Disabilities In 1800s

Around 56.6 million people have a disability, that is 19% of the population. With so many people having disabilities we need to start treating them better and understand what they are going through. In the past we have treated people with disabilities like less humans but now we have a better understanding of the barriers they face and the disabilities we see and sometimes can’t.

Throughout history the treatment of the disabled has been cruel and has gotten better over time. In the 1800’s, people with disabilities were kept at home and not expected to live long. According to paul-burtner.dental.ufl.edu, ” prior to the late 1800’s, people with mental retardation, cerebral palsy, autism, and/or epilepsy resided at home and were cared for by

This shows that in the beginning of the 1800’s nobody really cared about or helped people with disabilities. Beginning in the late 1800’s, institutions and asylums were opened for people with disabilities or who were considered unwanted. Evidence of this can be read on mohistory.org “During the 1800s institutions opened that catered to people with disabilities. Most of these facilities focused on restraining and controlling patients, not on treatment or therapy” This suggests that these institutions that were open did not work on helping people but restraining them and keeping them away from society. Later views started to change when the first right-based organization was set up for people with injuries and disabilities from World War II. On sites.google.com/site/changesintheviewsofdisability they say, “In the 1940's and 1950's, one of the first rights-based organisations was set up due to a wide range of injuries and disabilities which were a result of World War Two.” and “This action sparked the

An invisible disability can be defined as a disability that cannot be immediately seen by others and may limit some activities. invisibledisabilities.org say that invisible disabilities are, “not always obvious to the onlooker, but can sometimes or always limit daily activities, range from mild challenges to severe limitations and vary from person to person.” Based on this one must conclude that even though you cannot see it physically it does affect people. Next visible disabilities are a disability that can be noticed physically and may limit someone ability to do certain things. According to adata.org a visible disability is, “a person who has a physical impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activity.” This shows us that having this can limit you and the things you do and you can see when someone has something like this. Lastly, even though someone does not use assistive equipment like a wheelchair or cane they can still have a severe disability. For instance on invisibledisabilities.org it says, “In other words, 74 percent of Americans who live with a severe disability do not use such devices.” This is significant because you cannot judge a disability by what equipment people use and that some people have disabilities that you cannot see but affects them severely. In the end we cannot base someone with a disability off what