Table 1
Policy, infrastructure and discourses on disability in WA.
| Era | Social construction | Political ideology | Policy response | Infrastructure | Societal perception |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Colonial 1800s to early 1900s | Criminality, insanity. | Punishment, containment, cured through therapy. | Incarceration, hospitalisation. | Seclusion, prisons, asylums and hospitals. | ID as insane, deviant, defective. |
| Early-20th Century (1900–1940s) | Unfit to breed. | Medical treatment and prevention. | Eugenics, deportation and invalid pensions. | Seclusion, asylums and hospitals. | ID as insane, feebleminded, mental retardation, personal tragedy. |
| Mid-20th Century (1950s–1970s) | Developmental delay, ability to learn, normalisation, having rights, advocacy. | Education and training, disability is socially constructed, human rights in a welfare state. | Disability on the ‘world stage’ (United Nations), access to education, sheltered workshops, deinstitutionalisation, support to live at home, welfare. | Segregated special schools, parental involvement, training for adults with ID, welfare, alternative housing and training facilities. | ID as ‘child’ able to learn, with human rights, contribute economically to society. |
| Late-20th Century (1980s–1990s) | Advocacy and self-advocacy, rights and inclusion. | Integration and access, policy underpinned by normalisation. | Deinstitutionalisation, disability reform, neoliberalism and globalisation. | Group homes, supported housing, privatisation and social agencies. | ID as being able to speak for themselves, more choices in support. |
| Early-21st century | People with disability as consumers, individualised services. | Rights as a consumer, person-centred practices, self-directed funding, move away from welfare state. | Disability rights, disability standards, Australia ratifies the UNCRPD and introduces the NDIS. | Individualised funding and services provided in a ‘market’. | ID as adult with consumer rights. |