The Effectiveness of the Legislation and Policy Reforms in Practice

The treatment of individuals with disabilities has changed dramatically since the 1800’s. Reynolds 1988, describes, Progressive inclusion, the evolution of services provided to those with various disabilities. In the early 1800’s residential institutions, or asylums were seem as common place accommodations for individuals with hearing, visual, mental or emotional impairments. Institutions remained the primary educational support until a century later in the early 1900’s. The parents of students with disabilities brought upon a legislation change. During the 1950’s and 1960’s, these parents pressured courts and legislatures to introduce a change in educational services. Reynolds

Individuals with disabilities have a long, hard history. In early times children born with disabilities were seen as weak and helpless, often resulting in them being hidden away or even killed. Due to not having the knowledge on the level of which we have today about disabilities in the past, people did not know what caused it. Sometimes giving birth to a child with a disability would be blamed on sins of family members, often leading to feelings of shame and guilt by the parents and/or other family members. The view on people with disabilities progressed positively into the 1900’s, but society was still not informed on how to treat those with disabilities. Instead of treating them like people, feelings of pity were commonly evoked in others. The arrival of disabled veterans after World War II and the civil rights fights of women and racial minorities had an immense impact on the changing perspectives on disability in the United States. With this changing perspective came the view of how inaccessible environments and the attitudes of others affected the disabled, bringing forth that access to programs and services was a civil right. This led to legislation which included the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Education of All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (later updated and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, IDEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). These and other laws entitle people

Prior to 1940’s, People with disabilities were excluded from society and were considered unable to learn. They are often placed in institutions under custodial care, considered unable to learn or benefit from regular educational programs. However, as early as in 1800s, some educators like Samuel Gridley Howe disagreed, believing that children with disabilities could learn and should have an education, not just custodial care.

My great grandmother Hazel was born in the late 1920’s and suffered from the mental illness known as schizophrenia. In addition, two out of five children also developed this disorder. Like me, most individuals today can say they know someone who is mentally handicapped. Those who are mentally impaired are, in general, well taken care of by loving family members and trained professionals who decide on a plan of action for him or her. However, mentally disabled people in the time around the 1930’s were treated very differently. In fact, the famous novel Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck expertly illustrates the daily life of the character Lennie, who is disabled. Back then, mentally impaired people were subjected to cruel treatments, faced limited

Furthermore, in the 1900’s the Mental Deficiency Health Act came into implementation in (1913-1938) where children and vulnerable adults would have been placed institutional settings, until the amendment to the Mental Health Act (1959). This act abolished the categories of legal distinction of mental health and prevented those who did not need to go for example, a mother who is unwed and had repeated amount of children as they were seen to be ‘defective’ (Pilgrim, D, 2014).

1994: Code of Practice on the Identification and Assessment of Special Educational Needs’. The code is designed to help these bodies to make effective decisions regarding children with SEN. It does not (and could not) tell them what to do in each individual

The history of institutionalization dates back to the mid 1800’s. It was around the time that services for the “mentally retarded” began to take shape. Edward Seguin was the first person to dedicate his time with this issue. He was convinced that education was a universal right and also society had an obligation to improve everyone, and that the mentally retarded were among the helpless who required assistance (Crissey 1975). By the late 1870’s many educational facilities for the mentally retarded were established following the teachings of Seguin. These facilities were staffed with many qualified teachers in order to maintain the highest standards and 150-200 mentally disabled students in attendance. The goals of the institutions were to

Since Mary Warnock brought out her report in 1978, numerous changes have happened in the education system, these changes enable children and young people with disabilities to be included within the mainstream school (Moore 2009). Department for Children Schools and Families (2008) state, settings should meet the individual needs of children, as this will help them to achieve their potential. What is more, settings should ensure that they have effective working policies to support children with specific learning difficulties, similarly all children and their families should be supported in their individual learning and care needs. "Inclusion is not optional, children have defined entitlements in this area and settings have legal responsibilities" (Department for Children Schools and Families 2008:p2)

