was about 12 years old, I started working at the . I worked

in different dormitories: King, Murphy, Powell, Keyes, and Duby buildings. My daily

tasks were changing babies, feeding adults and children, sweeping and mopping floors,

cleaning toilets, sinks, and windows, bagging dirty clothes, dressing adults and children,

brushing, combing, braiding, and curling their hair, washing the residents’ faces and

hands, and brushing their teeth. I washed and dried dishes and put them back in the

kitchen cupboards. I also toileted both adults and children who could not go to the

bathroom on their own. For all of those tasks I performed, the

and paid me only five cents an hour! The institution was wrong in

paying me a nickel an hour. The facility should have given me a lot more money

for all of the work I did.



I became very violent and aggressive toward other people at

to defend myself and because that was the culture at the facility. I never felt good

about hurting and injuring others. I changed my behavior to avoid going to prison

in the community outside the and and to attract

more friends. I felt so guilty about hurting and injuring other people around me but

had to do that to defend myself. I did not want anyone to put my life at risk. Dying

at a very young age would have been a terrible tragedy for my family members,

relatives, and friends. If I did not hurt and injured others, they would have done

that to me.



Being violent and aggressive made me see myself as a mean person. I always knew

that I was not a bad person. I had to apply self-defense to protect myself from dying

young.