As Hogwarts was founded in 990 A.D., it is perhaps not surprising to find that its early attitude toward those with disabilities was rather bleak. At first students with disabilities were not admitted at all, on the grounds that disability of any kind would inevitably interfere with magical training. This ban was not, however, lifted nearly as completely and suddenly as it had been applied. The first known disabled student at Hogwarts was Charles Hopper (who was deaf) in 1450, and he was admitted only as an exception to the ban, rather than as a sign of its ending. Even then, there was controversy. Some claimed he could not hope to learn Herbology without being able to hear the shriek of the Mandrake root through protective equipment, though I doubt they considered that ability much of a privilege themselves. As we all know now, Hopper did go on to become a distinguished herbologist, and in 1493 bequeathed his entire fortune to Hogwarts in his will, on the condition that deaf students be admitted on the same basis as hearing students. As he had been so successful himself, as the school put it (though if I may say so, I rather think his fortune weighed a little in the balance) his request was granted.
Students with paralysis of the limbs faced a difficult battle as well. Even after their eligibility for admission was granted at the request of Headmistress Eupraxia Mole in 1877, self-levitation was not taught in any course and the stairs were not enchanted to lift paralyzed passengers as Muggle escalators do. In fact, those situations were only remedied by Victor Wexler's lawsuits in 1930. (You will recall that 1919 saw Marcus Pennington become the first blind minister in the Ministry of Magic, where his advocacy on behalf of disabled witches and wizards led to the triumph of the 1929 ban on discrimination against disabled students and staff at Hogwarts and those seeking admission or employment there. And this, I may proudly say, came precisely 66 years before the United Kingdom's Disability Discrimination Act 1995.) However, although properly enchanted brooms have allowed paralyzed students to compete at Quidditch, disabled students were banned from the Triwizard Tournament "for their own protection" throughout that competition. Personally, I think risking one's life for a tournament is hardly suitable for any student, and I was quite glad to see the tournament discontinued permanently after the 1994 debacle.
Improvements in magical medicine have helped as well over the years, with magical eyes and ears giving sight and hearing to many who would otherwise be without them, though others have declined due to difficulty of use, pride in their disability, or simply being set in their ways. One recalls Eupraxia Mole's sister, the first to teach speech-visibility spells at Hogwarts, appearing at her sister's office by Floo Powder to announce that she needed a magical ear no more than a taxicab. In any case, we must respect the choices of individual teachers and students (as well as the fact that some disabilities will likely always be beyond even magical cures) and continue to work toward inclusion and accommodation for all.
Perhaps the best-known disabled former Hogwarts student is Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, though he of course lost his eye and his leg well after his graduation, during the First Wizarding War. Yet his success afterwards as an Auror-not to mention his heroic death in the Battle of the Seven Potters- has inspired many of us. I know I was particularly delighted when the first disability rights society was formed at Hogwarts-can it be only last year?-under the name Moody's Crew. (They do also use the subtitle "Disability Rights Society" for those unaware.) They have succeeded in adding Disability Studies courses to the curriculum, as well as having quills bewitched to write the teacher's words and the student's homework and test answers when spoken, for those students who have difficulty writing, an innovation which I am happy to say has led to several goblins and even centaurs attending Hogwarts. (No house-elf, as one might expect, has yet been persuaded to abandon their life of servitude for one of study, though some have formed a shaky alliance with students with dwarfism in regards to changing the standard placement of items in shops, classrooms, etc.)
As for the staff, it was not until Professor Fytherley Undercliffe's time as Headmaster (1511-1531) that there was a disabled Headmaster of Hogwarts; in a rather daring move for the time, his portrait in the Headmaster's office has always featured a walking stick. That said, few today know that he was blind, and used it much as Muggles use canes today. There has been much debate in Moody's Crew as to whether he faced discrimination, and whether he would have used magical eyes had they been available at the time, though as he wrote little about his own life it must remain conjecture.
In any case, though we must not forget the oppressions of the past nor those still continuing today, I have hope that this little history will enable us to take heart in what inclusion we have accomplished at Hogwarts, and to look to the future with renewed hope and strength.
Headmistress Phyllis Rosewood, Year 2015
Postscript: Those seeking further information may wish to know that the Muggle author J.K. Rowling has mentioned Eupraxia Mole's term as Headmistress (though not her sister nor her work for those with paralysis) and has written of the life and death of Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody (including his magical eye and wooden leg), as well as the 1994 Triwizard Tournament, in quite some depth. She has also written of Herbology and of the shrieking of the Mandrake root, and obliquely of Professor Fytherley Undercliffe's term as Headmaster ending with his death in 1531 (as shown by his portrait in the current Headmaster's office, an honor given only to those Heads who die during their term.) She mentions that his portrait shows his walking stick, but not that he was blind-as I say, it is a little-known fact. She has also mentioned centaurs and goblins (though none of those she names are among our students) as well as house-elves. She even mentions Floo Powder, though without, thankfully, attempting to give any hints on its recipe.