People with learning disabilities are 2.5 times more likely to have health problems than other people without a learning disability (Disability Rights Commission 2006). Despite the knowledge of this, recent reports have highlighted that there is evidence that people with learning disabilities have higher levels of unmet health needs and also receive less or no effective treatment, even though the legislation that explicitly sets out a legal framework for effective delivery of equal treatment and health inclusion for all (Disability Rights Commission 2006 and 2007)

Disability is an umbrella term used to cover impairments, activity limitation and participation restrictions. Disability is not just a health problem but a complex phenomenon (WHO 2015). Disability has been a neglected area of historical enquiry in Britain, studies have recognised significance of the past, physical impairment generated historical literature, mental impairment has none (Borsay, 2005). The last 100 years have been dominant constructions of education

The Adult Learning Disability Service for Lancashire Care NHS is a sector in the trust’s community health services, that are there to enhance the health of individuals with a learning disability and assist them to connect them to any health care that they may need by assisting mainstream health services by creating an unbiased adaption to help people with a learning disability to access them also by producing specialist health assessments and interventions (Lancashire Care NHS, 2018). Lancashire Care promotes the thoughts that individuals with learning disabilities have a right to equal access to healthcare, respect and understanding, receive services that are in their best interests when they are not able to make decisions for themselves,

Those with disabilities were treated very unalike than those without a disability in the 19th Century than those in today’s world. If you had a disability you were treated unfairly and differently than others without a disability. You were not allowed to work, and you received almost all your money from public funds, like Poor Law Relief. Children and adults with disabilities were mostly dependent on medical professionals for cures and treatments. In the late 19th century, scientists, writers, and politicians began to use Darwin’s Theory of Evolution and natural selection to help with their research. They thought that they would be able to “improve the quality of the human race” by selective breeding. They argued that people with disabilities would weaken the nation and reduce “competitiveness.” Even professionals were uncertain of how to help people with disabilities, and they did not know how they would respond to certain things, so they decided to lock them away in institutions. Individuals with disabilities were hidden in institutions for almost their entire lifetime. The children and adults with disabilities went to separate schools and day centers that were made for the sole purpose of keeping

In early colonial America if a family could not support their disabled child they would be removed from the home, kept in cellars in correctional institutions and an admission fee would be charged to “gawk at the oddities.” Disabled children were not allowed in public therefore homeschooling needed to be provided by the family. In 1848 Massachusetts founded the “Institution for Idiots” and when there was insufficient staff to provide care they were shackled to their beds. In the early 1900’s involuntary sterilization of people with developmental disabilities began because it was believed inferior traits could be passed on to the next generation (Historical Background of Disabilities https://us.corwin.com/sites/default/files/upm-binaries/26491_Chapter_1_Historical_Background_of_Disabilities.pdf, page

The disabled have been treated rather poorly throughout history. They experienced mistreatment from wars, bad leaders, and other circumstances during many time periods. One huge mistreatment of the disabled was during World War II when Hitler murdered millions of Jews, gypsies, disabled, and the ill. In the article, Treatment of Disabled People Throughout History, the author wrote, “In 1939, amid World War Two, Hitler ordered a wide spread 'mercy killing' of the sick and disabled.” This further shows how poorly they were treated. There have also been major changes and laws that have made a good impact on the lives and improvement of the disabled. There have been institutions made for the blind, hard of hearing, and other disabilities. There

Under the 1944 Education Act, children with special educational needs were arranged according to their medical condition (House of Commons, 2006). Many children were considered to be uneducable in mainstream settings and were considered to be ‘mentally retarded’, ‘maladjusted’ or ‘sub-normal’ (House of Commons, 2006). Pupils with SEN were often sent to special schools and taught practical skills as an alternative to standard education (Bateman, Lloyd and Tankersley, 2015). The Warnock Report in 1978, followed by the 1981 Education Act, introduced the idea of special educational needs (SEN), statements, and an inclusive approach to education (House of Commons, 2006).