Grandson and grandmother holding hands during conversation

Disability history as we know it cannot be confined to being defined by one facet of time or culture. Disability history is, as Burch & Neilson put it in the text Beginning with Disability, ”…inextricably entangled with all other topics of history.” (Burch & Neilson 82). Intersectionality, a concept that recognizes the “interconnected nature of social categorizations such as race, class, and gender as they apply to a given individual or group, regarded as creating overlapping and interdependent systems of discrimination or disadvantage” (Oxford Languages “Intersectionality”), helps to explain why this is.

Earth day diversity and cultural celebration as diverse global cultures and multi-cultural unity.

Earth day diversity and cultural celebration as diverse global cultures and multi-cultural unity.

      The way in which disability has been perceived throughout time has been heavily impacted by societal hierarchies, culture, and time periods. For example, through the lens of western institutionalization, communities of people with disabilities were habitually silenced and exploited. These individuals had little to no autonomy and were often perversely associated with being burdensome or dangerous. For a large part of history in western culture, people with disabilities were often wrongly institutionalized and ostracized from society. However, if you shift focus to another part of the world, interpretations of the role of individuals with a disability may wildly differ. Burch & Neilson provide an excellent example, describing how, ”Ottoman sources detail numerous, prominent roles that blind men filled in Muslim society: muezzin (the man who calls other Muslims to prayer), mullahs, Qur’an teachers and reciters, and Hadith scholars.” (Burch & Neilson 81), illustrating just how impactful frameworks of power, culture included, can be.

 

      In order to effectively try and understand disability history, it is also important to recognize that many of the historical accounts we have to reference are secondary. As previously indicated, individuals with a disability had little to no autonomy and thus had little to no control over their own historical narrative. This contributes to the high level of bias intertwined with disability history and studies. Consulting individuals and communities of people with disabilities who have primary, firsthand lived experience are conducive to accurately appreciating and acknowledging such subject matter.

Disabled person on wheelchair in earth holding in human hands towards goals city across active work. International Disability Day or Handicapped Paralympics. Autistic Awareness Day and health concept.

Disabled person on wheelchair in earth holding in human hands towards goals city across active work. International Disability Day or Handicapped Paralympics. Autistic Awareness Day and health concept.

      Recognizing disability history is inherently intertwined with understanding world history. So as to not replicate the patterns of oppression perpetuated by our predecessors, it is vital that we educate ourselves, which includes proactively listening to and empowering the historically suppressed voices of marginalized groups. 

Written by Eve Zajicek