Question

write or prepare a presentaion on future ,present,past for disability history in the societt

Answer 1

Being disabled concerns not only the disabled identity and social phenomena; it also involves power and access to material resources.

DISABILITY IN THE SOCIETY IN THE PAST

Blind and deaf people in the past:

From ancient times in folklore beliefs disabled children were seen as a punishment by God, a consequence of one or both of the parents having sinned. They were seen as incomplete individuals and unwanted in society. Thus, disabled children were sometimes killed or left in the forest to die. Nevertheless, differences between various groups of disabled people gradually developed, with the blind generally being held in higher esteem than other disabled people. In the Middle Ages negative attitudes towards the disabled decreased slightly, and institutions dedicated to caring for disabled people were established. Yet, blind people had a special position among the disabled, since it was seen as a higher Christian deed to help the blind. For instance, hospitals and monasteries were expected to care for the poor and the sick, and blind people were included among them.

Deafness was more difficult for past societies to understand. Deaf people could not hear and sometimes could not speak, but usually showed no visible dysfunction, so the general belief was that deafness and muteness had the same origin, which led to the conclusion that if one of these two disabilities was dysfunctional the other one also was. This is likely why past societies used the concept deaf mute for this kind of disability. Another unfortunate misunderstanding, originating from ancient times, was the idea that deaf people lacked common sense.

Consequently, those lacking the ability to hear and/or speak could not develop a fully functional intellect. This perception persisted during the first centuries AD, even if the attitudes towards the deaf and other disabled people gradually became less negative. However, the opinion was that they could not benefit from education since they could not hear God’s words and, consequently, could not experience faith.

The ancient beliefs that impairments were a punishment from God, and that disabled children were possibly possessed by devils, still existed among people in the eighteenth century. Influence from the Church came to slightly undermine such thoughts, and it became more uncommon to neglect disabled children or deliberately allow them to die. During the eighteenth century, knowledge about deafness developed and medical experts came to believe that no one lacked all their hearing capacity. They performed surgical operations and/or trained the deaf to achieve better hearing.

Crippled people in the past:

Physical impairments cover both congenital deformities or those caused later in life, for instance decreased physical ability due to accident or disease. The earliest images of deformed bodies are found in Stone-Age cave drawings, showing mysterious and marvelous bodies. The scientists from ancient time called them “monsters”. From the Middle Ages and onward legends of deformed people, “monsters”, were spread among people. Later, in the late nineteenth century, so-called “freak shows” were held, where people with deformities such as giants, dwarves and Siamese twins, signifying the unusual body, were put on display for public amusement. An old folkloristic explanation for congenital deformities was that the mother must have done something wrong during her pregnancy. She might also have had nightmares or seen something frightening or outrageous, which would have impacted the development of the fetus. Contagious illnesses that could cause deformities and/or disabilities included smallpox, tuberculosis and polio.

The polio virus paralyzed the body, and since children were those most commonly affected, the disease was often called infantile paralysis. The paralysis could be permanent or transient, but was disabling in both cases. If it affected the respiratory organs, it could also be lethal. The general idea regarding individuals suffering from polio was that the virus affected not only the muscles but also the intellect, so that the illness not only gave rise to physical dysfunctions but also led to social consequences.

Mentally disabled people in the past:

In ancient societies, people suffering from mental illness were treated as if they were possessed by the devil or by enemies to society. However, people labeled mad could also be seen as divine and were therefore treated with indulgence. Their treatment varied greatly, from calm talks with those who were ill to more violent treatments. The mentally ill were commonly cared for by their relatives in their own homes, but if this was not possible some cities maintained prisonlike buildings to house the sick. During the Age of Enlightenment, however, the general view of mental illness began to gradually change. Now, it was believed that mental deficiencies originated from the body itself.

In the middle of the seventeenth century a major turn occurred between the ideas of reason and unreason, and concludes that a modern human being could not communicate with a “mad” person. This led to “mad” people – such as beggars, criminals, vagrants, the unemployed and prostitutes – being institutionalized in hospitals and separated from society. This practice and attitude introduced the idea in seventeenth-century society that the mentally ill were unwanted, and should be kept out of sight through confinement. However, the “insane” were not defined as sick, so there was no intention to try to cure them at these institutions.

Care of mentally ill individuals progressed throughout the latter part of the nineteenth century, and continues today. Eventually, authorities realized that it was not possible for all mentally disabled people to accumulate the knowledge needed to be able to support themselves, so caring homes were established for those who were deemed uneducable. The education for those regarded as educable continued, and was integrated into elementary school as late as the 1960s; by 1985 these pupils were completely integrated in elementary school, with shared rules and regulations.

