A Brief History of the Disability Movement

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A Brief History of the Disability Movement

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According to the U.S. Census, there are more than 54 million people

with disabilities in the United States. Historically, the condition

of having a disability has been viewed as tragic. Through ignorance

and fear, people with disabilities were typically labeled beggars or

indigents. The word " handicap " itself is said to derive from " cap in

hand, " an activity familiarly associated with panhandling.

By the 19th century, it was common for people with disabilities to

be institutionalized, and they were looked upon as patients or

clients who needed curing. This practice had the effect of excluding

people with disabilities from the larger society and implied that

something was inherently and permanently wrong with them. It

provided no room for integration, and perpetuated myths of

inequality.

In the first half of the twentieth century, as thousands of WWI

soldiers returned home, the first vocational rehabilitation acts

were passed in the 1920s to provide services to WWI veterans with

newly acquired disabilities. But perhaps the biggest changes within

the disability rights movement came with the civil rights movements

of the 1960s. As African Americans, women and other social

minorities gained political consciousness, so did people with

disabilities.

In the early 1970s, people with disabilities lobbied Congress to put

civil rights language for people with disabilities into the 1972

Rehabilitation Act. The Act was vetoed by President Nixon. After a

group of people with disabilities marched on Washington, a revised

1973 Rehabilitation Act was passed. For the first time in history,

the civil rights of people with disabilities were protected by law.

Parallel to the disability rights movement was a movement in the

1970s to provide access to educational services for children and

youth with disabilities. The Education for All Handicapped Children

Act (P.L. -94-142) was passed in 1975 to ensure equal access to

public education for students with disabilities. The Act, renamed

the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1990,

called for a free and appropriate public education for every child

with a disability, to be delivered in the least restrictive

environment. Idea promotes the concept of inclusion, requiring that

students with disabilities be educated in general education settings

alongside students without disabilities to the maximum extent

appropriate.

Despite changes in rehabilitation and education law, people with

disabilities did not achieve broad civil rights until the enactment

of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. This landmark

federal anti-discrimination law ensures equal access to employment

opportunities and public accommodations for people with

disabilities. With this act, Congress identified the full

participation, inclusion and integration of people with disabilities

into society as a national goal.