This lesson focuses on a group of ‘outsiders’ in medieval England – people who suffered from various kinds of disability.

Students are first asked to consider what they can infer from contemporary newspaper headlines about the experiences of people with disabilities in modern society.

Next they turn their attention to the medieval period.

The main activity sees students plot the experiences of those with different kinds of disabilities on to a radar graph. This helps them to see the extent to which people with disabilities were accepted into society and provided with adequate care.

Students develop their knowledge of various kinds of physical disabilities – including deafness, blindness and leprosy – as well as learning difficulties and the ‘glass delusion’ (sufferers of which believed themselves to be made from glass).

A final activity sees students compose blog posts for the Disability History Month website, outlining their findings from the lesson. 

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