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Social Reform --Treatment of the Disabled -- Grade 08 -- Internet Resources
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Man is not made better by being degraded.

- Dorothea Dix

OVERVIEW

Prior to the 1800s, people did not believe that helping the mentally disabled was the responsibility of government. Usually they were put into prisons with criminals. In prison, the mentally disabled often did not have enough food or clothing. They were beaten or whipped for breaking the rules. Reformer Dorothea Dix exposed these conditions to the public and worked to convince the government to help the mentally disabled, building asylums with safer conditions for them to live in and receive help. The disabled were treated as patients rather than criminals who deserved punishment. Thomas Gallaudet established the first school to educate the deaf to read, write, use sign language, and read lips. Samuel Gridley Howe founded the first school for the blind in Boston. The work of these reformers helped to change how Americans viewed and treated the disabled.

These are the words of Dorothea Dix, a reformer from Massachusetts who led a national movement to provide better treatment for the mentally ill, as well as for prisoners. Use information from this document to identify the beliefs of reformers working for better treatment for the disabled.

Memorial to the Massachusetts Legislature

URL: http://usinfo.state.gov/usa/infousa/facts/democrac/15.htm

Use information from the two quotes below to identify methods used by reformers to bring about change in the treatment of the mentally disabled.

Dorothea Dix Quote #1 (Line 58)

URL: http://www.disabilitymuseum.org/lib/docs/737.htm?page=11#58

Dorothea Dix Quote #2 (Lines 76 and 77)

URL: http://www.disabilitymuseum.org/lib/docs/737.htm?page=13#74

Last updated 03.13.2007. Created by Michael Warner, Library Media Specialist