American Snake Pit: Hope Grit and Resilience in the Wake of Willowbrook

In 1987 following a public outcry about its questionable medical practices Staten Islands Willowbrook State School for people with intellectual disabilities closed its doors for good.Flat broke and almost finished with graduate school Dan Tomasulo -- now a core faculty member at Columbia Universitys Spirituality Mind Body Institute -- was hired to relocate Willowbrooks most severely disabled inhabitants into a groundbreaking community-based group home.American Snake Pit is the story of the disregarded souls who ended up in Tomasulos care; of the eccentric resilient staff who helped make such a momentous success possible; and most of all of one mans persistent struggle to give voices to those who could not advocate for themselves.