„…Зер, и те са граждани на тази страна!“ Начало на дискусията за децата с увреждания в България 1895–1914 г.
“After All, They Too Are Citizens of This Country!” The Beginning of the Discussion on Children with Disabilities in Bulgaria, 1895–1914

Summary/Abstract: The article focuses on the two decades from the mid-1890s to the period of the wars of 1912–1918, when the first attempts in Bulgaria were made to define mental disability and the topic of children with disabilities began to appear in specialized publications. During this pre-institutional stage, Bulgaria had no specialized institutions, and families were primarily responsible for these children. The construction of normality and its boundaries, the classification of children, and the identification among them of the “abnormal” were perceived as an important part of the Bulgarian modernization project. The discussion of children with disabilities in the Bulgarian medical, pedagogical, and legal press adopted the main notions, ideas, concepts, and norms from international exchange and practice. The dominant approach promoted the segregation of these children into special classes, schools, and institutions, while even arguments for their equal rights as citizens did not question this separation.

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