Disability History Week

1878

Newark State School opened as an experimental branch of Syracuse State School in 1878 and became an independent institution in 1885. The original intention of the institution was to instruct females only. This changed with the first boys being admitted in 1932.

1880

National Association for the Deaf founded to advocate for reforms on behalf of the deaf. Robert P. McGregor is first president. First national convention held in Cincinnati, Ohio. Edwin Booth, Chair of the convention states: "We have interests peculiar to ourselves which can be taken care of by ourselves."

1883

The term "eugenics" is coined by Sir Francis Galton.

1901

National Fraternal Society of the Deaf advocates for the ability to buy life insurance and obtain drivers' licenses. NFSD had its origins at the Michigan School for the Deaf in Flint, Michigan. Peter N. Heller is the Society's first president.

1907

Indiana passes the first eugenic sterilization law.

Maria Montessori opens her first Casa dei Bambini or "House of Children." Montessori developed a successful program of education for learning disabled children that became widely popular. She went on to open several schools throughout the world and in the United States based on her method of developmental stages. She was greatly influenced by Jean Itard and Edouard Seguin.

1908

Clifford Beers publishes his autobiography, A Mind That Found Itself, advocating for change in mental institutions. A year after the publication, the National Committee for Mental Hygiene is formed to advocate for changes to the mental health system.

1915

Dr. Harry Haiselden allows a disabled newborn to perish and promotes this as a way to reduce the disabled population. In 1916 the movie "The Black Stork" is produced to further advocate the practice.

1916

Lewis M. Terman perfected the use of the IQ test for American populations. Known as the Stanford-Binet scale, Terman convinced American educators of the need for intelligence testing. Terman proposed that with the use of intelligence testing, feebleminded students could be separated into special classes that focused on "concrete and practical" instruction to become efficient workers.