On this page you will find a variety of resources to do with the history of mobility disabilities as well as some terminology which may assist you in searching for further resources.
A History of Limb Amputation by
This book opens with a unique historical review of natural amputations due to congenital absence, disease, frostbite, animal trauma, and to punishment and ritual. The advent of surgical amputation and its difficulties form a major part of the book, summarising the evolution of the control of haemorrhage and infection, pain relief, techniques, instrumentation, complications, prostheses, results and case histories. Alternative procedures, increasingly important in the last two centuries, are also debated.
Lame captains and left-handed admirals : amputee officers in Nelson's Navy by
Throughout the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, the Royal Navy had a peculiar problem: it had too many talented and ambitious officers, all competing for a limited number of command positions. Given this surplus, we might expect that a major physical impairment would automatically disqualify an officer from consideration. To the contrary, after the loss of a limb, at least twenty-six such officers reached the rank of commander or higher through continued service. Losing a limb in battle often became a mark of honor, one that a hero and his friends could use to increase his chances of winning further employment at sea. Lame Captains and Left-Handed Admirals focuses on the lives and careers of four particularly distinguished officers who returned to sea and continued to fight and win battles after losing an arm or a leg: the famous admiral Lord Horatio Nelson, who fought all of his most historically significant battles after he lost his right arm and the sight in one eye, and his lesser-known fellow amputee admirals, Sir Michael Seymour, Sir Watkin Owen Pell, and Sir James Alexander Gordon. Their stories shed invaluable light on the historical effects of physical impairment and this underexamined aspect of maritime history. Peculiar Bodies: Stories and Histories
Empty sleeves : amputation in the Civil War South by
The Civil War acted like a battering ram on human beings, shattering both flesh and psyche of thousands of soldiers. Despite popular perception that doctors recklessly erred on the side of amputation, surgeons labored mightily to adjust to the medical quagmire of war. And as Brian Craig Miller shows in Empty Sleeves, the hospital emerged as the first arena where southerners faced the stark reality of what amputation would mean for men and women and their respective positions in southern society after the war. Thus, southern women, through nursing and benevolent care, prepared men for the challenges of returning home defeated and disabled. Still, amputation was a stark fact for many soldiers. On their return, southern amputees remained dependent on their spouses, peers, and dilapidated state governments to reconstruct their shattered manhood and meet the challenges brought on by their newfound disabilities. It was in this context that Confederate patients based their medical care decisions on how comrades, families, and society would view the empty sleeve. In this highly original and deeply researched work, Miller explores the ramifications of amputation on the Confederacy both during and after the Civil War and sheds light on how dependency and disability reshaped southern society.
Swimming against the tide : true story of para swimmer Madhavi Latha by
Swimming Against the Tide is an inspirational story about an ordinary woman with extraordinary grit who set out to create a fair and inclusive world for the persons with disability.When she was seven months old, a massive polio attack left Madhavi paralyzed below the shoulder. But her parents refused to leave her to her fate. With their most powerful wealth--patience and love--they gave Madhavi the wings to set out and conquer the world on her own terms.Triumphing over a near-death situation with hydrotherapy, she eventually became a national champion in para swimming. She then started a movement called 'Yes, We Too Can!!!' and co-opted other athletes with disabilities to realize their dreams through access to sports. Banker, public speaker and National Para Swimming Champion with 30 medals for swimming at the state and national level, co-founder of the Paralympic Swimming Association of Tamil Nadu, the Wheelchair Basketball Federation of India and more, behind this stellar list of accolades is the story of a young girl from a sleepy little village who dared to dream and challenged her circumstances, determined to surge through 'disability', emerging a winner and becoming an inspiration to many.
Below is a non-exhaustive list of some terms related to mobility disabilities and the general time periods they might be used in. Bear in mind that it is difficult to identify disabilities and other conditions from historical sources and it is often better to examine the symptoms themselves rather than rely on the diagnoses of the past.
Pre-contemporary
Contemporary