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From Independence to Inclusion: America's Disability Rights Greatest Hits · Living Loud and Proud: Disability Conversations

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Welcome to the Living Loud and Proud podcast,
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brought to you by Disability Pride Pennsylvania.
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If you need a link to the transcript for this
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episode, please visit our accessible website
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at www .disabilitypridepa .org slash podcast.
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And now, here is your host. Hey folks. Welcome
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to the Living Loud and Proud podcast. I'm your
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host and producer, Phil Rosen, and today's episode
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is from Independence to Inclusion, America's
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Disability Rights Greatest Hits. So it is July
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2026 when this episode is being put out there
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for consumption, and earlier this month was the
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250th anniversary of the founding of the United
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States of America, and I thought what a perfect
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time to talk about all the different things that
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have happened over the last 250 years of our
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nation's history. This also happens to be a month
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when there are a number of pretty big things
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that have happened in disability history, moving
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the needle forward in terms of equity and inclusion.
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for the disability community. So even more perfect
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that I get to talk about it in this month, July.
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So first things first, I just want to throw out
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there that I am going to be not talking about
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the entire history of disability history throughout
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this country's existence. First of all, there's
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a lot of stuff that I don't need to tell anyone
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in the disability community that is a little
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bit upsetting for a lot of people who are disabled
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so we're really not going to be talking about
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any of that stuff and you know here at disability
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pride and on this podcast we really want to focus
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on the more positive things that have moved towards
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greater equity inclusion independence what have
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you for the disability community so that's the
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first thing and the second thing is I just want
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to address that because I am going to be talking
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about disability history and the language has
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changed a lot even the last decade when it comes
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to the way that we talk about disabilities and
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the disability community, that I am going to
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be using some anachronistic language, some terms
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that are definitely outdated. You know, I'm not
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going to go... Too far in terms of like anything,
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like things that might be considered slurs, like
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none of that is in this episode. But for anyone
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who doesn't want to hear terms that are, you
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know, outdated, you know, you can skip this episode.
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With that out of the way, let me get started
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with the first thing. And actually, we're going
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all the way back to the. beginning of this nation's
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founding, 1776, 250 years ago. So following the
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Revolutionary War, servicemen who had significant
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injuries or were unable to provide for their
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household were financially supported by the first
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pension law enacted by the Continental Congress
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on August 26, 1776 at the Pennsylvania State
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House, which is now Independence Hall right here
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in Philly. This law stipulated half pay for life
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or during disability extending to every officer,
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soldier, or sailor losing a limb in any engagement
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or being so disabled in the service of the United
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States as to render him incapable of earning
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a living. Proportionate relief has also been
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approved through this law for partially disabled
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servicemen. One of the major weaknesses of this
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law was that it relied upon the individual colonies
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and eventually the states to fund pensions independently
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until after the U .S. Constitution was ratified.
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Right after the U .S. Constitution was ratified
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in March of 1792, the Invalid Pensions Act provided
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the first framework to really fund the pensions
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out of the newly formed U .S. National Treasury,
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which provided for federal funding. So as you
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can see, there has been like this. recognition
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that we need to support the disability community
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even since back then. Of course, this was due
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to veterans who were injured. So that is an important,
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I think, context in sort of the way that we think
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about disability or have thought about disability
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historically in this country. So just something
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interesting to note there. And now we're going
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to jump forward. um to 1817 and in hartford connecticut
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the american school for the deaf was founded
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this was the first school for children with disabilities
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in the western hemisphere and you know this is
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the first of uh many things that we talk about
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regarding schools Now we're jumping ahead to
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1864, and Congress authorized the Columbia Institution
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for the Instruction of the Deaf and Dumb and
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the Blind to confer college degrees. Lincoln
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signed this act into law. Edward Minor Gallaudet
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was made president of the entire corporation,
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including the college, and that might give some
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hints as to where we're going here. First college
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established for people with disabilities in the
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world. It's now known as Gallaudet University
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and it's a private federally chartered university
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for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing.
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Now we're going to jump ahead to 1880 and America's
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National Association of the Deaf was established.
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And we're just going to breeze through a few
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more here. 1908 and 1909, Clifford Whittingham
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Beers founded the Connecticut Society for Mental
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Hygiene. It's now Mental Health Connecticut.
