History of Developmental Disabilities
Dr. Kiesling, from the Boling Center for Developmental Disabilities, talked to us about the history of developmental disabilities and its importance in helping us educate and properly address the needs of our future clients when we become practicing occupational therapists. My heart aches for those individuals who had to endure the inhumane treatment forced upon them in the early 20th century. They weren't seen for who they were, and worse, they weren't even seen as people. They were burdens and inconveniences to everyone around them and the first and only option for treatment was sending them away to institutions. Knowing the dark and malicious history allows us to humbly appreciate how far we have come and visualize how far we need to go for this population. Something that really stuck with me from this presentation was the Capitol Crawl during the Disability Rights Movement that started in the 1970s. They did something truly eye opening. With their wheelchairs behind them,...