1
Brynne Nicholas
PSY 230: Psy-Indiv Diff & Spec Needs
Southern New Hampshire University
Instructor Victoria M. White
July 3, 2022
Living with Disabilities in the United States: From Segregation to Integration
Society has always discriminated against people with disabilities. Factors such as a lack
of knowledge and lack of understanding in relation to disabilities are what have led to our past
and current treatment of individuals with disabilities. In the past, there was a heavy influence of
religion, and it was believed that that people with disabilities or disorders were the victims of a
possession of some sort. Depending on the severity of symptoms, it was determined if the
possession was that of an evil nature such as from evil spirits or demons or if the possession was
more angelic in nature. Early Greek and Romans believed in potentially “improving the human
species by discouraging the reproduction of people having genetic defects or inheritable ‘un-
desirable’ traits” (Hardman et al., 2016), which was a form of selected eugenics.
It was not until the 20 century that education and treatment for individuals with
th
disabilities began to become more accessible, but at the same time parents of disabled children