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And in 1909, Clifford Whittingham Beers founded
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the National Committee for Mental Hygiene, now
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Mental Health America. Both of these organizations
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pioneered treatment reform of mental illnesses,
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leading to the eventual closure of abusive mental
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hospitals across the U .S. This is really kind
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of important because Beers was institutionalized
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for depression and paranoia earlier in the century,
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in 1900. And these organizations were born out
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of his experiences because he felt really abused
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and he wanted to avoid that for everyone else
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who might be. having mental health issues. Now
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we're going to jump ahead to 1918, and the Smith
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-Sears Veterans Rehabilitation Act becomes law,
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providing the promotion of vocational rehabilitation
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and return to civil employment of disabled persons
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discharged from the U .S. military following
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World War I. Again, another law that really kind
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of exemplifies the way that we have historically
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thought about who we should be taking care of
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in this country and where we find the resources
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when it comes to the disability community, of
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course, starts with the disabled veterans. Over
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time, this has been expanded, thankfully, and
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we will get into that fairly shortly. We're going
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to jump ahead to 1931 and the Pratt -Smoot Act
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passes Congress and is signed into law by Herbert
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Hoover. One of the few things that he did during
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his presidency that I think could be considered
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universally positive. This law provided $100
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,000 administered by the Library of Congress
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to establish the National Library Service for
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the Blind and Print Disabled. The program, Books
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for the Blind, has been heavily amended and expanded
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over the years and still provides blind and low
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vision Americans with both analog and digital
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recordings of books, publications, and music
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materials. This is, of course, run through the
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library of congress so you know this this is
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something that has helped to expand thing access
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to materials for all sorts of people with disabilities
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and now we're going to jump ahead a couple of
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years to 1933 and you know i i didn't necessarily
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focus on Franklin D. Roosevelt's well -documented
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disability, but because he became president,
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the White House started renovations in 1933 to
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become one of the first wheelchair -accessible
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government buildings in D .C. These modifications
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were made during FDR's presidency to accommodate
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his disability. Upgrades included an indoor pool
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for exercise, interior elevators, and there was
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a relocation of the Oval Office in the southeast
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corner of the West Wing to reduce the barriers
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from the living quarters, you know, between the
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living quarters and the West Wing, and shorten
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transit routes, interior elevators, and ramps.
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So this is a big deal because, you know, obviously,
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FDR had been left disabled due to an illness.
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And this is the beginning, I think, of starting
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to see disability as something that could be
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talked about outside of the realm of taking care
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of veterans that were disabled in war. Now we're
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going to jump ahead to 1935 and the League of
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the Physically Handicapped in New York City is
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organized in May of this year. The League's central
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goal was to end discrimination by the Works Progress
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Administration, part of the New Deal, against
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physically disabled unemployed workers. The Home
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Relief Bureau of the city coded disabled applicants
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as PH for physically handicapped. Disabled workers
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weren't hired by the WPA, leading to two sit
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-ins in 1935. Following public pressure, the
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WPA created 1 ,500 jobs for physically disabled
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workers in New York City. And this is, I think,
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very important to talk about because this is
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a moment in history where we saw protests that
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led to positive outcomes for disabled workers
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and for the disability community writ large.
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And there's going to be a lot of talk about this,
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and it just shows that if you put enough pressure
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as a collective, sometimes you get some things
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that you wanted. And now we're going to move
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forward another year to 1936, which is the Randolph
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Shepard Act passing. This law mandates a priority
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to blind persons operating to operate vending
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facilities on federal property. Excuse me. It
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was amended and updated significantly in 1974.
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Now they're about. 2 ,500 blind vendors operating
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throughout the United States, managing businesses
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running the gamut of food service and vending
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machines, snack bars, gift shops, highway rest
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stop vending operation, and major food service
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operations through military dining contracts.
