ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book deals with deaf education address time periods during which being deaf was considered a disabling condition, hence the inclusion of deaf histories as part of this histories of disabilities text. It provides an element of care and concern toward disabled people, distrust and hatred toward the same population. The chapters deals with the rise of education and training programs for disabled youth; and call attention to the rise of supports for people with intellectual impairments and psychiatric disabilities, removal from the community, sterilization and/or eradication. It examines various social constructs of disability rooted in history. The chapter explores histories dating back to ancient Greece, the majority of the histories centre on the development of programs and services for disabled people beginning in the mid 19th century and continuing on to the end of the 20th century.
