Early history – this was before 1800

This was the period before 1800. Its major characteristics were that of misunderstandings and superstition about disability. In roman history, persons with disabilities were called fools and mainly used by rich people as a source of entertainment. During this period,. People that were believed to be different from others were believed to be possessed by evil spirits. Persons with disabilities were exploited and abused. For example, the disabled were used in circus to amuse people. Particularly, the blind were put in the streets so that they could sing and entertain people.

This period was also characterized by infanticide and superstition. Infanticide refers to the killing of babies. Babies born with impairments were killed immediately. If not, they were taken to far away forests to die slowly. Sometimes, parents strangled their own babies when they discovered deformity at birth. Superstition was also there in the sense that it was considered as an abomination to have a child born with defects. In some societies, it was regarded as a curse and disability in families was regarded as punishment because o the sins of the parents.

In most cases, parents were blamed for being irresponsible. During this period, persons with children born with disabilities were put to death or banned. Historical writers such as Zilboorg and Henry [1941] stated that during this time, most societies mistreated persons with disabilities. This inhuman treatment of people with disabilities was due to fear and ignorance. These misunderstandings somehow were due to unknown knowledge of how disability came about.

The Era of institutionalization 1800-1900

The idea of institutionalization came about as people realized that persons with disabilities needed to be accepted as people who belong to the society and to face up with challenges that affect people with disabilities. However, people with disabilities were put in institutions so that they could be put away from the societies, hence the term “institutionalization”. Again, the term “isolation” comes in because they were put in institutions.

It also brought about the issue of “human ware houses”. It is argued that they were put in closed places for safety purposes since the aspect of acceptance was not really understood by the community. Disabled people were locked up from public view. Some element of protection was seen during this era. There was also a general feeling of pity for people with disabilities. This protection was offered so that the disabled could be separated from bad treatment by society. Despite giving them protection, isolation was there too.