Introduction
The twentieth century was marked by a number of political and policy shifts that impacted the lives of people with intellectual disabilities and their families. Some were worldwide (eg two World Wars), while others (eg the onset and fall of totalitarianism) were specific to the Czech Republic, but all influenced perceptions of and attitudes towards people with intellectual disabilities.
The authors use the terminology in use at the time, to keep the chapter historically accurate. Readers will encounter outdated terms: ‘feeble-minded’, ‘idiots’, ‘mentally handicapped’. As Sinason commented, it is ‘doing a grave disservice to past pioneers to point contemptuously to their chosen terms. Within another five years, the process of euphemism will already be affecting the brave new words’ (Sinason, 2010, 35).
Antecedents: pre-twentieth century
Approximately three hundred and fifty years ago, Czech scholar Comenius (1592–1670) said that no human being is beyond the power of education. Little did he know how many people would declassify this thought, and for how many people it would become hope and inspiration. Comenius’ belief that it was not possible to find a person of such mental incapacity for whom education would not bring any improvement at all was, however, long to be fulfilled. It wasn't until the nineteenth century, when the first specialised institutions were built, that society began to seek a humanly reasonable relationship towards people with intellectual disabilities. Although these institutions were segregated, education was introduced to assist people in developing self-care and work habits.
The first institution in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the ‘Institution of Idiots’, was founded by physician and educator Karel Slavoj Amerling (1807–84) in 1871. Amerling combined medical and educational interventions (Herfort, 1932). He created an education system graded according to the level of intellectual disability, rather than age. He built on students’ prior knowledge in teaching. The curriculum included craft instruction. The goal was to return the child to family care, or to support him/her to be successful in adulthood by acquiring manual work skills. Amerling introduced music therapy (Černá et al, 2008), and prohibited physical punishment.
The possibilities of education for the feeble-minded (1900–18)
Around 1900, the idea of compulsory education for children with mild intellectual disabilities within the existing school system arose. Teachers, physicians, social workers and officials sought a way to help these children to use their knowledge and skills.