In premodern [W]western societies, infant mortality was high. ... in the mideighteenth century, less than half the children were expected to reach adulthood. ... population of Europe reached only 150 million; half of the population were below twenty-one, and the average life expectancy was only about thirty-five (Winzer, 1993, p. 8, 7).
The majority of women had to play the role of an obedient wife
and an efficient mother. On the other hand, the European men
were either engaged in war or economically supported their
families. Children were considered to be a separate segment
of the population until the public started to recognize them
as human beings who wanted to become independent, productive
adults.
The Invisible Minority
Since nobody openly discussed or wrote about disabled
issues, it was nearly impossible to estimate the exact figures
of the disabled population. The plague, other diseases, living
in unhealthy environments, and suffering from malnutrition were
all factors that caused some people to become disabled.
However, even though disabled people existed all over the world,
they were only considered to be a small minority of the total
population (Winzer, 1993).
... a minority always exposed to the prejudices of the majority, not only because they could not partake of normal life, but also because they represented evil or were seen as public threats. Being different drew cruel and callous reactions from society, yet the penalties ... inflicted legal sanctions, church expulsion, starvation, exile, or even death- were ... administered to exterminate all persons with handicaps (Winzer, 1993, p. 9).
Society labeled people, who were physically disabled, as dwarfed, crippled, deaf, intellectually handicapped, epileptic, or mentally retarded. All of these different labels were lumped under one category. Since nobody performed any extensive research to explain any of the above disabilities, the average person automatically assumed that the physical disabled were strange, mad, and insane. Furthermore, "The concept of exceptionality thoughout history has [had] not been static" (Winzer, 1993, p. 9).
Since there were not any laws to protect disabled people's and poor individuals' rights, society did not offer any human service programs to these populations. Disabled and underprivileged individuals managed to survive by depending on family, friends, and private organizations (Winzer, 1993).
Disability was a subcategory of poverty- A disabling condition caused the poverty and was often viewed as inevitable, an instance of God's work (Winzer, 1993, p. 85).
The first code of laws adopted by the Massachusetts General Court in December of 1641 protected those of "greatness of age, defect of minde, fayling of sences, or impotencie of Lymbes" as well as "Children, Idiots, Distracted persons (Winzer, 1993, p. 85).
In 1679, Philp Nelson attempted to design a special
educational program for deaf children in Rowley, Massachusetts.
He was not successful at accomplishing this project because
the local church strongly believed that only God could perform
miracles to heal the disabled (Winzer, 1993).
The Almshouse Movement
During the late eighteenth century, more organizations
developed to help the growing disabled population. Both the
Americans and the British decided to provide human services.
Since they were able to distinguish between the underprivileged
and the privileged, it was easy to create appropriate services
for the disabled. After 1800, the Almshouse Movement emerged
in the United States. This movement was known as the poor
relief policy (Winzer, 1993).
In Massachusetts, sixty towns constructed new facilities between 1820 and 1840; in New York, the number of people in Almshouses grew from 4,500 in 1830 to 10,000 in 1859 (Winzer, 1993, p. 86).
The Almshouses were basically state institutions, which provided shelter for the eldery, the disabled, and the poor. In 1795, New York state officials placed the elderly, the blind, Cerebral Palsy victims, and the mentally ill into one state institution. After this happened, families and friends, who once took care of these people, had more time to enhance the quality of their life. For instance, a mother who had been providing care for her physically disabled son for twenty years could now put her son in an Almshouse. Since this mother did not have to care for her son anymore, she was now able to to obtain a job, attend college, or travel around the world (Winzer, 1993).
American hospitals for the insane arosed in the late eighteenth century. Generally, facilities for children formed no part of these institutions, ... because emotional disturbance was not thought to occur in children. Nevertheless, care of the mentally ill and the mentally retarded remained closely intertwined ... of the nineteenth century (Winzer, 1993, p. 86).
... public expectations of the ability of the schools to handle and instruct "the school children who are crippled, deaf, suffering from speech or visual defects, the mentally deficient, the feeble-minded, the mentally disordered, and the mentaly delinquent" were hard to fulfill (Winzer, 1993, p. 367).
Nevertheless, the advocators, who fought for the disabled
rights, demanded that the public schools should reconstruct
their curriculums. These advocators strongly felt it was
necessary to mainstream disabled children because they could
benefit from attending intergrated classes. If the public
schools offered more individualized attention by providing
remedial instruction, then disabled students could have
experienced the joys of learning (Winzer, 1993).
The White House Advocated for Disabled Children's Rights
Although the White House began to hold conferences on how to
provide more appropriate educational techniques so that
disabled children could better function in segregated classes,
these children were either returned to the Almshouses or their
private special schools. After President Woodrow Wilson took
office in 1919, he held another conference that was called The
Year of the Child. This conference was about the
disadvantages and advantages of special education. "The White
House conferences had enormous impact in advocacy for
children's rights" (Winzer, 1993, p. 367).
