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Diagnostic manuals

Diagnostic manuals can tell historians about the terminology used to describe different disabilities throughout time. Examining trends in these manuals enable historians to look at how attitudes toward disability changed and progressed.

Scientific Research

Looking at journals by physicians, doctors and scientists can tell historians what knowledge society had about different disabilities.

Laws

Often people with disabilities would find themselves at the centre of political debates and tracking the progression of laws that prohibited or progressed disability rights can tell us much about changing attitudes.

Institutions

Historians can look at institutions/homes in different places at different times. The nature of these institutions often reflected social attitudes toward a particular disability.

Disability Organisations

Organisations were formed centred around specific disabilities throughout history. Often these organisations engaged in activism to raise awareness or fight injustices. Looking at the establishment of, and the publications by, these organisations can give historians access to the voices of people with disabilities.

Patient Records

Patient records can tell historians how different disabilities were treated. If historians are willing to read between the lines, these sources can also enable us to learn about the experiences of people with disabilities.

Letters

Letters to doctors and physicians from people suffering with disabilities and their family members can often reveal much about social attitudes toward disabilities.

(Alice Fairclough)