Only Through Community

We value being a part of families, neighborhoods, a group of peers at school, a group of colleagues at work, clubs and sports teams, and having friends and neighbors who care and look out for us. Unfortunately all too often people with
disabilities are left out, hidden, excluded or kept separated from the rest of their communities. That’s why we work for the right to be included in the community, to be recognized as a basic human right for children with disabilities. Community is fundamental to our sense of who we are. Communities are stronger when we are all included and when everyone can participate, contribute and be valued.

Stories related by families throughout the world tell of parents being advised by professionals to place their
child with an intellectual disabilities in an institution, forget about them, and get on with their lives.
Coupled with a general lack of support for families, the result was a high rate of institutionalization and, in many places, sub-human conditions in those institutions. The role of institutions began to be critically questioned
when communities understood that children with disability should have a life that follows the patterns, routines and
customs of other people. This new approach increased the community response that would enable people with disabilities to live in community, closer to family. However, today this implies more than the involvement, participation or engagement of communities. It builds community ownership and action that aims at social and ethical change. The result is community empowerment as a process of re-negotiating priorities starting from the most vulnerable. It recognizes that while children with disabilities and their caregivers are empowered, the whole community is transformed, becoming inclusive and truly human. 

Testimonials:

“Surgery is wonderful and it can give people new opportunities, but it is only part of the answer. You still need
to find ways to be able to go out there and not let people stares or comments stop you from doing what you want
to do”.

“In our culture we’re all raised with the idea of being independent and being strong. I know a lot of times when I grew
up I got these messages all the time, “oh you are so strong and coping so well. “So that kept me from wanting to talk
about any problems or issues”.

“It is fascinating how powerful we feel with each others’ support; there is nothing like knowing we have shared
experiences and outlook. I really think that since we have a social problem, having social support is part of the
solution”.

Education began in prehistory, as adults trained the young in the knowledge and skills deemed necessary in their society. In pre-literate societies this was achieved orally and through imitation. Story-telling passed knowledge, values, and skills from one generation to the next. As cultures began to extend their knowledge beyond skills that could be readily learned through imitation, formal education developed. Schools existed in Egypt at the time of the Middle Kingdom.

The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn and change.

Carl Rogers

A right to education has been recognized by some governments, including at the global level: Article 13 of the United Nations’ 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recognizes a universal right to education. In most regions education is compulsory up to a certain age.

Plato founded the Academy in Athens, the first institution of higher learning in Europe. The city of Alexandria in Egypt, established in 330 BCE, became the successor to Athens as the intellectual cradle of Ancient Greece. There, the great Library of Alexandria was built in the 3rd century BCE. European civilizations suffered a collapse of literacy and organization following the fall of Rome in AD 476.

In China, Confucius (551-479 BCE), of the State of Lu, was the country’s most influential ancient philosopher, whose educational outlook continues to influence the societies of China and neighbors like Korea, Japan and Vietnam. Confucius gathered disciples and searched in vain for a ruler who would adopt his ideals for good governance, but his Analects were written down by followers and have continued to influence education in East Asia into the modern era.

After the Fall of Rome, the Catholic Church became the sole preserver of literate scholarship in Western Europe. The church established cathedral schools in the Early Middle Ages as centers of advanced education. Some of these establishments ultimately evolved into medieval universities and forebears of many of Europe’s modern universities. During the High Middle Ages, Chartres Cathedral operated the famous and influential Chartres Cathedral School.

The medieval universities of Western Christendom were well-integrated across all of Western Europe, encouraged freedom of inquiry, and produced a great variety of fine scholars and natural philosophers, including Thomas Aquinas of the University of Naples, Robert Grosseteste of the University of Oxford, an early expositor of a systematic method of scientific experimentation, and Saint Albert the Great, a pioneer of biological field research. Founded in 1088, the University of Bologne is considered the first, and the oldest continually operating university.