The origins and devolupment of special education in Mallorca (1940-1990)

Abstract

The aim of the article is to tackle a first analysis of the history of special education in Mallorca. This cannot be separated from the history of disability and how this group has been seen by the rest of society. Therefore, special education centers emerged at the time when it was realized that people with disabilities could be rehabilitated and educated in segregated spaces. Once achieved they could be integrated and included in society. Firstly, in the forties of the 20th century, initiatives towards sensory disabilities appeared in Mallorca. Two should be highlighted, ONCE and Co l·legi La Puríssima for boys and girls with deafness. From the 60s and 70s of the 21st century, special education schools appeared linked to entities linked to the intellectual disability, either arising from family association movements, or from the social and educational action of the Catholic Church. These, in the eighties, expanded their field of action towards special professional training to achieve the social and work integration of people with disabilities.