Join this talk and tour about Dr John Langdon Down and his successors who managed Normansfield from 1868 where a revolutionary and enlightened approach was brought to the care of those with learning disabilities.
Although Normansfield was a private special education and training institution until 1951, it then became an NHS hospital which closed in 1997. While forward thinking doctors and social reformers helped set up some of the first institutions in the 19th century, controversial issues around restraint and seclusion are still being debated. Major issues in the social history of learning disability have included the quality of care in long-stay hospital institutions and how people find places of belonging today.
The talk will be followed by archive film of Normansfield hospital and a tour of the building which includes the museum and the theatre.
The museum will be open 11am to 1pm Sunday 12 May 2019. The talk and tour will take place between 11.15am to 12.45pm.
You can read more information on what to see at the Langdon Down Museum here.