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Museum Of Disability Essay

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The Museum of Disability was very informative on displaying the progressive history of individuals with disabilities. Prior to visiting the museum, I only knew that people with certain disabilities perform in the circus, but did not know how badly they were being treated. People often forget that those with disabilities are still human and have rights like any other human being. The ways people perceive individual with disabilities have majorly progressed since the Middle Ages until now. In the Middle Ages, those with disabilities were called idiots, which meant they were ignorant or not well informed. Growing up with disabilities was hard during this time. Many became street beggars, while a few served as jesters for the royal courts. In rural areas, family used their disabled family members to help around the house. During the Renaissance era, becoming knowledgeable about arts and sciences was beginning to become popular. There …show more content…

During this time, advanced care for people with disabilities and mental illness started to flourish. Philippe Pinel and Jean Etienne Domique Esquirol were psychiatrists who used modern psychological approaches to care. Pinel was the director of the Paris asylums in 1794(Museum of Disability). He refused to torture the mentally ill patients, which was considered the usual method. Instead, he befriended his patients and engaged them in activities. Esquirol took Pinel’s place at Salpetriere and continued the humane treatment. He became the first person to differentiate between mental deficiency and insanity. He felt that the chance of improvement was with the insane, not the mentally deficient. In 1848, in the United States, Dr. Samuel Howe founded the “Massachusetts School for Idiotic & Feeble-Minded Youth”. Howe prepared the children to return to their families by teaching them how to be productive despite their

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