The History of Disability

     Dr. Kiesling gave a presentation on the history of developmental disabilities in the United States. I found it astonishing how drastically societal views on disability have changed in a relatively short period of time. I learned how in the early twentieth century people with disabilities were viewed as "feeble-minded" and disability was often associated with criminality and therefore considered a burden on the rest of the community. This lead to institutions for people with disabilities so that they could be removed from society. Learning about the conditions of the institutions that most with disabilities were subjected to was truly heartbreaking. The institutions were over-crowded and patients were treated inhumanely. I am still in disbelief that these institutions were around less than 50 years ago.Thankfully there were some legislation changes that began in the 1960s that continued to evolve and grow sparking the disability rights movement in the 1970s, mirrored after the civil rights movement the decade before.

     One thing that was discussed during this presentation was the idea of culture that can come from a disability and how many people may not view their "disability" as a disability at all. I have had the honor of being involved in the Deaf community over the last few years and one thing that came to mind was how members of the Deaf community often view their deafness as a gift. Many will decline cochlear implants because being deaf is not a negative thing, but rather just another way of defining themselves. Knowing this, I was devastated when I learned that people were institutionalized for minor developmental disabilities such as a hearing impairment.
     Learning about Ed Roberts story of how his mom, and later himself, pushed for his rights to an education no matter how many people tried to turn him away, was very moving and goes to show how far perseverance, and a little stubbornness, can get you. I definitely want to share that with my future clients, as well as myself, to help make sure people are not taken advantage of or not given what they deserve. There has been so much evolution in the views relating to individuals with developmental disabilities and while things are progressing in the right direction, from this presentation I now have a better understanding of the importance of advocacy so that people with disabilities are aware of their rights as well as society having a better understanding of the rights of those individuals. A person with a developmental disability is still a person and deserves to be treated as one.