Children with Disabilities in America: A Historical Handbook and Guide (Children and Youth: History and Culture)

Images of disabled children are found throughout well-known works of literature, film, and even opera. Their characters range from sweet, to brave, to tragic. Disabled children are also a part of the reality of life either in personal ways or as poster girls and boys for drives and causes. Behind these images is a historical presence that has been created by the societies in which these children live and have lived. This work examines current knowledge about children's experience of physical, cognitive, and emotional/behavioral impairments from the Colonial period to the present, while revealing the social constructions of both disability and childhood throughout American history.Just as disability has been advanced as an essential consideration in other historical inquiries, such as that of gender, this is a work intended to demonstrate the critical role of disability with respect to the history of childhood. Contents......Page 6 Series Foreword......Page 8 Preface......Page 12 Part I: Essays......Page 18 1 Multilingual, Multicultural, Multitalented: The History of a Diverse People......Page 20 2 Reaching Across the Divide: Visual Disability, Childhood, and American History......Page 46 3 The Progressive Movement and the Child with Physical Disabilities......Page 66 4 A Matter of Difference: A Contextual Perspective on the History of Children with Mental Retardation in the United States......Page 82 5 Children Being Different, Difficult, or Disturbed in America......Page 104 Part II: Resource Documents......Page 130 Deafness and Childhood......Page 132 Visual Disability and Childhood......Page 143 Other Physical Disability and Childhood......Page 151 Cognitive Disability and Childhood......Page 158 Troubled, Troubling, and Troublesome Children......Page 172 Part III: Bibliography and Resources for Inquiry......Page 186 II. A Sampling of Narratives about Persons with Disabilities......Page 188 IV. Narratives about Nondisabled Americans Important in the History of Persons with Disabilities......Page 190 V. Sources of Historical Information about Children with Disabilities in America......Page 191 VI. A Sampling of References on the History of Childhood......Page 202 Disability Studies: Historical Resources......Page 203 Other Resources for and about Persons with Disabilities......Page 204 A......Page 206 C......Page 207 E......Page 208 H......Page 209 L......Page 210 N......Page 211 S......Page 212 U......Page 213 Z......Page 214 About the Editors and Contributors......Page 216 Multilingual, multicultural, multitalented: the history of a diverse people / Roberta Thoryk, Angela Battistone-Potosky, and Fred Palchik Reaching across the divide: visual disability and American childhood / Carol Linsenmeier and Jeff Moyer The progressive movement and the child with physical disabilities / Brad Byrom A matter of difference: a contextual perspective on the history of children with mental retardation in the United States / Elizabeth L. Brennan Children being different, difficult, or disturbed in America / Philip L. Safford and Elizabeth J. Safford Resource documents Deafness and childhood Visual disability and childhood Other physical disability and childhood Cognitive disability and childhood Troubled, troubling, and troublesome children Bibliography and resources for inquiry A sampling of self-narratives by persons with disabilities A sampling of narratives about persons with disabilities A sampling of literary sources concerning persons with disabilities Narratives about nondisabled Americans important in the history of persons with disabilities Sources of historical information about children with disabilities in America A sampling of references on the history of childhood Resources on the World Wide Web Disability studies: historical resources Children's literature and disability Other resources for and about persons with disabilities. Images of disabled children are found throughout well-known works of literature, film, and even opera. Their characters range from sweet, to brave, to tragic. Disabled children are also a part of the reality of life either in personal ways or as poster girls and boys for drives and causes. Behind these images is a historical presence that has been created by the societies in which these children live and have lived. This work examines current knowledge about children's experience of physical, cognitive, and emotional/behavioral impairments from the Colonial period to the present, while revealing the social constructions of both disability and childhood throughout American history. - Publisher Synthesizing The History Of Childhood And Disability Studies, This Handbook Utilizes Historical Inquiry In A New Way To Illuminate Children's Experience With Disability Outside Of Reforms, Programs, And Services.