State schools, US (for people with disabilities)
State schools are a type of institution for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in the United States. These institutions are run by individual states. These state schools were and are famous for abuse and neglect. In many states, the residents were involuntary sterilized during the eugenics era. Many states have closed state schools as part of the deinstitutionalisation movement. History Hopes of reformers Many progressive reformers in the mid-1800s noticed the horrible conditions experienced by people with disabilities and wanted to improve them. Many people with disabilities were put in prison or poorhouses. Dorothea Dix described:Samuel Gridley-Howe and other reformers wanted to establish training schools where people with intellectual disabilities could learn and be prepared for society. The history of state schools and psychiatric hospitals are linked throughout history. State schools started being built in the United States in the 1850s. People often used the term "feeble-minded" which could apply to both intellectual and developmental disabilities and mental illness, or in some cases, perceived sexual promiscuity. Establishment In 1848 Howe founded the Massachusetts School for Idiotic and Feeble-Minded Youth, a private boarding school for people with intellectual disabilities. In that same year, Hervey Wilbur founded a private school in