Intellectual Disability in the Twentieth Century

Bringing together accounts of how intellectual disability was viewed, managed and experienced in countries across the globe, the book examines the origins and nature of contemporary attitudes, policy and practice and sheds light on the challenges of implementing the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCPRD).

Jan Walmsley is a historian of intellectual disability and Visiting Chair in History of Learning Disability at The Open University. In 1994 she founded the Social History of Learning Disability Research Group at The Open University.

Simon Jarrett is an honorary research fellow at Birkbeck, University of London. He is a historian of intellectual disability and editor of Community Living magazine.