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 HISTORY OF THE TREATMEN 
 OF THE 
 PHYSICALLY DISABLED 
 
 ABILITY COUNTS 
 
 THE PRESIDENT'S COMMITTEE 
 
 ON EMPLOYMENT 
 
 OF THE 
 
 PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED 
 
 WASHINGTON, D. C. 
 
HISTORY OF THE TF 
 
 1. EXTERMINATION 
 
 2. RIDICULE 
 
 MIDDLE AGES 
 
 Although the physically disabled were al- 
 
 lowed to live during the Middle Ages, they 
 
 were objects of ridicule and jesting. The 
 
 court jesters of medieval society were often 
 
 ANCIENT WORLD 
 
 Spartans and many other people of the 
 ancient world killed their physically imperfect 
 citizens. This was done because of supersti- 
 tion and the pressing necessity of group sur- 
 vival. The physically disabled person was a 
 risk to the safety and economic well being of 
 the group. 
 
 the deformed and the mentally weak. 
 
IEATMENT OF THE ... Phj 
 
 3. ASYLUM 
 
 4. PHYSICAL AND 
 CUSTODIAL CARE 
 
 RENAISSANCE 
 
 Awareness of the public problem that 
 the physically disabled presented was recog- 
 nized to the extent of public provision of re- 
 lief and public and private maintenance of 
 asylums. A physicol deformity was often con- 
 fused with mental illness. 
 
 18th CENTURY 
 
 Earliest organized social interest in the 
 welfare of the disabled came in the 18th 
 Century in the form of physical and custo- 
 dial care. The first institution to devote its 
 entire resources to the physical care of the 
 disabled was established in Orbe, Switzerland, 
 in 1780. 
 
 (Continued on Next Page) 
 
hiysically Disabled Citizen 
 
 5. EDUCATION 
 
 19th CENTURY 
 
 Not until the 19th Century was ony 
 effort made to educate the physically handi- 
 capped. The first home to offer both care 
 and educational facilities for the disabled was 
 opened in Munich in 1820. After this start, 
 public and private schools for handicapped 
 children sprang up in Europe and the United 
 States. 
 
 6. TOTAL 
 
 REHABILITATION 
 
 20th CENTURY 
 
 The realixation that care and educa- 
 tion were not enough, that society must pre- 
 pare the disabled to become self-supporting, 
 resulted in establishment of the State-Federal 
 Vocational Rehabilitation program in 1920. 
 Since then, thousands of disabled persons have 
 become useful, productive citizens of their 
 communities. 
 
 The latest step in the treatment of the 
 disabled has been the establishment of Re- 
 habilitation Centers for the severely disabled. 
 
HISTORY IN THE MAKING 
 
 Governor*' Committees on Employment of the 
 Physically Handicapped, community and city commi ttees, 
 State employment and vocational rahab i 1 i tat ion aganci as, 
 all ara waking history, day by day, in the unceasing 
 fight to awaken American employers to the desirability 
 of HIRING THE HANDICAPPED! 
 
 The President's Committee has published this 
 folder to show how far we have come since the middle 
 ages in changing archaic and sometimes brutal treatment 
 of the handicapped into a modern program based on humani- 
 tarian! sm and sound business practice. 
 
 It is our hope that the history of the future 
 will include many new pages of fine achievement. 
 
 ABILITY COUNTS! NOT DISABILITY! 
 
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 
 
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 Prayer for the Handicapped 
 
 God of Mercy and Compassion, make us understand that 
 every man whom misfortune has touched is our neighbor. Help 
 us by Thy grace to see that by ministering unto them, we really 
 are serving Thee. In a materialistic age when men are infatu- 
 ated by the cult of the body, restore in us a right mind which 
 acknowledges in human personality absolute spiritual values 
 far transcending mere physical integrity. Bless our efforts to 
 persuade America to accord justice and equity to those souls 
 among us who have been signed with the seal of Calvary. As 
 they courageously serve Thee, may we honor and assist them: 
 All of us together working in redemptive charity toward the 
 glorious Advent of Thy Eternal Kingdom, wherein, as Isaias 
 has said, "The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears 
 of the deaf shall be unstopped; then shall the lame man leap 
 as the hart, and the tongue of the dumb shall be free and the 
 redeemed of the Lord shall return and shall come into Sion with 
 praise, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads." Amen. 
 (Isaias 35: 5, 6, 10.) 
 
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