All Episodes

November 8, 2020 39 mins

[3-part documentary]

Episode 1 of 3 - Parallel Worlds. 

Prehistory - 1400s 

In this new Yarn Miniseries I’m going to give you a rough history of Disability. 

The story of Disability runs in parallel with the story of humanity itself and like the story of humanity, some of it isn’t pretty. It involves murder, neglect, segregation and sterilisation but it’s also a story of innovation, determination and love. 

In episode one I define what a disability is before diving into the past. I start with the Neanderthals, checking in with the Egyptians, the Celts, the Ancient Romans and I also highlight the effect organised Religion has on the perception of people with a disability. 

Written and narrated by John Roche. 

Full episode transcript available here:
https://medium.com/@mrjohnroche_42475/disability-a-parallel-history-316bf348cfd2 

Sources 

Short history of disability By Dr Robert Jackson https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=js2qgVhmH88 MN Department of Administration - Council on Development Disabilities https://mn.gov/mnddc/parallels/index.html World Bank https://www.worldbank.org/en/topic/disability Historic England https://historicengland.org.uk/research/inclusive-heritage/disability-history/ History Channel https://www.history.com/topics/germany/eugenics PBS https://www.pbs.org/weta/throughdeafeyes/deaflife/bell_nad.html United Nations Human Rights Office of High Commissioner https://www.ohchr.org/ Dr. William Bronston, Willowbrook Memorial Lecture https://mn.gov/mnddc/parallels/five/5f/willowbrook-bronston-memorial.html Welcome Collection https://wellcomecollection.org/works IWM Archive https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/voices-of-the-first-world-war-shell-shock RTE Archive https://www.rte.ie/archives/ The Times Archive https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/ancient-walking-aids-5232vx5n9j0 Special Olympics https://www.specialolympics.org JSTOR https://www.jstor.org/stable/3288457?seq=1 IPC https://www.paralympic.org/ Greek Gods info https://www.greek-gods.info/greek-gods/hephaestus/ YouTube

Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal

NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal

Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!

Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.