The History of Disabilities: My Takeaway
Dr. Keisling’s lecture over the history of disabilities was very informative and eye-opening. While I knew some general information regarding the history of disabilities, I did not realize how dark a lot of it was. I was shocked to learn that people who have disabilities were often grouped together with criminals and prisoners, and therefore, treated the same way. These individuals were institutionalized, mostly involuntarily, and then treated poorly due to overcrowding, neglect, and bad living conditions. Over the past 100 years, and especially in the past couple decades, knowledge and acceptance of disabilities have come a long way, but there is still definitely room for improvement. I believe that knowing the history of disabilities and how these individuals were treated in the past will help me to become a more empathetic occupational therapist and learn to better advocate for those in this population. An individual Dr. Keisling taught us about that really made an impact on...