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This page tells you about the history of people with learning disabilities. In the past, people used different words to describe people with learning disabilities. These words include defective, idiot, and feeble-minded. We don’t use these words now because they are hurtful.A woman with a thought bubble above her head. She looks sad. In the thought bubble there are lots of people in uniforms. They are sat at desks. It could be a school or an asylum. Asylums were big hospitals. Some disabled people were stuck in asylums for a long time.We have to be honest about the past. This is because people did use these hurtful words in the past. Even people who helped people with learning disabilities used these words.A photo of a woman who is stroking her chin. She looks deep in thought. There is a picture of a document behind her. The document says Mental Health Act.These words help us to think about what life was like for people with a learning disability a long time ago. How has life for people with learning disabilities changed since then? Which words do we still hear which we don’t like?A photo of a man sat down. He looks deep in thought. He has two thought bubbles above his head. One thought bubble has a thumbs up. The other thought bubble has a thumbs down.We wanted to warn you that this page will include upsetting language. Grace Eyre doesn’t use this language now but they did a long time ago. Scroll down if you would like to continue.

How to explore the timeline:

You can follow the ‘Purple’ timeline to find out about the history of people with learning Disabilities.

You can follow the ‘Teal’ timeline to learn more about Grace and the Guardianship Society.

You can hide or show whichever timeline you like by clicking on the purple or teal buttons at the bottom left of the page.

Or you can view the entire timeline at once.

Learning Disabilities Timeline

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