When she left the asylum, she lost her reference points, as well as the structured existence that had given her security. Now everything and everyone frightened her. She screamed day and night and smeared excrement on the walls. Claudia seemed totally mad and overwhelmed by insecurity. Her personality appeared to be disintegrating.
Madness is an immense cry, a sickness that is comprehensible.
It is a way of escaping when our world of pain is too great. Twenty years after Claudia first arrived in the community she was still blind and autistic but at peace and able to do many things in the community. She would often sing to herself and there was a constant smile on her face. She did get angry at times, when she felt she was not being respected or was put in a situation that provoked feelings of insecurity. The story of Claudia humbles and devastates me.