Who's Not Yet Here? American Disability History

Introduction: disability, partnership, and family across time and space

“…They are now less inclined to view a person's impairment to be the sole cause of the disadvantages, and instead see how obstacles arise more indirectly as a result of how the surroundings respond to the person with the impairment. Recent historical works have increasingly uncovered the diverse disadvantages that disabled people experienced in societies where they were considered to be inferior, damaged and unable to follow the 'normal' or 'standard' life course (Anderson & Carden-Coyne, 2007;Burch & Sutherland, 2006;Longmore & Umansky, 2001;Rembis et al, 2018;Verstraete, 2007). Their disadvantaged position in the labour market has been found to be a major obstacle to engaging in romantic relationships, as indicated by the correlation between labour participation and marital status in the studies discussed above.…”

Viewpoints on Interventions for Learners with Disabilities

“…Initial efforts to deliver special education and develop specially designed instruction were focused on individuals with sensory disabilities (Best, 1930;Winzer, 1998). During the mid-sixteenth century, Pedro Ponce de Leon, a Spanish Benedictine monk, created oralism, an alternative to sign language that involved the teaching of lip-reading and speech, to teach wealthy deaf individuals to speak in order to obtain their inheritance (Buchanan, 1999;Burch & Sutherland, 2006;Lane, 1989;Winzer, 1998). The use of oralism grew and became the dominant mode of communication taught in schools for the deaf from the 1890s to the 1920s (Burch & Sutherland, 2006;Winzer, 1998).…”

“…During the mid-sixteenth century, Pedro Ponce de Leon, a Spanish Benedictine monk, created oralism, an alternative to sign language that involved the teaching of lip-reading and speech, to teach wealthy deaf individuals to speak in order to obtain their inheritance (Buchanan, 1999;Burch & Sutherland, 2006;Lane, 1989;Winzer, 1998). The use of oralism grew and became the dominant mode of communication taught in schools for the deaf from the 1890s to the 1920s (Burch & Sutherland, 2006;Winzer, 1998). However, Michel Charles de l'Épée, a French priest, challenged the use of oralism and fostered the belief that the use of written characters and sign language was the most effective way to educate the deaf, which resulted in the use of sign language as the prevailing deaf education pedagogy during the first half of the 1800s (Winzer, 1998).…”

Industry, Improvement, and Intellectual Disability: Finding the Hopes and Fears of Parents and Superintendents at the Pennsylvania Training School

“…Before the advent of disability studies, historians generally approached the subject of intellectual disability with an organizational, state, or institutional point of view that implicitly assumed the viewpoint of its administrators and institutional leaders: that disabilities were medical conditions to be treated. 5 Disability scholars have upended this approach in favor of a social constructivist viewpoint, as they "emphasize the experiences of the disabled themselves and describe the ways impairments become disabilities." This approach is premised on the recognition that "impairments do not disable people; society, culture, economics, politics, and law create the category of people known as the disabled."…”