author: Penka Yaneva

Изследването на това как са били възприемани децата с увреждания през различните исторически епохи ни помага да разберем дългия път на социална еволюция. В миналото обществото често е реагирало с предразсъдъци, изолация или неразбиране към различните съдби. В следващите редове ще се върнем назад във времето, за да анализираме промените в културния и социалния светоглед спрямо тях.

Bulgaria in the past

За отношението на обществото към децата и хората с недъзи в далечното минало, можем да съдим предимно от родния ни фолклор. Като цяло хората са се отнасяли сравнително разбиращо. И със сигурност не са избивали масово децата си, родени с увреждания. Съществували са множество обреди и забрани, които да предпазват родилката от раждане на недъгаво дете. В много народни обичаи пък е заложено лечението. Съществували са поверия, при които, ако болните извършат определени ритуали в точно определено време, имат шанс да прогледнат, да проходят и т.н. За децата с психични разстройства се е смятало, че са обладани от зли сили. В предхристиянска България вещите хора от селото са извършвали ритуали на баене и наричане с цел да излекуват детето, като прогонят нечистотията от него. В християнска България тези действия вече са се извършвали от свещеник. Има данни за жени, „загубили ума си”, които бивали изпращани в манастир, Бог да се погрижи за тях. Всичко това навежда на мисълта, че старите българи са имали хуманно отношение към различните от тях.

В недалечното минало в България се е прилагал т. нар. медицински модел, насочен към определяне на уврежданията, нарушенията или затрудненията. Съгласно този подход децата се разпределят в различни групи в зависимост от уврежданията им и образованието им се извършва по специални програми от подготвени учители със специфични подходи и методи на преподаване.

Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome

In Ancient Greece, for example, children born with disabilities were killed. This practice was mainly imposed in the dominant at that time in Sparta and other city-states, among which the tendency to build a strong and healthy state prevailed. In this era, the healthy and well-developed body was raised into a cult. In this context, disabled people were a prerequisite for the weakening of the state. It was believed that in the future they would become a burden on society, weaken it and thus harm the state. Similar values and norms prevailed in Rome as well. In 499 BC a law was issued (lex duodecim tabularum) according to which weak and maimed children were to be put to death.

In Ancient Greece, the acceptance of the newborn depended entirely and solely on the will of the father. Children with physical disabilities were abandoned, as were those born of rape or illegitimate relationships. The data shows that children born with some disabilities were immediately thrown into the abyss. According to studies, the ancient Greek philosopher and mathematician Plato approved the killing of children born with malformations. Plato believed that children did not belong to anyone, as they could not participate in his model of the Ideal Republic. The famous Italian pediatrician described that Aristotle, considered the greatest scientist of the ancient world, argued that when it comes to abandoning or rearing newborns, there should be a law prohibiting the rearing of children with disabilities. However, if this goes against the customs, some limits should be set. Aristippus - the famous ancient Greek philosopher and student of Socrates, believed that a person can do absolutely anything with his own children, even maiming them.

Christian Europe - from the Middle Ages to the Second World War

In the Middle Ages, in addition to the religious aspect, a moral aspect was also included in the perception of disabilities among people. Damage was accepted as a disgrace, as a divine punishment for sins, as a cause of possession by "unclean forces". During this age, people with visible disabilities and physical deformities were judged and tortured because they were believed to be possessed by the devil. Disability was associated with guilt, shame and low social status not only for the person with various disabilities, but also for his whole family.

In the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe, a significant change occurred in the attitude of people with disabilities. During these centuries, parallel to the development of concepts of insanity, sufferers of various diseases and disabilities were subjected to medicalization and institutionalization. Medicine is very quickly displacing religion as the moderator of social norms and values in society. It also becomes a kind of institution for social control. In the 19th century, the role of doctors in society expanded. The causes of disability are sought in illness, trauma or some external cause leading to impairment of physical health and requiring individual treatment and rehabilitation. Different programs are created to influence individual needs. After the Second World War, more attention was paid to the rehabilitation of the disabled (training and therapy), as well as to the inclusion of other auxiliary and rehabilitation methods.

The Muslim religion considers the blind as the favorites of Allah and forms a tolerant attitude towards them.

North and Latin America

In some areas of present-day Arizona, blind people worked on farms. Others were involved in herbalism, sheep tending, wool processing and wine making. Attitudes toward disabled people varied among different primitive tribes in human prehistory. In some Indian villages in Latin American countries, children have helped disabled people. According to Coty's research, in some Indian tribes there is the following thought: "To the blind man who cannot find his way, help him and lead him where he needs to go."

Australia and Africa

Evidence also suggests that in the lands of Central Australia, disease-blinded adults are assisted during migration. There were different reactions to the blind in the tribes of South West Africa, in some of which the disabled were victims of cannibalism. In the West African Bantu tribe, the attitude towards the blind is positive, while towards the deaf it is hostile.

Ancient Egypt and Thebes

There is reason to believe that the number of blind people in Ancient Egypt was very high. Blindness is estimated to have been 4–5 per 1,000. Because of this, the ancient historian Hesios called Egypt the "Land of the Blind". The father of medicine, Hippocrates, established a very large number of eye doctors who knew more than 20 eye diseases and were able to treat cataracts.

In Thebes, disabled children were sold to fishermen, while children born blind were legitimate and could not be sold into slavery. The blind musicians and poets participated in various performances and especially in the holidays by the Nile River.

India, China and North Korea

In Ancient India, the most important social feature of the society was solidarity towards the disabled and especially the blind. The Buddhist King Asoka established the first institutions of the institutional type to take care of blind people.

In Ancient China, during the reign of the Han Dynasty from the 8th to the 3rd century BC in the western part of the country, the blind Luk Ai was a high-ranking civil servant. Thanks to him, the foundations were laid for the first group training courses for the blind, trained as storytellers, fortune tellers and musicians. The beginnings of individual learning also appeared in Ancient China. Confucius was the first individual teacher of the blind Chinese scholar and statesman Tsoch Yuming. And Confucius himself was taught music by a blind teacher. His other blind teachers were Susu Sang Ming and Tsu Xia. 1,500 years ago, the first blind organization was founded in China. In Ancient Israel, the blind did not have any legal or religious obligations. Their life is determined by the social status of the family. There are known cases of blind teachers, lawyers, scientists, but not of priests.

People with disabilities in North Korea are still more isolated than everyone else today. Society considers them a burden, and the environment does not allow them to participate in social life. However, there are no specialized educational institutions for children with physical disabilities – they attend regular schools, despite the fact that there are practically no ramps for wheelchairs and other mobility aids anywhere. With few exceptions, children with mental disabilities are completely cut off from the educational process. There is only one educational institution for such children in the entire country – the Korean Center for the Rehabilitation of Disabled Children, for example, teaches students with Down syndrome. However, there are no special curricula tailored for them, says Catalina Devandas-Aguilar of the UN Human Rights Council. Many North Korean families avoid appearing in public with their children or disabled relatives because they are ashamed of them. Instead, they prefer to keep them locked up at home - isolated and left alone with their misery, often without any support.

© 2026 Iliana Dechkova