Take-away on the History of Disability in the U.S.

I had the opportunity to listen to a guest speaker by the name of Dr. Kiesling. He works in the Boling Center for Developmental Disabilities, which is in the same building as our Rachel Kay Stevens Therapy Center. Dr. Kiesling covered the history of disability that happened throughout the United States. What I got out of the lecture was very interesting and I hope you enjoy learning a little bit about it! 

The history began in the early 1900's, when people were depicting those with disabilities as "feeble-minded" and relating it to criminality. Come 1920-1965 there was a eugenics movement, to try to "weed out" those who had diseases or disabilities. There were institutions built throughout each state that housed those with significant disabilities and even those with minor conditions,
such as imperfect gait. One of the main institutions we spoke about, was Pennhurst State School and Hospital. From the 1930's up until the 1970's, those who lived in this institution were not taken care of properly. There were overcrowding and a decrease in the amount of healthcare professionals. This lead to patients being left to themselves where they couldn't properly engage, they weren't taken care of and cleaned by a care giver, some patients were put in different restraints and patients even started assaulting other patients in the institute. Come 1987, Pennhurst was finally shut down from a settlement agreement. 

That had to be brutal living in an institution that was in all aspects, dark and dirty. These patients needed assistants and there were no proper health care professional who made this institution better, because it was based around a time of eugenics. It is hard to wrap my mind around, how a group of people could allow something like this to happen. 

Thankfully, as the decades became more knowledgable and grew with the era, changes in legislation began. Around the time of the civil rights movement, there was a movement called Civil Rights Crawl to the Capital. It was based upon those who had wheelchairs. The reason they "crawled" to the Capital, rather than road in their wheelchair, was because there were no ramps for them to get up. All they had were curbs, and lets be real here, that is difficult to manage. However, I am pleased there became a change in legislation that gave rise to those with disabilities. The American Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1990, was created where no child or individual would be excluded or discriminated against. Lastly, the Disability Rights movement had more push for equality and accessibility, so those with a disability can go to work or get into the college of their choice and not be discriminated against. I think that is great, because I have seen not only adults, but kids who want to be independent. Our society has to learn to embrace this, because they have the same goals as everybody else. 

*Fun Fact: Dr. Keisling mentioned that Tennessee is one of the few states that are creating "smart apartments" for those who are wanting to live independently. How cool is that? 

Imaged retrieved from: Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.corvallisoregon.gov/hr/page/americans-disabilities-act-ada