Courtesy of Pete Millington,
Editor & Researcher
Disability West Midlands
The Long and Winding Road
A History of Disability and Disabled People
Edited and researched by Peter Millington
An abridged version of the following chronology was published in the last edition of Pinpoint (the magazine of Disability West Midlands) in the 20th Century (November / December 1999) to celebrate the new Millennium.
The history plots landmark events and trends in the development of disability issues and the disabled people's movement, from ancient times when disabled people were viewed as objects of charity and pity, or worse were killed on the basis of religious beliefs, to the emergence of the Social model of disability and the disabled people's movement in the past 2 - 3 decades.
The original article was based largely upon historical research previously published by established writers from within the disability movement. These sources, with additional ones, are listed as primary sources at the end of the document.
We have expanded the history to include a wider range of personal, medical and other historical landmarks. The emphasis has therefore moved from one that was exclusively related to the history of the social theory of disability, although this remains the central focus and other events are presented within this wider context.
As a continuing work in progress, this history is therefore not fully comprehensive and there are bound to be significant events and people we have missed out. If you have further dates or events of interest to add to this history, please contact disability West Midlands on telephone 0121 414 1616 or email info@dwm.org.uk
Other formats can be provided on request, such as large print, on CD or disc, or on audio formats. All proceeds from the sale of this document directly support the work of disability West Midlands, a regional organisation which is led by a management board which has over 75% membership of Disabled people.
A Note on Language.
During the past century and in particular the past few decades, the language we use to talk about disability has changed. Many words commonly used in the past are now considered offensive, some words have changed in meaning, some are acceptable in other cultures and countries but not in Britain, others are inaccurate, inappropriate or outdated. However, the difficulty in producing a historic time line like this, is that many terms and words are reproduced from original texts, commentaries and historical documents. In order to understand the historical context of the time it is sometimes of value to reproduce the language and jargon of the period – where this has been necessary we have attempted to enclose certain terms which might otherwise be considered offensive or inappropriate in the modern context, in quotation marks / inverted commas to indicate that this is the language of a previous age.
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Page Last Updated on January 16, 2006