Positive Psychology and Students with Intellectual Disabilities

Abstract

Th e history of services to and treatment of persons with intellectual disabilities could hardly be perceived as “positive.” Pervasive maltreatment and misunderstanding of persons with intellectual defi cits (e.g., see Bierne-Smith, Patton, & Kim, 2006; Braddock, 2002) was dominant. Persons with intellectual disabilities were oft en viewed as deviant and undesirable, and even demonized. Historically, isolation from the community and institutionalization were the primary modes of treatment. Persons with mental retardation were oft en in long-term institutional settings, oft en with horrifi c living situations. Blatt and Kaplan’s (1966) classic Christmas in Purgatory, a collection of photographs from a state institution for persons with mental retardation, dramatically portrayed the inhumane and harsh conditions of a large state institution. Children with intellectual disabilities were oft en denied school entrance. If they were provided a school program, it was oft en in a “special school” located away from other school buildings or in segregated classrooms. Th ere was little interaction with their non-disabled peers. A fi nal introductory note is that “Intellectual Disabilities” is now the preferred term for mental retardation. Th e American Association on Mental Retardation was re-named the American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities in 2007. Th e two terms will be used interchangeably throughout this chapter.