Historicalvision of understanding disability

Abstract

The „disability` phenomenon dates back to ancient times. Understanding its nature is evolving and changing according to the influence of historical events - wars, revolutions, changes in social system, but is also influenced by culture, customs, traditions, etc. The historical vision of this problem provides an opportunity that reveals the dynamic changes in the attitude of different societies towards „otherness`. Modern approaches towards disability, in the context of the idea of a social state, the right to live in decent conditions and social protection of the human and the citizen, require clarification of the exclusion policy for people with disabilities, and overcoming the dogmas created by the so-called „healthy` people. The most significant problem, however derived not so much from the different perspectives of scientific knowledge about disability but from the attitude of the „non-disabled` towards it, which inevitably contributes to increasing the distance between „normality` and „otherness`. The polysemy and the distances are the reason for the different approaches towards disability and they reflect, in one way or another, the changes in the attitude towards it from the 60s of the twentieth century until nowadays.