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Now, I understand why some people might not agree
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with me as to this being, per se, an important
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thing to talk about, but... I think it's really
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important because it shows that there can be
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a positive move to try and help financially support
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people by providing them with the ability to
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get contracts through the government. And so
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when it comes to the disabled community, this
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is one thing that can lead to people being more
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independent, of course. So we're going to jump
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ahead a few years now to the 1940s and Kalamazoo,
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Michigan installs curb cuts as a pilot project
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to aid the employment of disabled veterans throughout
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their city. This is definitely important because
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this is the beginning of understanding that the
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built environment needs to change so that. People
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can be better accommodated to get to and from
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work as well as just to live their life. And
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now there's a few things that happened in 1940
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that were important that I want to talk about.
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In 1940, the National Federation of the Blind
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was formed in Wilkes -Barre, Pennsylvania by
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Jacobus Brooke and others. The organization advocated
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for white cane laws and input by blind people
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for programs for blind clients and other reforms.
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So this is important because this is a blind
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-led organization and was founded by blind people.
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And also in 1940, the American Federation of
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the Physically Handicapped is founded by Paul
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Strakin. It was the first cross -disability national
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political organization to urge ending job discrimination,
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lobby passage of related legislation, and call
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for a national employee the Physically Handicapped
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Week, amongst other initiatives. And later on
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in 1945, Public Law 176, also known as the Armed
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Forces Voluntary Recruitment Act is signed into
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law by President Harry Truman, officially codifying
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National Employee of the Physically Handicapped
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Week as the first week of October in the U .S.,
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and eventually the week would be extended into
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the entire month of October. You know, the reason
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I wanted to talk about Public Law 176 is because
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there are a lot of different states. And cities
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and other governments throughout the U .S. that
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have started to, over the years, use the month
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of October as a disability awareness month of
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some sort. Whether it's through education or
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other things. And I think it really does come
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down to the fact that, you know, national employee...
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the physically handicapped week becoming an extension
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into an entire month is probably a big reason
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for that. So I just wanted to mention that. And
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we're going to jump ahead to the 1960s. 1962,
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Edward Roberts successfully sued to gain admission
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to the University of California, Berkeley. becoming
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the first student with significant disabilities
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to attend the school. And Edward Roberts, I could
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actually have an entire episode just talking
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about him and all the different things that he
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has done over the years that he was advocating
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for disability rights. And a lot of it has to
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do with University of California, Berkeley, but
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also you see him get talked about again and again
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throughout disability rights actions throughout
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the years. So at some point, we'll probably have
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a longer discussion about him. But this was the
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first Moment where someone with significant disabilities
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being able to attend schools in the, you know,
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University of California system. So that's a
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big deal. And in 1963, one year later. JFK called
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for a reduction over a number of years and by
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the hundreds of thousands in the number of persons
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confined to residential institutions and asked
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that methods be found to, quote, retain in and
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return to the community the mentally ill and
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there to restore and revitalize their lives through
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better health programs and strengthened educational
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and rehabilitation services. This call to action
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further led to the deinstitutionalization of
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patients in mental health institutions as well
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as disabled people broadly and increased the
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community services nationwide. And I do think
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that without this discussion that it would...
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have been more of an uphill battle for Lyndon
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Baines Johnson to put forth a lot of his great
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society reforms, which we're about to talk about
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right here. In 1965, as we've talked about in
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the past on this podcast, Medicare and Medicaid
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are established through the passage of the Social
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Security Amendments of 1965. This provided federally
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subsidized health care to disabled and elderly
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Americans covered by the Social Security Program.
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These amendments also changed the definition
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of disability under the Social Security Disability
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Program from, quote, of long and continued indefinite
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duration to, quote, expected to not last less
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than 12 months. This is important, of course,
20:10
because this was an expansion of a lot of the
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social security program that was created during
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the 1930s in the New Deal. And so the Great Society
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ended up creating a lot of different things for
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the disability community. Just society at large.
