When did families stop being 'embarrassed' for having a special needs child?

Question

I know that in the beginning people used to institutionalize or hide their special needs students but when did this all begin to change? I have a class that I am doing several reports and assignments for and it is killing me. I wish I could just teach my students.

Answer 1

Do you know that's not fair on the kids with special needs, cause i've got special needs right , and that's makes kids with special needs wrong, bad and that, but all us special needs kids are humans that just need a bit of extra help along the way thats all, why be embarrassed its just part of us that makes us so different. do you get where i'm coming from?

Answer 2

I don't know that it was that  families were EMBARRASSED, but their children didn't have access to public education  I grew up in the 70's and my first contact with any type of "special needs" child was in 4th grade.  A new girl joined our class, and she was deaf.  I became friends with her because she was different and I found her sign language and lip reading ability fascinating.  We did have things like speech therapy and resource at our school, but this was really my only experience in school with "special needs" kids.  I don't know where they were being taught when I was in school.  

Probably as people began to understand more about the various disorders affecting children, when they started to understand that they were CHILDREN first and foremost, and that many with special needs actually learned better when taught with their typical peers is when the tide started to turn.  It took some really strong willed parents who wanted their children to be educated at their home schools, not "bussed" away to some far off school campus.    Once people started seeing more and more special needs kids in schools, it became obvious how good it was for everyone.  Children now grow up understanding and accepting others for their differences. Kids with special needs are accepted by their peers rather than segregated and hidden.   I would do a search on the history of IDEA.  Here's a great link, I just had to go search it.  Your question peaked my curiousity. http://www.ed.gov/policy/speced/leg/idea...

I've never been embarrassed when out with my special needs child, and I do feel quite lucky that she's in our lives.  She's quite the special little girl, and she's got a way about her that captures every one's heart.

Answer 3

please tell me your not a teacher. no body ever hide the special needs children in an institution. there was a time when we knew nothing about the mentally ill and some of them was institutionalized. there a huge difference between special needs and mentally ill.  maybe teaching just is not your thing. i hope you never have children. you know you could have a special need child and  wont find any institutions that will take him/her off your hands. if i found out you was my child teacher i can promise you i would have him removed from your class.

Answer 4

Because I am 55 years old and have a personal, as well as professional, interest in people with special needs, I can give you a bit of historical perspective that younger people may not have.  I'm sorry that one person responded to your question with such hostility;  clearly she is taking it very personally, when you are obviously seeking information, not being prejudiced.

As far as I know, the first national organizations dedicated to people with developmental disabilities are United Cerebral Palsy and The Arc (formerly known as The Association for Retarded Children, and then The Association for Retarded Citizens.)  These groups were started by parents reaching out to other parents who were struggling to provide care for their disabled children, in an era when medical and educational professionals had no experience or training to enable them to give sound advice.  

Here's a quote from United Cerebral Palsy Association about its history:

"In the 1940s, there were not many options for people with cerebral palsy and other disabilities and their families. Faced with fear and a lack of understanding by both the medical community and the general public, people with cerebral palsy and other disabilities were relegated to second class status. Medical professionals frequently urged parents to warehouse their children in institutions where they lived out their lives, segregated from the rest of society.......Parents who raised their children at home learned that few services and supports were available to help their kids lead full, productive lives in the community. With little contact between families of children with cerebral palsy, many parents felt isolated, helpless and alone.

But in 1948, two New York families decided to change all that.

Leonard Goldenson, then President of United Paramount Theaters and ABC Television, and his wife, Isabelle, joined forces with prominent New York businessman Jack Hausman, and his wife, Ethel, to improve the quality of life for their children with cerebral palsy and others like them. The two families placed an ad in the New York Herald Tribune to recruit families interested in improving available services to children with disabilities so that families could stay together, and people with disabilities could be part of the community.

Hundreds of parents of children with cerebral palsy and other disabilities responded to the ad and joined the Goldensons and Hausmans in their crusade. It was from this humble, grassroots beginning that United Cerebral Palsy was born as a national organization in 1949. Several UCP affiliates opened across the country and the organization quickly established itself. UCP brought issues about cerebral palsy and other developmental disabilities to the forefront of the national media......"

