Beautiful Lives

For much of history, people with learning disabilities have been regarded as unworthy of interest, valuable only to their families, and sometimes even dismissed as barely human. Just a hundred years ago, they were regarded as a threat to the social order, to be settled as far away as possible, prevented from reproducing and, in some places, done away with altogether. And if recent years have seen improvements, they're still treated as outsiders, fundamentally different, deeply odd. Beautiful Lives is a powerful examination of the public's changing attitudes and the way that this has affected people's lived realities. From the Graeco-Roman and medieval worlds to the mass institutionalisation of the 19th century, eugenics in the 20th century, and the contradictions and challenges of today, Stephen Unwin illuminates how the concept of learning disabilities is a slippery one and how shifting categories have contributed to the 'othering' that has caused so much pain. A deeply personal, but also pragmatic, account told through the eyes of a father with a son who has severe learning disabilities. This vital history suggests what a better future might look like for learning-disabled people and their families, and also a fresh understanding of who we are as human beings and what it is we should care about.