... (Topic 11, p26). Historically, the "education" of disabled children took place in institutional settings, segregated from the rest of "normal" society. This was characteristic of the hegemonic medical model of disability, in which impairment signifies a lack of ability and a need for specialist care (Topic 11, p21). The disabled child, in this context, is represented in a negative form without value; able-bodiedness is the desirable and normative standard to aspire to. This construction of disability was enshrined in the Mental Deficiency Act of 1913 that identified those with disabilities as "less than whole", mentally subnormal and "in-educable" (Hughes, 1998, p71) (Topic 12, p15). Philippa Russell's account maintains that this perspective was only changed in recent history (Audio cassette 3, band 4). This legislation subjected disabled children to segregation and exclusion in institutional settings, some spatial distance away from mainstream society. The decision to accommodate children in these settings had ...

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