And here's one from The Arc:

"The National Association for Retarded Citizens was founded in 1950 as the National Association of Parents and Friends of Mentally Retarded Children. Initial steps for the establishment of this organization were taken in May, 1950, at the annual meeting of the American Association on Mental Deficiency, held in Columbus, Ohio.  The AAMD provided in their program for some parent sessions, and following these sessions the parents got together and appointed a steering committee of the parent groups.  During the summer over 100 local groups were identified.  The meeting was held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 28 – October 1, 1950.  At this meeting, a constitution was drawn up with the broad purposes to promote the welfare of mentally retarded persons of all ages and to prevent mental retardation.  Theses goals have remained constant......

Several factors appear responsible for the establishment of this organization:  (1)  widespread exclusion from school of children with IQ’s below 50;  (2)  an acute lack of community services for retarded persons;  (3)  long waiting lists for admission to residential institutions;  (4)  parental dissatisfaction with the conditions in many state institutions;  (5)  the vision of leaders who believed that mutual assistance could bring major benefits in public relations, exchange of information and political actions, and  (6)  the assistance of a few key professionals."

So it would seem that it was because of parents banding together in the late 1940s/ early 1950s that general awareness of people with disabilities began.  

My personal interest began in 1965, when my sister was born.  My mother was 42 years old, thought her family was complete with the 4 children she already had, and was stunned to find herself pregnant.  (As hard as it is to believe now, birth control pills were not yet readily available in the mid-1960s.)  When my sister was born, the doctors told my parents that she was a "mongolian idiot," and they recommended that my parents institutionalize her, forget about her because she would never even be able to take care of herself, and tell the rest of us children that they baby had died.  To their credit, my parents opted to disregard the doctors' advice, and they brought BJ home.  She was a very cute and mellow baby, and with 4 older siblings, she got plenty of attention and stimulation.  All her developmental milestones were delayed, but she was clearly making much more progress than the medical professionals had predicted.  At age 12, I became enthralled with teaching this little child, excited to see how different her life might be from the dire predictions of the time.  Because of her, I became inspired to become a special education teacher.

When BJ was born, there was no federal mandate for providing education for children with disabilities.  It was up to the discretion of the school district as far as what special education services were available, and many provided none at all.  When I started college in the early 1970s, there was still no right to a free appropriate public education;  that didn't come about until 1975.

And the 1970s were not exactly an enlightened time, either.  Geraldo Rivera was, once upon a time, a serious reporter.  As in investigative reporter, he did a stunning and depressing expose of conditions at Willowbrook State School in New York.  The residents were kept in overcrowded, inhumane conditions, with unbelievable abuse;  for example, some were kept naked and sprayed off with water when they soiled themselves.  And this was in 1972 - that's only 36 years ago!  

I know it makes me sound like an "old codger," but you have to look at this issue in its historical perspective.  The Civil Rights Act wasn't passed until 1964 - prior to that time, it was legal to discriminate against people solely because of their race.   The fact that John F. Kennedy was a Catholic was considered by many to be a good reason not to vote for him.  Interracial marriage was an incredible taboo in most places, long after African Americans had gotten legal rights.  People are afraid of what they don't know about, and most people were afraid of people with disabilities, because they had no experience with it.  There were many misconceptions, such as having a disabled child was punishment for your sins, or evidence of some sort of wrong-doing;  that having a child with mental retardation was a clear indication that something was wrong with the parents themselves;that disabilities were contagious; that people with mental retardations were dangerous and that they were likely to be sexual predators...  Without knowledge and education, it's no wonder that parents often opted to put their children in institutions, or to hide them from the world.

So thank goodness that some parents in the late 1940s- early 1950s began to educate the public!  There is still a lot of education to be done, including many medical professionals who still refer to disabilities as "disease" or "pathology," but we've come a long ways from the Dark Ages of even the 1970s!

Answer 5

Another thing to add....  Special Olympics was also developed in the 50's and 60's in response to one of Kennedy (?) kids have mental retardation.  Nothing changed a mind faster than an over idealized icon on TV or in print with a family member with a disability during the naive time period.  I would also imagine that the medical community was also able to decide there was a medical difference between mental retardation and mental illness.  That removed the "crazy" association and "sweet and naive" replaced it.  

Answer 6

I can understand how frustrating it must be to have to do all that extra work.  There are teachers aids, and even extra courses that can educate you on special needs children.

I have two children and both of them are special needs. And I have never been embarrassed about either of my children.In fact there isn't one day that goes by where I don't thank god that I have them. Yes it gets hard from time to time, however I would never consider sending either of my children away, for school. I work with the school, and teachers involved with my children. So that they know how to work with my kids.

You as a teacher need to educate yourself, or find another job.