A History of Disability: from 1050 to the Present Day

Disability in the medieval period 1050-1485

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  Disability in the medieval period 1050-1485

  This section describes the life of people with disabilities in the medieval period.

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  Hospitals and Almshouses

  First hospitals which sprang out of a long tradition of medieval religious orders caring for their own communities and sheltering passing pilgrims.

• The Time of Leprosy: 11th Century to 14th Century

  How leprosy became endemic in England by the 11th century, medieval attitudes towards the disease and how sufferers were cared for.

• England's First Mental Institution

  The origins of the 'Bethlem', England's first hospital for the mentally ill.

• Disability in the Medieval English Community

  How most disabled people remained in the community, working or supported by others, or sometimes begging on the streets.

Disability from 1485-1660

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  Disability from 1485-1660

  This section tells you how great changes in 16th century English society had a lasting effect on the lives of people with disabilities.

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  Disability in the Tudor Institutions

  Many of the religious institutions caring for the sick and disabled were destroyed during Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries.

• The King's Fools - Disability in the Tudor Court

  How 'natural fools' - people with learning disabilities - were well cared for at the Tudor court and valued for their directness and humour.

• Mental illness in the 16th and 17th centuries

  The appointment of the Bethlem's first medical 'keeper' reflected society's growing view that mental illness was a medical matter.

• Marriage, Work, Family and War - the Daily Life of People with Disabilities in the 16th and 17th Centuries

  How many disabled people living in their communities in the 16th and 17th centuries were able to work, marry and raise children.

Disability from 1660-1832

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  Disability from 1660-1832

  This section looks at the important shifts in the understanding of disability that took place in the 'long 18th century'.

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  The Rise of the Hospital for Disabled People

  How the grand hospitals of the late 17th century and the charitable movement paved the way for the 19th century asylum era.

• The Age of the Madhouse - Home of the Well-Attired Ploughman

  Changing attitude to madness that led to the growth of private madhouses for the better-off, though paupers were sometimes admitted.

• Specialist Education for Children with Disabilities - 'the Happiest Effect'

  Some of the inspirational blind and deaf people who fought for the right for children with disabilities to be educated.

• The Lives of People with Disabilities in 18th Century England

  People with disabilities who stayed in their communities instead of being placed in an institution.

Disability in the 19th century

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  Disability in the 19th century

  This section describes the rapid expansion of new institutions in the 19th century.

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  The Growth of the Asylum - a Parallel World

  The rapid development of the asylum movement in the 19th century, and the strange parallel world that the asylum offered its inmates and attendants.

• Daily Life in the Asylum

  The rigorous organisation and control of daily life at the asylum and how its inmates lived and worked, exercised and celebrated.

• The Changing Face of the Workhouse: 'Asylums in everything but…'

  The workhouses built after the 1834 Poor Law Amendment Act, which increasingly housed the mentally ill and the disabled.

• The Daily Life of Disabled People in Victorian England - Community, School and Charity

  The increase in educational and charitable provision for disabled people who lived in their communities.

Disability in the early 20th century 1914-1945

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  Disability in the Early 20th century 1914-1945

  This section describes the tension between different attitudes to disability at the beginning of the 20th century.

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  The Impact of the First World War

  How Britain adapted to the challenge of the huge numbers of First World War ex-servicemen who came home permanently disabled by their wounds.

• 'Mental Deficiency' between the Wars - Life in the Colony

  Government's solution to reduced work opportunities for disabled people once ex-servicemen returned to the labour market after the First World War.

• The Right to Education - the Growth of the 'Special' School for Children with Disabilities

  How children with disabilities gained the right to education in the early 20th century.

• Everyday Life and Work - Disabled People in the Community in the Early 20th Century

  Difficulties for people with disabilities to live and work in their communities in the early 20th century as governmental control increased.

Disability since 1945

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  Disability Since 1945

  This section looks at how attitudes to disability changed after the Second World War.

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  Back to the Community - Disability Equality, Rights and Inclusion

  The struggle for disability equality, rights and inclusion leading to the end of the asylum and the policy of 'care in the community'.

• Disability, Rehabilitation and Work

  How work became a key element of the rehabilitation process for people with disabilities after the Second World War.

• Nowhere out of Bounds - Disability Access and Adaptation

  How the increased numbers of disabled people living in cities after the Second World War made mobility and access issues vitally important.

• Disability and Sport: The Birth of the Paralympics - from Rehabilitation to World Class Performance

  How sport was used by Ludwig Guttman in his revolutionary rehabilitation system at Stoke Mandeville for people paralysed in the Second World War.