Images of disabled children are found throughout well-known works of literature, film, and even opera. Their characters range from sweet, to brave, to tragic. Disabled children are also a part of the reality of life either in personal ways or as poster girls and boys for drives and causes. Behind these images is a historical presence that has been created by the societies in which these children live and have lived. This work examines current knowledge about children's experience of physical, cognitive, and emotional/behavioral impairments from the Colonial period to the present, while revealing the social constructions of both disability and childhood throughout American history.

Just as disability has been advanced as an essential consideration in other historical inquiries, such as that of gender, this is a work intended to demonstrate the critical role of disability with respect to the history of childhood.