Why reflect on disability issues through our history? The saying “Those that do not learn from the past are destined to repeat it” might be a very good reason for reflection. What we have to learn and feel about disabilities and the individuals that are physically and mentally bound to living with them is both humbling and inspiring when we reflect on the past. Reflection can often be the catalyst to new ideas, new concepts, morals and the development of new strategies for dealing with trauma to body, mind and soul. What we could learn will likely affect each and every one of us on a personal level in the future to some degree? All the answers might be in a periodic look back at our mistakes, and in taking a moment to validate that we have evolved to a higher consciousness concerning those with disabilities.
The term "disability" covers a lot of ground, and can be defined according to a variety of contexts, applications, and usages. All of the definitions, however, have the same central theme: a disability is something that makes it difficult or impossible to perform a major life function that most people can do easily. One of the more important definitions of "disability" is the legal definition, as set forth by Congress in the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. This definition defines a disability for an individual as "a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual, with a record of such impairment; or being regarded as having an impairment” (Americans with Disabilities Act).
The Federal Government defines a child with developmental disabilities “as having mental retardation, a hearing impairment including deafness, a speech or language impairment, a visual impairment including blindness, serious emotional disturbance (hereafter referred to as emotional disturbance), an orthopedic impairment, autism, traumatic brain injury, an other health impairment, a specific learning...