Disowned and Disabled

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1 General Information
2 Cover
3 Information
- 3.1 Nowhere Else to Go
- 3.2 Breaking Free
4 Screenshots
5 Technical Specs
6 Links

[edit] General Information

Sociopolitical Documentary hosted by Beth Goddard, published by BBC in 2013 - English narration

[edit] Cover

[edit] Information

Two-part series which traces the way care of disowned and disabled children changed in the decades after World War II.

[edit] Nowhere Else to Go

Sixty years ago, the care of children who were orphaned or abandoned by their parents was based on the Victorian poor laws. Some kids were sent to orphanages, others to former colonies or farmed out to unregulated foster carers. However, after the war a national scandal and rise of the welfare state led to a new commitment to put the interests of the child first. Many orphanages were closed, foster care was regulated and child welfare services were improved. But, as the film shows through interviews and case studies, the process of change was fraught with difficulty and disaster. Although care homes closed, many of those that remained were in meltdown as their staff grappled with troubled teenagers. Shocking methods ensued such as isolation, lock-up and even drugs, and child abuse came into the public consciousness.

[edit] Breaking Free

The second part tells the largely unknown story of disabled people's battle for equality, led by those who as children had found themselves rejected by society; stigmatised and traumatised by years of patronising care and forced segregation. Before the 1940s, care for physically disabled children was largely based on trying to make them appear 'normal', but in the late 1960s the first generation of post-war disabled children came of age and founded a new movement to fight for equal rights. Change was slow, but in the 80s and 90s a huge shift in policy and attitudes began to take place. Using the stories of individuals such as Kevin Donnellon and Anne Rae, the film sheds light on the often harsh reality faced by disabled children in the late 20th century. It is also a story of empowerment about how one of the most vulnerable groups in society fought to be accepted.