The History of Disability

                 During Dr. Keisling's presentation on The History of Disability, I learned a lot. I had trouble understanding why not just one person, but almost the entire United States would be okay with treating human beings the way that they did. In all honesty, I did not even know that putting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities into institutions happened. Throughout the presentation, I saw different pictures and signs from the past that broke my heart. In one of the slides, it talked about those being admitted to institutions for minor conditions such as imperfect speech, diminished sight and hearing, etc. The idea that these individuals were not looked at as human beings is beyond me. My main take away would be the history altogether, making sure that I am keeping myself educated, and advocating for those that voices may not be heard.
                  In this Era Presentations, we learned a lot about the educational rights of individuals with disabilities. In this session, we looked at how the educational rights actually came about in more steps. Many individuals were rejected from schools simply because the school did not want to accommodate these individuals. If I was a mother of a child with a disability, I would fight as hard as these mothers did for equal rights and an education for my child. The Education for All Handicapped Children Act, later renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Act made sure that access to an education was guaranteed. We also looked at other legislation that we learned before, such as The Rehabilitation Act and Americans with Disabilities Act. 
               Throughout the presentation, I learned a lot that will help me as an Occupational Therapist. One thing to always keep in mind is that individuals with disabilities want to experience life. They want to participate in sports, have a job, go on dates, and have friends. I will advocate for these individuals during my career and help others become more educated.