Step One: Choose one of the reform movements from the lesson. Children in poverty Education Deaf and blind Mental illness Temperance Step Two: In complete sentences of your own words, create a blog post that teaches society about the reform movement you chose. The blog post should be at least one paragraph and should include the following: A catchy title What was the problem? Who was involved in addressing the problem? What was done to reform society? Does the problem still exist today? One example of something (law, organization, institution, etc.) that exists today because of the reform movement of the 1800s One image representing the reform movement and its goals

During the 1800’s people with mental illnesses were often put in mental asylums or prisons, since people felt like people who suffered from mental illnesses had them permanently and that they did not feel pain or temperature change. The conditions were very harsh, as they would be forced to be alone for long periods and restrained in chains to be kept from doing anything crazy. Because of these harsh conditions, Dorothea Dix traveled to Europe and her home state of Massachusetts to study prison conditions and she focused on having the government acknowledge these problems. Because of Dix, she started to work on founding 32 mental hospitals and creating libraries in many hospitals and prisons to treat mental illnesses. People who suffer from mental illnesses nowadays don’t have to suffer from the harsh conditions of asylums and prisons. Because of Dix’s reform movement, laws such as IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) ensure that students with disabilities are provided with a Free Appropriate Public Education that helps them with their individual needs. Many businesses and government agencies focus on giving proper care, education, and treatment to the ill.