Abstract
The United States history of disabilities is one of remarkable change over the past two centuries. The story of societal perceptions, rights and services is briefly summarized from a socio-political perspective for disabilities generally and for intellectual and developmental disabilities specifically. This interpretation rests upon unique US cultural values and an American context that provided the foundation for the evolution of service models and changing trends. Historical information that describes the disability movement in the US is briefly outlined with special reference to three waves of change in the evolution of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities related to who holds decision-making power. Selected governmental landmark events affecting people with disabilities are reviewed and socio-political changes in perspective are illustrated using the example of reproductive rights of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Braddock DL, Parish SL. An institutional history of disability. In: Albrecht GL, Seelman KD, Bury M, editors. Handbook of disability studies. London: Sage; 2001.
Bersani H, Nerny T. Legal and legislative initiatives in disability. In: VanHasslett VB, Strain P, Hersen M, editors. Handbook of development and physical disabilities. New York: Pergamon Press; 1988.
Bersani H, Lyman L. Governmental policies and programs for people with disabilities. In: Drum CE, Krahn GL, Bersani H, editors. Disability and public health. Washington, DC: American Public Health Association and American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities; 2009.
Ward MJ. A personal perspective on historical views of disability. In: Drum CE, Krahn GL, Bersani H, editors. Disability and public health. Washington, DC: American Public Health Association and American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities; 2009.
Wehmeyer ML, Buntinx WHE, Lachapelle Y, Luckasson RA, Schalock RL, Verdugo MA, et al. The intellectual disability construct and its relation to human functioning. Intellect Dev Disabil. 2008;46(4):311–18.
Wehmeyer ML, editor. The story of intellectual disability: an evolution of meaning, understanding, and public perception. Baltimore: Brookes; 2013.
tenBroek J. The right to live in the world: the disabled in the law of torts. Calif Law Rev 1966;54(2):841–919.
US Department of Veterans Affairs. VA History in brief. http://www.va.gov/opa/publications/archives/docs/history_in_brief.pdf
Braddock DL, Hemp RE, Rizzolo MK, Tanis ES, Haffer L, Lulinski A, Wu J. State of the states in developmental disabilities. Washington, DC: American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities; 2013.
Bersani H. Leadership: where we’ve been, where we are, where we are going. IMPACT. 1995;8:2–3.
Kempton W, Kahn E. Sexuality and people with intellectual disabilities: a historical perspective. Sex Disabil. 1991;9(2):93–111.
Wehmeyer M, Bersani H, Gagne R. Riding the third wave: self-determination and self-advocacy in the 21st century. Focus Autism Other Dev Disabil. 2000;15(2):106–15.
Algozzine B, Browder D, Karvonen M, Test DW, Wood WM. Effects of interventions to promote self-determination for individuals with disabilities. Rev Educ Res. 2001;71(2):219–77.
Wehmeyer ML. Self determination. In: Stone JH, Blouin M, editors. International encyclopedia of rehabilitation; 2001. http://cirrie.buffalo.edu/encyclopedia/en/article/34/
American Bar Association. Beyond guardianship: Supported decision-making by individuals with intellectual disabilities. A short summary from the 2012 National Roundtable. http://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/mental_physical_disability/SDMRoundtable_Summary.authcheckdam.pdf
National Council on Disabilities. Rising expectations: the Developmental Disabilities Act revisited. Washington, DC: NCD; 2011.
US Department of Justice. Information and Technical Assistance on the Americans with Disabilities Act. Olmstead: Community integration for everyone. http://www.ada.gov/olmstead/olmstead_about.htm
Lombardo P. Facing Carrie Buck. Hastings Center Rep. 2003;33:14–7.
Lightfoot E, LaLiberte T. Parental supports for parents with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Intellect Dev Disabil. 2011;49(5):388–91.
Acknowledgements
We have written this chapter as a tribute to Henry (Hank) Bersani Jr, MS, PhD (1951–2012), a consummate academic and fearless advocate for people with intellectual disabilities in the US. and internationally. Hank Bersani had a major influence on so many people, and certainly on Lynda as his wife and Gloria as his colleague and sometime supervisor. Portions of this work draw directly and indirectly from Hank’s perspective and passion, his work and his writing. We thank Steve Eidelman for providing insightful comments to an early draft of this chapter.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Krahn, G.L., Bersani, L. (2016). People with Developmental Disabilities in the United States of America. In: Rubin, I.L., Merrick, J., Greydanus, D.E., Patel, D.R. (eds) Health Care for People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities across the Lifespan. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18096-0_36
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18096-0_36
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-18095-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-18096-0
eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)