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So we're going to talk a little bit more about
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this. Also in 1965, the National Technical Institute
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for the Deaf is established by Congress at Rochester
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Institute of Technology. And Rochester Institute
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of Technology is known as another institution
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that is important for supporting deaf people
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i know that um you know it's something that i
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knew about back when i was in school back in
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the the late 2000s early 2010s um in ithaca new
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york so um it is well known at least throughout
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new york state uh and i actually if i remember
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correctly we uh Part of the reason I knew about
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this was because there was a physical therapy
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program that, you know, it was like a seven year
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program and you got both your undergrad and your
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master's degree, I believe, in PT through Ithaca
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College. And you spent like a couple of semesters
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in Rochester. at, I want to say, RIT. Maybe it
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was Rochester University. I'm not sure. But there
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was talk about that. And certainly it was something
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that a lot of PT students would make, you know,
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a concerted effort to try and learn sign language
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while they were in Rochester because, you know,
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it would help them to be better physical therapists
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and help their patients. So just a little anecdote
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there. And then in 1965 also, the Voting Rights
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Act of 1965 is signed into law by LBJ. This provides
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sweeping protections for minority voting rights,
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as well as allowing disabled voters to receive
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assistance by a person of the voter's choice,
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so long as it wasn't the voter's boss or union
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agent. I think it's pretty obvious why you wouldn't
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want someone's boss or their union rep or other
23:08
agent to have a hand in assisting someone to
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vote. So this hopefully creates an unbiased agent
23:23
to assist someone in voting who needs it. So
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we're going to jump forward to 1970, and this
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is when Disabled in Action was founded. There
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was a number of people who founded it. Judy Heumann
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is a notable one. Other friends of Judy's who
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founded the organization include Denise McQuaid,
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Bobby Lynn. Frida, Tankus, and of course there
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are others. And over the many years of the organization's
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existence, members have advocated for disabled
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individuals' rights. Some small examples of advocacy
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work include disabled inaction of Pennsylvania
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incorporated V Coleman, which was known as the
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trans bus lawsuit. Um, this decision of course
24:26
requires that all buses purchased by public transit
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authorities, authorities, excuse me, receiving
24:32
federal funds meet trans bus specifications to
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be wheelchair accessible. Really, really important
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because for a very long time, uh, here in the
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U .S. and around the world, public transit has
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not been wheelchair accessible and otherwise
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accessible to disabled individuals. Another example
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of advocacy includes picketing the United Cerebral
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Palsy Telethon, which was also in 1976. And,
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you know, the reason for picketing the United
25:18
Cerebral Palsy Telethon, of course, is to talk
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about the fact that these types of telethons
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don't really help the disability community move
25:34
forward in any way and really just inspire pity.
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And I, you know. I don't really want to talk
25:42
too much about this, but there is a notion of
25:45
inspiration porn. And a lot of these telethons
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historically have been used as a way of uplifting
25:54
disabled people in a way that isn't necessarily
25:59
on the disabled individual's terms. So I'm not
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necessarily a fan of telethons here. I know Hot
26:10
Take. But just wanted to throw that out there.
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And of course, the last thing I want to talk
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about as another example of advocacy work includes
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the settling with Duane Reade drugstores to make
26:32
all of their stores ADA compliant on April 19th
26:36
of 2006. the New York City area. Duane Reade
26:44
is a chain of drugstores throughout New York
26:47
City. We're going to move forward to 1972. And
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there's a couple of things that I want to talk
26:57
about that happened in 1972. First, an early
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version of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was
27:05
vetoed by Nixon in October. Now, Obviously, this
27:09
is not something that was necessarily positive
27:11
for the disability rights movement. However,
27:16
in November 3rd of this year, Disabled in Action
27:22
staged a protest of Nixon's veto. 80 activists
27:27
staged a sit -in on Madison Avenue blocking traffic,
27:30
along with protests in D .C. This put pressure
27:34
on lawmakers to continue negotiations culminating
27:38
in the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 passing, including
27:41
Section 504. And of course, this is again another
27:50
example of how if you put pressure in the right
27:55
way, you can often get elected officials to actually
28:00
do things that are positive for you and your
28:02
community. And of course, in early 1973, the
28:08
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 passes and is later
28:17
enacted in September. This becomes the first
28:21
law nationwide to define employment discrimination
28:24
against disabled employees, as well as to codify
28:28
rules. accommodating disabled individuals in
28:32
educational settings through Section 504. This
28:41
is not the end of us talking about the Rehabilitation
28:43
Act of 1973, but that's a real quick sort of
28:48
overview of it. 1975, Gerald Ford signs the Education
28:55
for All Handicapped Children Act into law. This
28:59
act stipulates all schools receiving federal
29:02
funding are required to evaluate children with
29:05
disabilities and create an educational program
29:07
that emulates the experience of non -disabled
29:10
students as closely as possible. This act is
29:14
an amendment to Part B of the Education of the
29:16
Handicapped Act, which was enacted in 1966. I
29:20
know that I skipped over that earlier, but I
29:23
think this is a little more relevant. An additional
29:27
provision in the... The EACHA requires school
29:31
districts to provide an administrative process
29:33
for parents to dispute decisions made about their
29:37
child's education. What's really important about
29:41
this is, at the time, the only recourse for parents
29:48
of disabled children to be able to dispute decisions.
