Reforming the Body Doctors, Educators, and Attitudes Towards Disability in Childhood

• Published in: Small Matters Vol. 39; pp. 119 - 137
• Main Author: Gleason, Mona
• Format: Book Chapter
• Language: English
• Published: Canada MQUP 2013; McGill-Queen's University Press
• Subjects: Applied philosophy; Behavioral sciences; Biological sciences; Biology; Child health services; Child psychology; Childhood; Children; Developmental biology; Developmental psychology; Disabilities; Education; Educational institutions; Eugenics; Federal health insurance plans; Formal education; Governance; Government; Government budgets; Government expenditures; Government health care finance; Health sciences; Human developmental stages; Human populations; Medicaid; Medical conditions; Pedagogy; Persons; Philosophy; Physical disabilities; Political science; Population studies; Psychology; Public schools; School age children; Schools; Social engineering; Social philosophy; Social sciences
• ISBN: 0773541322; 9780773541320
• DOI: 10.1515/9780773588547-008

Over the early decades of the twentieth century, childhood was redefined in much professional discourse as a distinct developmental stage of life characterized, at least in part, by the need for intervention and protection. The preceding chapters explore some of the ways that medical and educational professionals contributed to these shifting emphases through their treatment of small bodies and their discursive construction of the “healthy child” over the first four decades of the twentieth century. Equally important, I have argued, are the varied responses of children and their families to medical and educational interventions. These responses add contingency and complexity