Life Improvement

Whāinga ako: Lesson Goals

We are learning how changes in technology affect different people in society
We are learning how assistive technology is developed in response to needs of individuals and how this has changed over time

degenerative, institutionalised, innovation

As a class:
What are some examples of medical innovations/inventions?

A brief history of disability in Aotearoa New Zealand

There has been a big change in attitudes to those with disabilities over the centuries. Pākehā saw disabilities as a flaw, meaning the person had to be 'fixed' or hidden away somewhere, a source of shame on a family. While for Māori a disability was a part of human and whānau diversity, not a source of shame.

New Zealand was mainly settled by British and European immigrants seeking a better life. However, disability was unwelcome, as it conflicted with the idea of a new society and could burden others in an era of hard physical work. Support for disabled people was left to families or charity.

Discriminatory immigration laws in the late 19th century also targeted disabled people. The 1882 Imbecile Passengers Act restricted entry for those with disabilities, and the 1899 Immigration Restriction Act banned those deemed “idiotic,” “insane,” or contagious.

An example of this shame: Late in the nineteenth century and into the early twentieth century a number of cities passed what were known as “Ugly Laws”. These laws made it illegal for any person diseased, maimed, mutilated or disfigured in any way to show themselves in public view. The last city to repeal ugly laws was Chicago in 1974.

In the present...

In 1993, New Zealand created the Human Rights Act which banned discrimination against people with physical, intellectual, or psychiatric disabilities.

In the future...?