29:56
meant that they had to go through the court.
29:58
They had to sue the school district or the administration.
30:03
And unfortunately, because of the way that our
30:08
legal system is set up, this favors wealthier
30:11
individuals and institutions. And many families
30:16
did not have the resources to be able to sue.
30:21
So unfortunately, this means that they did not,
30:28
in fact, have a way to be able to dispute these
30:31
things effectively. So, you know, about a decade
30:36
later, this law requires that there be a separate
30:42
administrative process through the school. And
30:46
at the end of that process, once you've exhausted
30:49
all of those avenues, as a parent, you can then
30:58
potentially use the court system if the school
31:02
is still not being satisfactory with the way
31:06
in which they're addressing your concerns. All
31:10
right, now let's go to 1977. And for those of
31:16
you who know anything about Section 504 and the
31:20
Rehabilitation Act of 1973, You probably know
31:23
where we're going with this. But in 1977, Secretary
31:29
of Health, Education, and Welfare Joseph Califano
31:33
refused to sign meaningful regulations for Section
31:36
504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. And this
31:42
led to the 504 sit -ins happening nationwide.
31:47
The longest lasting demonstration was at the
31:52
San Francisco office of the U .S. Department
31:54
of Health, Education, and Welfare. We've talked
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a little bit about this in the past on this podcast
32:00
as well. But this sit -in lasted a total of 28
32:06
days with more than 150 people protesting. One
32:11
of the protesters, one of the notable protesters,
32:14
was Brad Lomax. Those of you who are from Philly
32:20
and know a little bit about the history of activism
32:24
in the city and the U .S. in general probably
32:31
know that name. But he was a protester in the
32:37
building and this led to the Black Panther Party
32:41
supporting the protest, supplying hot meals to
32:44
everyone inside the building. generally supporting
32:47
outside the building, the protests as well. And
32:56
so this sit -in went from April 5th all the way
33:04
into May. Joseph Califano signed the regulations
33:09
on April 28th, 1977. Again, another example of
33:18
taking action and things moving forward in a
33:23
positive direction for society and the disability
33:27
community at large. All right, we're going to
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go to 1978. And on July 5th and 6th of 1978,
33:37
the Gang of 19 blocked buses at an intersection
33:42
in Denver, Colorado. chanting, we will ride.
33:48
Later in the year, the Denver Regional Transit
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Authority agreed to make the public transit system
33:54
wheelchair accessible due to a continued pressure
33:58
campaign of civil disobedience in Denver. This
34:06
is important because the Gang of 19 was, you
34:13
know, had ties to, I believe it was the Atlantis
34:18
living community in Denver. And anyone who knows
34:28
a little bit about that knows that Wade Blank
34:30
was an advocate that helped to create that community.
34:36
So this is another big thing that happened and
34:42
helped to move. public transit in the right direction
34:45
across the country in its way. And, you know,
34:51
I went to Denver a few years ago, and there actually
34:54
is a plaque still outside of the State House
34:57
talking about the Gang of 19 and what that meant
35:02
for public transit in the city of Denver. So
35:07
it's still something that we remember today as
35:11
a... a big leap forward for disability rights
35:15
again. Also in 1978, Title VII of the Rehabilitation
35:22
Act Amendments of 1978 became law in the U .S.,
35:27
which established the first federal funding for
35:32
consumer -controlled independent living centers
35:34
nationwide. So in 1980, I just want to mention
35:40
this real quick, the American National Standard
35:42
Institute Incorporated published American Standard
35:45
specifications for making buildings accessible
35:49
to and usable by the physically handicapped,
35:53
which is the A117 .1 barrier -free standard.
