1896 AD


The first public school special education class in the U.S. began in Rhode Island.


1900 AD - 1925 AD


The Eugenics movement sought to improve humanity through genetics. Disability was blamed for social problems like crime and addiction, and intellectual disability was thought to run in families. Eugenics was behind Nazi ideology.


1920 AD -1975 AD


The Eugenics movement led to forced sterilization of those with disabilities, often without their consent. Additionally, the idea that intellectual disability was hereditary led families to hide or institutionalize their children out of shame. Institutions become even more overcrowded, and conditions worsened.


1950 AD - 1975 AD


Parents of children with intellectual disability came together in local groups to advocate for better education and lives for their children. The National Association of Parents and Friends of Retarded Children formed in 1953. Celebrities like author Pearl S. Buck publically wrote and spoke about having children with intellectual disabilities. Books and articles documented the incredibly terrible conditions inside institutions for the disabled, raising public concern. Conditions in these institutions were caused primarily by a lack of funding.


1959 AD


The genetic cause of Down syndrome was discovered by Jerome Lejeune.


v 1875 AD - 1975 AD


In the United States, training institutions slowly gave way to custodial institutions, where large numbers of individuals with disabilities could be housed indefinitely, separate from the rest of society. The focus of these institutions shifted from educating pupils to making the institutions themselves financially self-sufficient, in part because of difficult economic circumstances across the U.S. Institutions relied on the free labor of those housed there and were overcrowded. Willowbrook was one such institution.


1980 AD - PRESENT


Individuals with Down syndrome most commonly live and attend school in their communities and participate in a wide range of activities, including theatre-making. Adults with Down syndrome attend college and may live independently or in a community-based, supportive housing environment. Individuals with Down syndrome are now self- advocates, leading the conversation about their own lives and the programs, stigma, and laws that affect them.


1961 AD President Kennedy, whose sister Rosemary had an intellectual disability, created the President’s Panel on Mental Retardation.


1963 AD


In his State of the Union Address, President Kennedy advocated for closing institutions and creating services that would allow people with disabilities to return to their communities. Residential institutions began to be phased out.


1968 AD


The Special Olympics was founded by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, President Kennedy’s sister.


1972 AD


The Social Security Act of 1972 created Supplemental Security Income, a cash benefit to people with disabilities. Additional legislation in the 1970s established funding for rehabilitation and independent living facilities for people with disabilities.


1975 AD


The United Nations adopted the General Assembly Declaration on the Rights of Disabled Persons, which emphasized the right to self- determination of people with disabilities.


AMY AND THE ORPHANS UPSTAGE GUIDE 11


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