The normalization of abusive punishment through history contributes immensely to the abuse of intellectually or developmentally disabled children. The origins of abuse within schools date back to the first ever established schools and Western views of discipline. Corporal punishment was used frequently to mold children into respectful, behaved, and God-fearing individuals. An 1854 Massachusetts law stated: 

“If any children above sixteen years old and of sufficient understanding shall curse or smite their natural father or mother, they shall be put to death, unless it can be sufficiently testified that the parents have been unchristianly negligent in the education of such children or so provoked them by extreme and cruel correction that they have been forced thereunto to preserve themselves from death or maiming.”

People with intellectual disabilities were consistently isolated and looked down upon in history. Discussion around what was later labeled “developmental disabilities” first began around the fourth century B.C. and was described as being a result of the Gods. Prior to this, the Greeks simply referred to people with intellectual disabilities as “idiots”. Fast forward to the Middle Ages in Rome, and the first asylum was established, in which the conditions were aggressive and cruel. During this time, “idiot cages” were created to “keep people with disabilities out of trouble”. Those with developmental disabilities were placed in literal cages likened to animals and placed in the town centers to be gawked at. Those with disabilities were looked down upon, treated cruelly, and almost always poor. This treatment and the circumstances which developmentally disabled were placed in set the tone for the treatment and views of them for years to come. Around the 19th century the first institutions arose, known at the time as “poorhouses”. The conditions of these houses were especially harsh given the already barbarous conditions of the poor during the Industrial Revolution. These “poorhouses” of the 19th century later developed into large institutions with living conditions slightly better but still subpar. Attitudes towards those with developmental disabilities toward the end of the 19th century were that the “poor, the unemployed, the mentally ill and the mentally retarded were somehow responsible for their own fate.” It was not until the mid 20th century that organizations were formed to assist these people and fight against these conditions amid the Disability Rights Movement.