DISABILITY IN THE SOCIETY IN THE PRESENT:

While throughout the world many changes have taken place in status and treatment of persons with disabilities, the remnants of tradition and past belief influence present-day practices affecting such group. The degree to which persons with disabilities are accepted within a society is not directly proportionate to that society's financial resources and/or technical knowhow. Lippman (1972) observed that in many European countries, such as Denmark and Sweden, citizens with disabilities are more accepted than in the United States. He also found that, these countries provided more effective rehabilitation services. The prevalent philosophy in Scandinavian countries is acceptance of social responsibility for all members of the society, without regard to the type or degree of disabling condition.

In the field of education, perceptions towards children and adults with disabilities have changed significantly. The greatest challenge in education today, according to Birch and Johnstone (1975), is ensuring that all schools are as readily and fully accessible to persons with disabilities as to the non-disabled. From every standpoint, whether that of human rights, economic efficiency, or social desirability, the national interest should be to serve children with disabilities equally with all others. Putting this concept into practice means turning away from the traditional segregation of persons with disabilities. Many writers reviewed here stress the importance of changes in attitudes, behavior and socio-educational structures.

Recent international and national legislation has cast increasing light on the philosophy of inclusion and inclusive schooling. Grounded in UNESCO's education policy, adopted at the Salamanca Conference 1994 (UNESCO 1994), inclusive education is progressively being accepted as an effectual means by which biased attitudes towards student with disabilities may be reduced.

According to the 1993 U.N. Standard Rules on the Equalization of Oppotunities for Persons with Disabilities (1993), "States should recognize the principle of equal primary, secondary and tertiary educational opportunities for youth and adults with disabilities in integrated settings. They should ensure that the education of persons with disabilities is an integral part of the educational system". This is a specific support for inclusive education. In Australia, the philosophy of inclusive education has followed international trends, with the continent accepting the challenge to educate all students in mainstream settings in an equitable manner.

Efforts to eliminate all forms of prejudices and discrimination against persons with disabilities by some of the UN agencies, governments, and national and international disability organizations are bearing fruit.

DISABILITY IN THE SOCIETY IN THE FUTURE:

It questions the developments in human genetic research from the perspective of persons with mental disabilities and their families. Reinders warns that preventative uses of human genetics might even become a threat to the social security and welfare benefits that help support disabled persons and their families. Because a liberal society makes a commitment to individual freedom and choice, its members can consider the diagnostic and therapeutic uses of human genetics as options available to individual citizens. A liberal society will defend reproductive freedom as a matter of principle. Citizens may select their offspring in accord with their own personal values.

The future of the mentally disabled in liberal society will depend on the strength of our moral convictions about the value of human life, rather than on the protective force of liberal morality. In future attention will be given to parents who have come to see the task of raising a disabled child as an enriching experience. These are people who change their conceptions of success and control and, therefore, their conceptions of themselves. They come to value their disabled children for what they have to give. Even though disabled children and disabled adults present parents and society with real challenges, the rewards are just as real.

The changing age distribution of the population likewise explains concerns about ability of the future workforce to provide paid long-term care services for the growing numbers of older and younger people with serious disabilities. As essential as paid caregivers are, family members—primarily wives, mothers, daughters, and daughters-in-law—have traditionally provided the great majority of care for older and younger people with disabilities. This source of support is under pressure from the post-baby boom reduction in family size, decreases in marriage rates and increases in divorce rates, and growth in the participation of women in the paid workforce during recent decades.

In the future, assistive technology—from advanced technologies that monitor individuals in their homes to memory aids to relatively simple devices such as canes and walkers—likely will play an important role in supporting independence for older adults and reducing their need for personal caregiving.

In future, individuals, families, and society in general will have to cope in coming decades when these deficiencies are combined with projections of significant increases in the population most at risk of disability; possible shortages in the caregiving workforce; and escalating costs for programs such as Medicare, and Medicaid.  Medicare, Medicaid, and other public health care programs that benefit people with and without disabilities are supported by taxes. Projections of future spending increases for these programs and for income support programs such as Social Security have raised the prospect of difficult trade-offs, such as reduced spending for other purposes or higher taxes, or both. People may not realize it, but the support that they give today for policies that affect future funding for disability-related programs is a statement about the level of support that they can expect to receive at later stages in their own lives. These policies will help define the future of disability.