The history of the history of learning disability.

This article traces and summarises historiographical trends in the history of learning disability. It identifies three major waves of historical approaches beginning with a medicalised analysis which emerged in the early 20th century. This presented a story of medical progress which began with the a...

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Publicado en:British Journal of Learning Disabilities Vol. 50; no. 2; pp. 132 - 143
Autores principales: Jarrett, Simon, Tilley, Elizabeth
Formato: review Journal Article
Publicado: Wiley-Blackwell Jun2022
Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        atl: The history of the history of learning disability.
      aug:
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          Jarrett, Simon
          Tilley, Elizabeth
        affil: Department of History, Classics and Archeology, Birkbeck, University of London, London, UK
      sug:
        subj:
          Intellectual Disability History
          Research, Medical
          Professional Role
          Persons with Disabilities Psychosocial Factors
          Family Psychosocial Factors
          Parents of Children with Disabilities Psychosocial Factors
          Culture
          Institutionalization
          Health Services Accessibility
          Politics History
      ab: This article traces and summarises historiographical trends in the history of learning disability. It identifies three major waves of historical approaches beginning with a medicalised analysis which emerged in the early 20th century. This presented a story of medical progress which began with the asylum movement of the 19th century and represented 'idiots' as creatures of the asylum and objects of the medicalised gaze. In the 1990s a new social history challenged these assumptions, focusing on the iniquities of institutionalisation and the eugenics period, while attempting to give a voice to people with learning disabilities and their families in their own history. A cultural history movement later emerged to challenge the idea of learning disability as a fixed universal concept over time. It argued that the idea of learning disability (in all its different linguistic iterations) is contingent on time and place, and a product of the culture within which it is framed. Not all work fits neatly into one of these categories, sometimes they overlap and sometimes they cannot be easily categorised. Nevertheless, these broad frames of reference within the historiography of learning disability do point to wider social, cultural and political concerns, which are worth holding in mind as we consider how the 'work' of history can and does act to inform attitudes, policy‐making and change. The authors describe the encouraging recent emergence of historian activists who seek to write and define their own history, and who may constitute a fourth wave in the historiography of learning disability. Accessible summary: This article is about the history of learning disability history. We look at who has researched the history of learning disability, when and why. We show there have been three main ways that people have explained learning disability history. We describe these as 'waves' of learning disability history. The first wave was a medical history which focused on the role of the medical profession in the lives of people with learning disabilities. It aimed to show that the medical profession had improved people's lives. The second wave was a social history, which focused on the experiences of people with learning disabilities themselves, and their families. It aimed to show what life was really like for people with learning disabilities in institutions and the community—the good and the bad. It provided a different point of view from the medical history. The third wave was a cultural history, which focused on understanding what we mean by the words 'learning disability' and how this changes over time. It aimed to show that the people who are described as having a learning disability have not always been the same people at different points in history. We also think there is a new fourth wave happening. This is history led by people with learning disabilities. In this fourth wave people with learning disabilities are showing how history can be a tool for change.
      pubtype: Academic Journal
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        Journal Article
      ougenre: Article
    language: English
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