On a crammed bus headed for downtown Miami, a 50-year-old woman makes a great effort to stay upright, a grimace of pain spread across her face. Underneath the bilingual signs indicating that certain seats are reserved for elderly and/or disabled people, healthy, young people sit, staring out the window or blabbing on their cellular phones. One young woman is preoccupied with the state of her painted finger nails, staring worriedly.

Despite a bad knee I give up my seat for the grimacing woman. She sits and sighs relief as she explains that she has arthritis. In a loud voice she laments the disappearance of the special “something” men used to have in the days when they would willfully give up their seat for a woman of any age.

I finally arrive at the bank. As I open the door a strong gust of wind causes the customers to look up and around at what’s happening. In a long line there is a man, shifting and quietly laboring to keep himself upright with the help of a metal cane. The window reserved for people with disabilities is without an attendant.

Generally, the types of changes that favor implementing civil and human rights of people with disabilities have corresponded to periods just following crises. Often disability legislation has followed pressures from individuals and groups that participate in civil disobedience to change people’s attitudes, behaviors and inhumane norms.

Historically, people who have physical or mental differences have often been excluded, ignored, or in the best of cases, considered spiritually and biologically inferior. Either way it is interesting to look back in time to milestones that marked advances in the fight for people with disabilities to secure the right to live with dignity. 

After World War One (1914-1918), a large number of soldiers returned home without arms, legs, and experiencing post-traumatic disorder. This was likely one of the motivations behind the implementation of the Smith Fess Rehabilitation Act (1920) that established rehabilitation and training services to incorporate returning soldiers into the labor market.

During the aftermath of the Vietnam War (1964-1975), thousands of soldiers returned home with different physical and psychological disabilities. Many of these veterans, after being excluded from the social services joined Blacks and people from other marginalized groups to fight against discrimination. This helped improve rehabilitation services in the United States and made them more available to the civilian population at large.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 made it illegal to discriminate or segregate individuals based on race, color, religion or national origin in places of public accommodation/facilities, education, employment, federal grants, programs and in other areas.

Short Timeline of Disability Rights Milestones
Following is a timeline outlining some of the milestones of the disability rights movement.

1968: The Architectural Barriers Act prohibits architectural barriers in government buildings/structures.

1970: The first Center for Independent Living (CIL) was founded by Ed Roberts, Judy Heumann, and others in Berkeley, CA. This CIL became a model for centers across the country in which services were provided for and by people with disabilities.

1975: Access to public education in the least restrictive environment was mandated by law for students with disabilities. The law, originally called the Education of All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142) was later renamed to the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

1978: Wade Blank, an independent living advocate, and 19 others, held a city bus hostage in Denver, CO. This act highlighted the inaccessibility of public transportation and helped launch a national movement to improve accessibility of public transportation. The culmination of the movement was the 1990 passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which requires public transportation to be accessible, among other provisions.

1983: Ed Roberts, Judy Heumann and Joan Leon start the World Institute on Disability (WID), a non-profit public policy, research and advocacy center established to promote the full inclusion of people with disabilities in society.

1985: The Mental Illness Bill of Rights Act is passed, outlining the specific protections and services for people with mental illness that are afforded by the law.

1988: The Fair Housing Act made it unlawful to discriminate against people with disabilitites who are renting or purchasing housing. The Act also established the responsibility of the landlord to make reasonable modifications and/or provide reasonable accommodations to allow a person with a disability to use and enjoy the dwelling.

1990: The Americans with Disabilities Act was passed, outlawing discrimination against individuals who have disabilities in employment, public places and in other areas, and to enable people with disabilities to participate as fully as possible in society.

Many of these achievements were reached because of the actions of a group of advocates across the country who organized and exerted pressure on legislators and other stakeholders via demonstrations and acts of civil disobedience.

There is still a way to go until people with disabilities are able to participate fully and equally in society. There is still a long way until the banks, busses and other public places are truly accessible to people with disabilities; until people’s attitudes and behaviors toward disability change.

We, the advocates of today, must continue to apply pressure to enforce existing law and, enhance and create new laws when needed. This will be even more crucial as baby boomers become elderly and acquire disabilities.

Spanish-language short histories of the Disability Rights Movement in the US:

http://www.blackhawkcenter.org/historia_esp.htm and

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