35:57
Well, why is this important? Why are we talking
36:00
about this? Well, this document... eventually
36:03
became the basis for subsequent architectural
36:06
access codes, which were outlined in the Future
36:10
Americans with Disabilities Act. Oh, we're going
36:13
to get there, folks, but just give me a little
36:17
bit of time. Now we're going to jump ahead to
36:20
1983, and ADAPT was established in Denver. Since
36:28
its inception, ADAPT has participated in actions
36:30
to advocate for disability rights. At first,
36:33
they focused on public transit. And so some notable
36:40
actions include protesting inaccessible Greyhound
36:44
buses in 1988, the Capitol Crawl of 1990, the
36:50
healthcare protests in... 2018 and disrupting
36:55
a house energy and commerce meeting in 2025 to
36:59
protest the one big beautiful bill provisions
37:01
that cut medicare and medicaid significantly
37:04
over the next what is it four years i think three
37:09
years maybe the point is um adapt of course started
37:16
out at like i said focused on public transit
37:20
and has now moved on from public transit focused,
37:27
you know, from a public transit focus to helping
37:35
individuals have more ability to live in the
37:43
community, to have independence, so on and so
37:46
forth. So, you know, this is... Definitely important.
37:51
In 1988, we're going to move ahead, the original
37:55
version of the Americans with Disabilities Act,
37:58
or ADA, is introduced into Congress. The final
38:03
version of the law, of course, wouldn't be signed
38:05
until July 26th of 1990, and there was a lot
38:10
of hemming and hawing, a lot of delaying, and
38:15
overall, a lot of... a hostility to the idea
38:21
of requiring businesses to be accessible to individuals
38:31
with wheelchairs and other disabilities. So we're
38:37
going to jump ahead a couple years to 1990. And
38:41
on March 12th, the Wheels of Justice March and
38:46
the Capitol Crawl occur. So the Wheels of Justice
38:50
march involved over a thousand activists marching
38:55
from the White House to the U .S. Capitol building.
38:58
This was organized in part by ADAPT, I believe.
39:06
And about 60 activists cast aside their mobility
39:11
aids. and crawled up the 83 steps in front of
39:15
the building to demand the passage of the Americans
39:17
with Disabilities Act. We've actually talked
39:20
about the Capitol Crawl on this podcast before.
39:25
But, you know, this was another... highlighting
39:32
the social, societal, and architectural barriers
39:36
that inaccessible buildings present to many members
39:39
of society. And in general, just move the needle
39:42
forward on creating an accessible society that
39:48
helps foster greater independence for disabled
39:53
individuals. Now, also in 1990, June 4th is the
40:01
day the Education for All Handicapped Children
40:05
Act was reauthorized and renamed into the Individuals
40:09
with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA Act.
40:11
Oh man, that's so much nicer out of the years.
40:15
This reauthorization included a provision to
40:18
permanently authorize a grant program providing
40:21
federal funding to the states. All states receiving
40:24
these funds are required to provide a free, appropriate,
40:28
public education to all children with disabilities
40:30
in the least restrictive environment. Again,
40:35
just another law that helps to provide for greater
40:41
independence and for greater support of the disability
40:45
community overall. And I also think personally
40:52
that this was really the beginning of reintegrating
41:01
or integrating classrooms as much as possible
41:05
with individuals with disabilities so that there
41:09
weren't separations between disabled students
41:14
and their peers. And I think this has led to
41:18
a greater not only understanding of but also
41:25
understanding that we do need to help provide
41:33
support to create, to knock down barriers for
41:39
disabled individuals. I, you know, I think it's
41:43
changed at least a significant portion of a generation,
41:46
you know, of younger generations view on disabilities
41:50
as well. So I think this is just, again, a positive
41:57
step, massive, massive leap in the right direction
42:02
in society. As we mentioned earlier in this episode,
42:07
the ADA was passed and signed into law by George
42:12
H .W. Bush on July 26, 1990. A few days from
42:18
today will be the 36th anniversary of this law.
