The History of Service To, and Problems Facing, the Disabled

In my first report on disabilities and serving the disabled, I took the offensive on the state of disability services in the state of Florida and compared the situation there to other parts of the modern world. In my second report, which you could technically call the second half of a two-part report on disability services in some parts of the world, I shall look at the history of disabled persons in society as a whole, as well as the history and cause of the associated problems facing the disabled. In addition, I will explore why disabilities do not have to hold back individuals who otherwise have great abilities to function in society – and possibly make a difference for others in similar situations. 

Historic anecdotes – and problems – concerning the disabled

For most of early human history, many types of disabilities – especially mental disorders – took the human-perceived form of either the “displeasure of the gods or as evidence of demoniac possession” with the exception of only a very few human orders. Also during this period, the responses to such social ills tended to be exorcisms, punishments, and – in exceptionally nasty cases – even total outright banishment from the disabled person’s social order. In fact, it was not until the founding of Greek civilization that the first thoughts on how to assist and integrate disabled persons into society echoed from the works of such medical experts of that time as the legendary Hippocrates, the so-called father of medicine that laid the initial groundwork for modern medicine. Eventually, the first treatment centers for the disabled, for example the primitive mental asylum, began to appear during the early Middle Ages; however, disabled persons increasingly began to be separated from the rest of society by the 17th century (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2006).