Children's Charter: 1920s though the 1930s
In 1930, President Herbert Hoover held a conference on
children and protection. One thousand and two hundred
educational experts attended this conference, which was the
largest meeting held in the United States. A extensive
report, called the Children's Charter, was written. The
Children's Charter focused on special education,
recommendations for disabled children, and it was given
special education recognition on the national level.
The Children's Charter ... spoke to the theraputic and educational needs of exceptional children. "For every child who is blind, deaf, crippled or otherwise physically handicapped, and for the child who is mentally handicapped," the charter recommended "such measures will early ... diagnose his handicap, provide care and treatment, and so train him that he may become an asset of society rather than a liability (Winzer, 1993, p. 368).
Special education teachers and their exceptional pupils were isolated from the mainstream of education; special educators and regular classroom teachers lived in separate environments, each thinking the other used different methods and spoke a different language (Winzer, 1993, p. 370).
Furthermore, these special education teachers were forced to instruct disabled children in the public schools' basements, closets, and hallways. Since these children had been completely isolated from the nondisabled children and outside world, negative sterotypes and attitudes quickly developed. Winzer wrote the following statement:
Regular pupils were "inevitably trained to look upon the more unfortunate members of the school community as persons to be avoided, ridiculed, or maliciously tormented" (1993, p. 370).
If disabled students continued to be mainstreamed, then they
could have had more challenging, positive learning
experiences. They attended special education classes because
educators thought that they had difficulties completing with
'normal' children. If nondisabled children had been given the
opportunity to socially interact with their disabled peers,
these negative attitudes may not have been so persistant.
Postwar Developments: 1940
Educational experts felt that it was necessary to create
better educational programs for the disabled.
Professional knowledge in special education rapidly expanded, complemented by advances in medicine, psychology, and technology (Winzer, 1993, p. 372).
As a result, numerous human services, designed to help the disabled, started to develop. For example, children's centers, social services, agencies, and counseling services flourished thoughout the country. As disabled people were slowly mainstreamed into society once again, the public's perceptions began to change.
By October 1942, it was estimated that 3 million disabled men and women were engaged in the war industry thoughout the country. Simply the sight of disabled persons engaged in functional, intergrated, and age-appropriate activities appears to have had a positive effect (Winzer, 1993, p. 372).
During World War I, disabled adults were accepted into the work force. Since congress decided to write additional amendments to the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1943, employers were forced to hire disabled people. This act provided an array of brand new human services such as job training and educational programs tailored to teach interview skills.
By 1947, 500,000 American and Canadian children in 7,000 city school systems were receiving special education from 1,600 teachers and supervisors (Winzer, 1993, p. 373).
Although disabled individuals' living conditions were steady
improving, educational professionals still believed
mainstreaming handicapped children into their local public
schools would have created more problems (Winzer, 1993).
The 1950s and the 1960s
In the 1950s, the mentally retarded were also recognized as
human beings who wanted to have the same opportunities and
rights just as other United States citizens. Moreover,
congress granted mentally retarded and physically handicapped
people constitutional rights such as due process. Also, the
public felt that all disabled people should be mainstreamed
into regular classes so that they could become well educated
citizens and be given a chance to contribute their skills to
society. "Educational policy making moved from the local
school boards to state agencies, a redirection that increased
opportunities" (Winzer, 1993, p. 375).
During the 1960s, the disabled faced a lot of social injustice. People often took advantage of the handicapped population. For instance, many disabled people physically depended on full or part-time personal aides. Sometimes, these aides took their personal belongings and money (Winzer, 1993).
The Kennedy era marked a period of ... federal interest in special education, vocational education, vocational rehabilitation, and other programs to assist unemployed disabled youths and adults. The federal government began to move slowly into a supportive role in both finance and research (Winzer, 1993, p. 376).
... poorly clothed or naked residents, residents in solitary rooms, and large, lonely day rooms smeared with excrement on walls, floors, and even ceilings (Winzer, 1993, p. 378).
Reports, such as the American Association on Mental
Deficiency and The Need for Standards in the Institution, were
published in the 1950s. Books were also published during the
1960s though the 1990s. All of these documents were written
to make the public aware of the tragedies and horrors that
happened in institutions. Shortly after the public realized
that disabled children were being physically abused, verbally
attacked, and neglected in these places, the state and federal
governments began to allow disabled individuals to live in
their communities. Also, these individuals were given the
freedom to make personal decisions and take full control of
their lives (Winzer, 1993).
The 1970s
Disabled people's lives continued to improve. Educational
experts, regular classroom teachers, and special education
teachers still felt that disabled children should be
mainstreamed into public schools for the following reasons:
One reason had to do with the gradual accumulation of empirical data on the effectiveness of special classes and concerns for the identification of minority-group children. A second reason revolved around the increasingly complex body of empirical knowledge concerning the learning of children in school and behavior problems. ... Finally, emerging legislation and litigation supported the movement (Winzer, 1993, p. 381).