For my blog, I am going to talk about the issues related to children who are born with disabilities in the early capitialism era. From the very begining of history, people with disabilities have been ostracized, rejected, and discriminated against in society.(Romel W. Mackelprang and Richard O. Salsgiver 1994)
From my research I have concluded that there is a lot of history behind this issue.
In ancient times, Neolithic tribes thought people with disabilities were possed by spirits and full of evil. They would drill holes in the skulls and let the evil spirits out. The Spartans, abandoned young and old people with disabilities in the countryside to die. Plato (western culture) viewed people with disabilities as standing in the way of a perfect world. "the offspring of the inferior, or of the better when they chance to be deformed, will be put away in some mysterious, unknown place, as they should " The Greeks and the romans abandoned disabled or deformed children to die. The only exception was they believed they would demeonstrate thanks by not rioting in their communities..(Romel W. Mackelprang and Richard O. Salsgiver)
There are many more different beliefs about disabled children and adults, each evolving throughout the centuries. By the mid 1770s, a new perspective was making its impact on Europeans and Americans. There was an idea that maybe humans could be perfected. Within this environment, treatment began to emerge that defined people with disabilities by their biological inadequacies. In the United States, institutions dedicated to perfecting the imperfect sprang up with the hope that professional intervention could cure those inadequacies. When a cure was not possible, people with disabilities could at least be trained to become functional enough to "perform socially or vocationally in an acceptable manner.(Romel W. Mackelprang and Richard O. Salsgiver)
Now a days, in Canada we have a lot of options out their for children suffering with dissabilities. They can attend an organized school related to their disabilities, we have teachers assistance, government related programs to offer assistance, and also free health care. Unfortunatly, in the Early Capitalism Era they did not have the same assistance and knowlege as we do today. They were treated as if they meant nothing, and certain rules were set out. They could not get married, reproduce and have a family. This goes to show how much our world has gained intellegence and acceptance of children and adults living with disabilities.
-Meri-Beth
References:
People with Disabilities and Social Work: Historical and Contemporary Issues: Romel W. Mackelprang and Richard O. Salsgiver 1994
Recieved from: http://sw.oxfordjournals.org.libproxy.auc.ca/content/41/1/7.short
That is so sad the way that those children were treated, it is disgusting. I agree with you that children in the early capitialism era that were born with disabilities were very abused and treated inhumanely. I like how your post shows how mankind has evolved from then to now to learn to accept people with disabilities and create programs to help them. I believe that there is still a lot that needs to be done to address children born with disabilities in Canada, and I think that more funding needs to be put forth by our government to help fund programs to help children born with disabilities whose parents cannot afford to get them the help, medication, and programs they need to strive. I really enjoyed your post and it made me aware of how those children born with disabilities were treated in early capitialism era.
ReplyDelete-Lyndsay
It always astonishes me that people can be treated so disgustingly by other human beings. Especially young children. They were seen as week and helpless, so most of the time others simply didn't bother, because they could not afford to lose time. I enjoyed your post and how you talked about the advancement, and thankfully we are better nowadays on certain issues such as this.
ReplyDelete-Amy
Wow! I never knew people with disabilities were treated and thought of so badly. How could something really think they were evil human beings. They didn't even give those people their life to live, they just ruined it and took it all away. Those children and adults were probably so confused on why they were getting treated poorly. I am really happy that people are not treated like that now days because it is just so unfair. Thankfully our world is much different and better now.
ReplyDeleteI have people in my family who have disabilities and it would really hurt to watch them get treated like that. Let alone drilling holes into their head?? Horrifying.
Really good post, thanks!
Hunter
I really enjoyed this post, it was very informative and I learned a lot. It almost makes sense to me that people with disabilities were treated like this because it was so early in time that people did not have the information or know much about disabilities. They viewed people with disabilities as evil and although it was wrong, I understand how they would view such a thing because in my opinion they did not have the technology to understand what was wrong. Although yes this is so horrifying but today we now have the technology to understand and there is no reason for them to be discriminated or treated poorly at all. I believe we are all equal and nobody should be looked down upon. I am so happy that times have changed from the early capitalism era but there are still people today that discriminate those with disabilities and this needs to be made note off. Very informative post! Got my mind thinking!
ReplyDelete- Alysha