42:22
being signed. This law is closely modeled after
42:27
the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 504
42:34
of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This expands
42:41
the scope of access in society. Now, the ADA
42:46
mandates that local, state, and federal governments
42:49
and programs must be accessible. Employers with
42:53
greater than 15 employees must make reasonable
42:56
accommodations for workers with disabilities
42:58
and otherwise not discriminate against qualified
43:01
workers with disabilities. And public accommodations
43:05
also must make reasonable modifications to ensure
43:10
access for disabled members of the public. and
43:13
provide disabled access toilet facilities in
43:17
private buildings if bathrooms are provided in
43:22
the building. And, of course, the ADA also requires
43:27
access in public transportation and communication.
43:31
And, you know, it may sound a little, you know,
43:35
silly to people that it requires access in public
43:38
transportation. municipalities or states that
43:45
had a public transit system receiving federal
43:47
funding that wasn't accessible, they had to make
43:53
accommodations and make modifications to the
43:57
system to provide wheelchair accessibility and
44:00
other accessibility modifications for, you know,
44:07
people with blindness or who are deaf. All the
44:11
different things that they can do to make it
44:13
more accessible for the general public. So we're
44:20
going to jump ahead a few years to 1993. Robert
44:24
Williams was appointed the Commissioner of the
44:27
Administration on Developmental Disabilities.
44:30
Now, why is this important, you might ask? Well,
44:34
he was the first developmentally disabled person
44:37
named Commissioner. This is important because
44:41
not only is it representation, but he is the
44:46
first individual who had lived experience who
44:52
was running the show. So, you know, really big
44:57
moment for everyone in that community. And then
45:03
also in 1993, Jim Sinclair wrote the essay Don't
45:07
Mourn for Us. This essay has an anti -cure perspective
45:13
on autism, and many consider it to be a touchstone
45:17
of the fledgling, at the time, autism rights
45:20
movement. And, of course, that has become something
45:26
that is, you know, way bigger than it, than I
45:31
think anyone ever really imagined it would be
45:33
at this point now. So... Excellent sort of moment
45:39
there. In 1995, Justice for All was organized
45:46
by Justin Dart Jr. and others in D .C. to advocate
45:51
against calls to amend or repeal the ADA and
45:56
IDEA acts. Now, this is kind of important because
46:01
I think this really underscores the fact that,
46:04
yes, we have all of these different things that
46:07
have been fought for and have been relentlessly
46:11
advocated for. But there are always going to
46:16
be those forces in society that want to take
46:19
these things away. So another thing that happened
46:22
in 1995 is the American Association of People
46:25
with Disabilities was founded in D .C. And, you
46:31
know, again, just another organization that helps
46:36
to advocate for disability rights and advocate
46:40
for and provide resources really for people to
46:43
be able to live their lives a little bit more
46:46
smoothly. Now we're going to jump ahead to 2004.
46:50
And what happened in 2004 was the assistive.
46:54
Technology Act of 2004 was passed and signed
46:58
into law. And this act requires states to provide
47:04
direct aid to individuals with disabilities,
47:07
ensuring access to necessary technology. The
47:11
majority of state efforts are required to be
47:14
conducted in the following areas. assistive technology
47:17
reutilization programs. So if someone has an
47:22
old wheelchair and they decide to donate it to
47:27
one of the AT Act offices throughout the 50 states,
47:33
then that accessibility device will be refurbished
47:42
and hopefully you know, provided for people to
47:47
use. Assistive technology demonstration programs.
47:53
So this is like going out and, you know, showing
48:00
people in the community, either at tabling events
48:04
or otherwise, you know, technologies that can
48:11
be used to help people with disabilities live.
48:15
independently, and to provide a little bit of
48:19
a hands -on approach for people. Alternative
48:24
financing programs, one such financing program
48:28
that I can think of off the top of my head here
48:30
in Pennsylvania is the Pennsylvania Assistive
48:36
Technology Foundation and device loan programs.
48:44
So this means that organizations that are funded
48:51
in part through the Assistive Technology Act
48:54
of 2004 are required to have on hand all sorts
49:03
of different accessibility devices. You can think
49:07
of like all sorts of different things. I mean,
49:09
like smart speakers, for instance, is a big one
49:12
that I know of, at least here in Pennsylvania.
