History of

The short version…

Examples of Disability date back to the earliest historical writings:

• We began by appeasing the gods • Thus, by our initial efforts to understand difference we ascribed it to the work of deities

We were literally prepared to

• “beat the devil out of you” • Early laws protected the general public, not the person with a disability

Two views on Etiology

• Illness or disability comes from supernatural entities • Illness or disability comes from natural causes However, treatment, such as it was, was afforded only to the wealthy the majority were warehoused and shut away

Queen Vishpla, circa 3500 B.C.

“The Rig-Veda, an ancient sacred poem of India, is said to be the first written record of the use of a prosthesis . Written in Sanskrit between 3500 and 1800 B.C., it recounts the story of a warrior, Queen Vishpla, who lost her leg in battle, was fitted with an iron prosthesis, and returned to battle.” ( http://www.disabilityhistory.org/timeline_new.html

) Not really Queen Vishpla- no cameras in 3500 B.C.

• Roman and Greek Cultures 700 B.C. and A.D. 400 -there wasn’t a name yet acquired for individuals with mental illnesses.

218 BC Marcus Sergius, a Roman general who led his legion against Carthage (presently Tunis) in the Second Punic War, sustained 23 injuries and a right arm amputation. An iron hand was fashioned to hold his shield and he was able to go back to battle. He was denied a chance to be a priest because one needed two normal hands.

-individuals were considered to be “unusual” and “strange”

Defining Disability

• • Keep in mind, early on, the label came as a result of “degree of differentness” and how that was or was not valued by the current society Typical labels: defective, deformed, crazy, mad, dysfunctional

Jumping to the Middle Ages

• Not such a good time to be a person with a disability… The Ship of Fools (an allegory for society’s treatment of the “other” from

Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of

Reason by Michel Foucault)

During this time period (14

th

-17

th

Centuries)

• You might expect to be: – – – – – – – – Killed institutionalized Put on display Be forced into servitude Humiliated for public folly Experimented upon Sterilized Jailed • If you were lucky, you may have also lived a reasonable life integration within agrarian cultures was quite possible

Some Bright Spots

• Late 1700s – Phillip Pinel-“La Terreur”, to remove the chains – William Tuke- a Quaker who further expanded the “moral treatment” movement • Mid to lates 1800s – Florence Nightingale – Louis Braille

Remember, most folks did not receive “moral treatment”

The 1900s- the “movements”

• • • • Eugenics De-institutionalization Education Civil Rights & Activism

Eugenics

• In the United States, Dr. Alexis Carrel, a Nobel prize winner who had been on the staff of the Rockefeller Institute since its inception, publishes his book "Man the Unknown." • In it he suggests the removal of the mentally ill and the criminal by small euthanasia institutions equipped with suitable gases.

What is Eugenics?

• Eugenics is the study of, or belief in, the possibility of improving the qualities of the human species or a human population by such means as discouraging reproduction by persons having genetic defects or presumed to have inheritable undesirable traits (negative eugenics) or encouraging reproduction by persons presumed to have inheritable desirable traits (positive eugenics). Random House, Inc. 21 Mar. 2009.

1930s- the most famous eugenicist comes to power…

Nazis, Eugenics, and the T-4 Program (1920-1950)

• Hitler's extermination policies began with the widespread killing of institutionalized disabled people in Germany in the 1940s • Eugenics theories that were the basis for Hitler's policies originated in the United States in the 1920s • Sterilization and euthanasia were not the ideas of the Nazis. Germany, however, was the only country in which the political climate allowed materialization of the final goal of sterilization and euthanasia. • http://www.disabilityhistory.org/t4prog.html

But, a little closer to home, Eugenics is in full swing as a social “progressive” movement

Cary Buck’s Story

• Carrie Buck, a poor white girl born to a poor white mother. After being raped by a member of the family that fostered her, she became pregnant and was sent in disgrace to the Lynchburg Colony, a state institution first set up as a colony for epileptics. There she encountered Dr. Priddy who was an enthusiastic social engineer with a sterilizing program of that had been blocked by a law suit. He wanted to sterilize Carrie to prevent her from having more children. With the help of local politicians and Harry Laughlin they pushed the case of Carrie Buck through to the Supreme Court, hoping to set a precedent that would allow them to continue their work. The expert witness who reported on Carrie's mental state was Laughlin himself, who had never met or talked to her. 'These people,' he wrote, 'belong to the shiftless, ignorant, worthless class of antisocial whites of the South.' Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes agreed. Holmes is quoted stating that "three generations of imbeciles is enough." He had decided that it was constitutionally legal for states to sterilize anyone they decided was eugenically undesirable. "The principle that sustains compulsory vaccination," he elaborated, "is broad enough to cover cutting the fallopian tubes." In other words, the general health of society could be protected at the expense of the rights of individuals.

