Module 10 Activity: History of the Treatment of Disability in Pictures and Words

The purpose of this activity is to compare and contrast the way disabilities has been portrayed in pictures and words at two different periods of time in history.

Skills

The purpose of this activity is to help you practice the following skills that are essential to your success in this course / in school / in this field / in professional life beyond school:

• MLO #2.1 – Discuss the evolution of the treatment of people with disabilities in western society from the Victorian era to present.
• MLO #2.4 – Describe the social and legal foundations of the identification of disability as a protected class, key litigation (PARC v. Pennsylvania, Halderman v. Pennhurst) and their impact on disability rights in the U.S.

Knowledge

This activity will also help you to become familiar with the following important content knowledge in this discipline:

• Course Objective 2: Analyze issues of social justice relating to disability and the global growth of legal and civil rights of individuals with disabilities domestically and internationally.

Tasks

1. Please form groups of three or more using the discussion page below.
2. Three sets of pictures are available to analyze. Each group will discuss and analyze all three sets. Feel free to divide the photos up among the members of your group. Each set has two pictures, one from 1849-1930 and one from 1940 to present. (See List Below)
3. Examine the pictures carefully, and discuss the attitudes and beliefs about disability each selected picture presents and the message each picture sends to society, positive or negative, about disability. Then, compare and contrast the reflected beliefs and messages of the two images, and the change they do or don’t reflect. In order to understand the context of your pictures, you may need to research the event or product that is being highlighted in the pictures.
4. You will complete this task for all three sets of pictures. Create one document on which you analyze all three sets of pictures and submit it here. L