The Renaissance: Understanding the Developmentally Disabled

Between the 14th and 17th centuries, the Renaissance, a period that symbolized rebirth and renewal, saw a significant shift in people’s outlook towards people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The mistreatment and contempt for these people did not end at all. The disabled continued to be subjected to forms of abuse, ridicule and mental harassment. However, the world was slowly but surely beginning to understand and empathize with the conditions of the developmentally disabled.

The first settlers of the American colonies prohibited disabled people from entering the country for fear that they needed financial support and could not take care of themselves. Even when the American colonies avoided the disabled, they could not prevent disabled babies from being born in the colonies. Children who had already settled in the colonies sometimes showed some type of developmental disability. Finally, a law was passed that allowed families to provide care and treatment to the disabled within their homes. While it was a step forward, people were not allowed to be part of or interact with their community. The Renaissance was the first time in history that disabled people were considered capable of thinking and learning. Schools and institutions for the disabled were established in America and Europe, and attempts were made to educate and treat them. Laws were passed that allowed the education of disabled people, but in segregated schools, far from the main cities and towns. Hospices were created to provide shelter and care for beggars, most of whom suffered from some form of disability, and the institutionalization of the developmentally disabled, especially those with mental retardation, was encouraged. Most of the people with intellectual disabilities were sent to these institutes or “houses of correction”, either to receive education, to receive treatment or to live their entire lives. The first hospital with a separate section for intellectual disabilities and mental retardation was founded in Philadelphia in 1771.

Even as the world was slowly waking up to the plight of the developmentally disabled; an attitude of ignorance, contempt and disrespect continued to prevail widely among the population. Disabled people were still not allowed to be a part of society and the institutions where they were being treated inevitably became a place where people could go to look at them and make fun of their quirks. In nursing homes, institutions and hospitals; the developmentally disabled were kept in basements and displayed to the public; a shameful act that showed flagrant disregard for the plight of these people and violated their freedom. During these years, the world was beginning to show compassion towards people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, but there was still a long way to go before those people were treated with respect rather than ridicule and revulsion.