Eugenics Policy and the USA

• • • • 1918- unsterilized defectives should not be free in public 1926- 23 states had mandatory sterilization laws 1927- US Supreme Court upholds constitutionality of legislation Between 1925 and 1955 an estimated 50,000 people were forcibly sterilized in the US

Institutionalization the Dehumanization Years

• 1700s brings the creation of institutions to house “criminals” so, at least we stopped killing people… • If you were lucky, you got sent to the asylum, not the prison where there was “moral treatment” movement and we tried to “cure” you.

• • Post-industrialization sees 100s of thousands of persons with disabilities sent to institutions You could expect: puree food, no showers (hoses, though), no clothes, no supervision, no freedom, no recreation, no eating utensils, no bed…) Titicut Follies- 1967 by Frederick Wisemen

Institutional Care and New Hampshire

• • "Valley of Darkness" Laconia State Hospital A Cautionary Tale: The Story of Laconia State School

Institutionalization- the Humanizing years…

• • • • • • Circa 1950- the Parents rise up and are heard New treatments were tried (e.g. ECT, lobotomy, induced coma) Staff with training- a novel idea!

Specific social interventions were tried (TR gains a foothold during this time) “Thoughtful” segregation based on diagnosis And yet, institutions were really warehouses…

•

Activism- the Early years

The League of the Physically Handicapped • Excerpt: "The Physically Handicapped," declared in their flyers, cannot get regular jobs as teachers or librarians in New York State. . . . Even a typist must pass a physical examination. . . . In private business the Physically Handicapped invariably are discriminated against. They work harder for less wages. [Given this disability-based employment bias,] our League demands that handicapped people receive a just share of the millions of jobs being given out by the government. . . . The Handicapped still are discriminated against by Private Industry. It is because of this discrimination that we demand the government recognize its obligation to make adequate provisions for handicapped people in the Works Relief Program. – http://www.disabilityhistory.org/militanc.html

• United Cerebral Palsy

Disability Rights Movement and Deinstitutionalization

• Takin’ it to the streets…Ed Roberts (UC Berkley and the Rolling Quads) • The Movement as Ed described it – "I'm tired of well meaning noncripples with their stereotypes of what I can and cannot do directing my life and my future. I want cripples to direct their own programs and to be able to train other cripples to direct new programs. This is the start of something big -- cripple power. " For more information on the disability rights movement, visit: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu/collections/drilm/

But we’re not quite there…

• NIMBYism rises with the move toward community based supports.

• • While people are “released” from institutions, community-based options are not readily available This leads to several problems…

Education gets in the game- a free and appropriate public education! (FAPE)

• PL 94-142 Education of All Handicapped Children Act (1975) • IDEA- Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (revised in 2004)

By 1995 we’re moving in the right direction

• 3 states, NEW HAMPSHIRE, Vermont and Michigan had NO institutions were more than 15 people resided.

• Healthy People 2010 (our national health agenda) includes a new section addressing the health-related needs of pwd.

•

Examples of Modern Day Disability Rights Legislation

Olmstead Act – States must administer their services, programs, and activities "in the most integrated setting appropriate to the needs of qualified individuals with disabilities” • New Freedom Initiative – Under President G.W. Bush, a nationwide effort to remove barriers to community living for people with disabilities. • Americans with Disabilities Act – the civil rights legislation for persons with disabilities (signed into law by the first Pres. Bush.)

Modern Day Activism

• United Cerebral Palsy - Life Without Limits and the Big Sky Movement • Hooverville “NOTHING ABOUT US WITHOUT US” • Arnieville – Video

2010, Queen Vishpla revisited

Sarah Reinertsen- Tri-athlete and the first woman with an

amputation to finish the Ford Ironman World Championship-The grueling feat of athletism known as an Ironman triathlon comprises a 2.4-mile ocean swim, a 112-mile bike ride and a 26.2-mile run. Visit Sarah’s website at: http://alwaystri.net/homepagealwaystr.html