A Brief History of Developmental Disabilities in the US- What does this mean to me?

I recently had the opportunity to learn about the history of developmental disabilities in the United States through guest speaker Dr. Kiesling. During this lecture he explored and explained how disabilities have been viewed during the last 100+ years. Not only was this information shocking and mind-boggling, it was also very somber. I learned that for many years, right up until the late 60's, individuals with disabilities were institutionalized and their problems did not have to be severe to be admitted. Individuals with disabilities were labeled as "criminal", which really weighed heavy on me because our interpretation of someone who is "criminal" now means that they are breaking a law, which doesn't even remotely correlate with someone who has a disability. It was very unsettling to learn that many people were so afraid of each other's differences that they decided the best course of action was to separate these individuals from society.

Fortunately, I feel like our society as a whole has greatly shifted our way of thinking about disabilities and have chosen to see the beauty and uniqueness in everyone no matter who they are. It has always been evident that we are all different; no one is exactly the same as someone else. The differences we have are what make us special and shows the beauty in diversity. Individuals with disabilities want what everyone wants: to be loved, appreciated, and heard. The thing that resonated the most with me during this presentation was that acceptance and patience is the greatest gift we can give to each other. Once we learn to be patient and accept our differences, we will grow stronger together and overcome obstacles that were once unattainable.