Disability rights movement
The
disability rights movement aims to improve the
quality of life of people with
disabilities.
Accessibility and
safety are primary issues that this movement works to reform. Access to public areas such as city streets and public buildings and restrooms are some of the more visible changes brought about in recent decades. A noticeable change in some parts of the world is the installation of
elevators, transit
lifts,
wheelchair ramps and
curb cuts, allowing people in
wheelchairs and with other mobility impairments to use public sidewalks and
public transit more easily and more safely. These improvements have also been appreciated by parents pushing
strollers or
trolleys,
bicycle users, and travelers with rolling luggage.
Access to
education and
employment have also been a major focus of this movement.
Adaptive technologies, enabling people to work jobs they could not have previously, help create access to jobs and economic
independence. Access in the classroom has helped improve
education opportunities and independence for people with disabilities.
The right to have an
independent life as an adult, sometimes using paid assistant care instead of being
institutionalized, is a major goal of this movement, and is the main goal of the similar "
independent living" movement. These movements have allowed more people with disabilities to be active participants in mainstream society.
The disability rights movement began in the
1970s, encouraged by the examples of the African-American
civil rights and
women's rights movements, which began in the late
1960s. One of the most important developments was the growth of the
Independent Living movement which emerged in
California. Another crucial turning point was the nationwide sit-in conceived by
Frank Bowe and organized by the
American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities in 1977 of government buildings operated by
HEW in
San Francisco and
Washington DC that successfully led to the release of regulations pursuant to the
Rehabilitation Act. Prior to the
1990 enactment of the
Americans with Disabilities Act, the
Rehabilitation Act was the most important disability rights legislation in the
United States.
The focus of activists for the rights of the physically disabled is access to public and private buildings and general accommodation of people who are less mobile or dextrous. In particular, they advocate the inclusion of wheelchair ramps, automatic doors, wide doors and corridors, and the elimination of unnecessary steps where ramps and elevators are not available.
Advocates for the rights of people with
developmental disabilities (also known as intellectual disabilities) focus their efforts on gaining acceptance in the
workforce and in everyday activities and events from which they might have been excluded in the past.
Unlike many of the leaders in the physical disability rights community,
self advocacy has been slow in developing for people with intellectual disabilities. Public awareness of the civil rights movement for this population remains limited, and the stereotyping of people with intellectual disabilities as non-contributing citizens who are dependent on others remains common.
John Tyler, born in the twentieth century, was an advocate for the rights of the disabled who was himself disabled with severe polio. He parked his wheelchair in front of Metro buses in
Seattle, Washington,
U.S.A. in the late
1970s and performed other actions to make sure that the proper wheelchair lifts, not the "folding camel" lifts, would be put onto the public transit buses. The original lifts could potentially dump people in wheelchairs, and also break down more easily. After his death from suicide on
December 24,
1984, he was remembered at
Center Park in Seattle, Washington, the first apartment building built in the United States specifically for people in wheelchairs.
Jeff Moyer is an important and unique musician to the Disability Rights Movement. He began his work as the resident musician of the 504 protests in San Francisco, circa 1977.
*
Social model of disability*
Person Centred Planning*
List of disability rights activists*
List of disability rights organizations*
American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities*
Americans with Disabilities Act*
Section 504*
Not Dead Yet*
Unspeakable Conversations An article written by a disabled disability lawyer about her debates with controversial philosopher
Peter Singer*
Society for Disability Studies*
Class Member] A blog written by the mother of a class member in a statewide lawsuit regarding inclusion in education in Pennsylvania.
