What is the History of Intellectual Disability?

The history of intellectual disability is about people who have been labelled. It is also about how the idea of intellectual disability (or whatever term is used) came about. This history tells the story of prejudices, both in the past and today, and tries to find out why these prejudices exist.

Not very many histories of intellectual disability have been written. The ones that have been written are usually written by doctors or psychologists, and they write only about what they think is important.

'The Label Game: the History of Intellectual Disability', tries to take a different approach. Here we attempt to write about what life was like for people who were labelled, and also about why these labels were given to people. We ask the question 'What do the labels mean?' to try to peel them away.

In groups like People First, self-advocacy groups for people labelled as having intellectual disabilities, sharing stories is a way of giving one another strength and power. Stories create bonds between people, so that we understand each other better.

History involves telling stories about the past. These stories can also give self-advocates a sense of authority and strength. History also helps us understand the lives of people who lived fifty, one hundred or two hundred years ago.

This is a social history, and a cultural history. This web site has different 'histories' that you can follow - labels, advocacy, housing, education, jobs, sex & relationships, science & medicine, religion & folktales, the law, and the media & representation.

It tries to make connections between these histories and important issues that are happening today.

The web site also provides links to other web sites and resources that might be useful to self-advocates and their supporters.

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