This volume of essays attempts to identify the shared experiences of disabled children and examine the key debates about their care and control. During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries a series of social reforms in many western countries significantly affected the relationships between children and parents and the family and the state. Families were exposed to increasing amounts of encouragement and even coercion to engage with approved health and education services. Such services helped to forge the identities and determine the experiences of these children. The essays follow a chronological progression while focusing on the practices in a number of different countries.