Americans with Disabilities Act

8 Pages 2040 Words

ometimes used to describe this type of treatment, refers to the fact that most such care was custodial in nature and resulted from a view of people with disabilities as defective, incompetent. Care and services in which isolated them from society in order to survive. Later developed specialized institutions for individuals with particular types of disabilities. These also were overwhelmingly custodial in nature. This pattern of institutionalization eventually has fallen into disrepute for two principle reasons. First, individuals living in these institutions were subjected to abuse, including neglect on a massive scale. Second, and even more fundamentally, it was not the purpose of these institutions to promote the productivity or independence of those residing in them because the prevailing concept of disability at the time assumed that to attempt to-do so was futile. !
The protective isolation models pre-suppose that people with disabilities needed to be protected from the hardships of society. The loss to those individuals and to society of their lost freedom and contributions cannot be calculated, it undoubtedly has been the case that many individuals who could have contributed to society and lived productively have been isolated and separated.
In the 1920’s the return of veterans of the First World War and an increase in industrial accidents mean there were large numbers of people with disabilities for whom rehabilitation and a return to work began to be considered as appropriate goals. Federal legislation created the rehabilitation structure in the United States, currently embodied in the provisions of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.


During the time from 1920 to 1960 was marked by the development of welfare and entitlement programs as an alternative to total care institutions. The return of WWII and Korean War veterans led to an increase in the range of available rehabilitation services. Developments in m...