49:16
You know, you can ask to try one out for a few
49:22
weeks and they'll just send it out to you and
49:27
you can try it for a bit and whatnot. You know,
49:31
I mean, there's other things too, like certain
49:35
different types of lenses or things that would
49:38
help people with visual impairments, all sorts
49:42
of different things. And what's really cool about
49:45
it is they literally just, it's all free. You
49:48
just apply for whatever it is that you're looking
49:50
for that's in their library. And then they'll
49:57
send it to you and provide you with a return
50:01
slip. a return packing slip to then send it back
50:05
when your loan is over. So this is really cool.
50:11
It's like a free way for people to try out something
50:13
that might be a little expensive. See if it really
50:17
is something that would help them in their lives
50:19
to live a easier life, more independent life.
50:24
So there's that. We're going to jump ahead to
50:28
2006. This is when the Combating Autism Act of
50:34
2006 passes and is signed into law by George
50:36
W. Bush on December 19th. The law authorized
50:41
nearly $1 billion in expenditures over five years,
50:45
starting in 2007 for screening, education, early
50:48
intervention, prompt referrals for treatment
50:51
and services, and research of the autism spectrum
50:55
disorders of autism and several similar conditions.
50:59
We're going to jump ahead again to 2010. And
51:03
this is when the Patient Protection and Affordable
51:07
Care Act was signed into law by President Obama.
51:14
This law stipulates that insurance companies
51:17
cannot drop a person's coverage when they get
51:19
sick due to a mistake the person has made on
51:22
their application or put an annual or lifetime
51:26
cap. On how much care they will pay for if a
51:30
person gets sick. Insurers also cannot deny coverage
51:34
based on pre -existing conditions. So what this
51:37
really meant was that this allowed for people
51:42
to a little bit more easily get insurance. There
51:47
also were subsidies provided for through the
51:50
law, which have now been getting cut. Um, at
51:57
the end of the day, this allowed for more people
52:00
to, um, drop out of the coverage gap, um, and,
52:06
and really shrink it. Um, and this of course
52:10
is important for the disability community because
52:12
like not everyone, um, qualifies for Medicare
52:16
and Medicaid. Um, you know, the, the working,
52:20
making too much money or, or whatever. So this
52:24
allowed for, Um, you know, people who were making
52:28
too much money, but still needed to have health
52:32
insurance to be able to get health insurance
52:34
a little more affordably. Um, and then later
52:40
in 2011, March 15th. New ADA's rules came into
52:47
effect regarding service animals and providing
52:50
a clear definition for what is an acceptable
52:53
service animal and providing a baseline for what
52:56
services the animal provides to their handler.
52:58
Now, when I say acceptable service animal, it
53:01
doesn't necessarily define a species, but what
53:04
it does is really kind of more outlines what
53:09
service animals do. do for disabled individuals.
53:17
And these rules also provided for specific questions
53:26
that can be asked of people with service animals
53:30
to provide if there's a question going into a
53:37
place of business or on a plane. What have you.
53:43
Anywhere that normally dogs might not be allowed.
53:48
Or other animals, excuse me. But dogs tend to
53:59
be what most people think of when they think
54:01
of service animals. But I know that there are
54:04
some people who have, I believe, service animals
54:09
that are miniature ponies. So, just to give an
54:15
idea. And then in 2012, on July 28th, the first
54:23
annual Disability Pride to Philly parade and
54:28
celebration was held at the National Constitution
54:30
Center in conjunction with the unveiling of Justin
54:35
Dart Jr.'s wheelchair in the museum's permanent
54:38
collection. At this celebration and presentation
54:47
of the wheelchair unveiling, whatever you want
54:50
to call it, Yoshiko Dart, Justin's widow, spoke.
54:57
And, you know, over the years, Disability Pride
55:01
Philly celebrations are held in various locations
55:04
in Center City, primarily near City Hall. And
55:07
now... on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway near
55:10
City Hall annually. Since 2012, there have been
55:14
various updates to laws and regulations in many
55:16
areas, including rule changes from the Department
55:19
of Transportation regarding service animals on
55:22
planes, an announcement of student debt cancellation
55:25
for certain disabled individuals from the Department
55:29
of Education, Various ballot initiatives involving
55:32
disabilities across several states and laws extending
55:35
civil rights protections to disabled persons,
55:38
both federally and state by state and locally
55:43
even. So I hope that this episode really kind
55:53
of paints a picture for anyone out there that
55:57
at the end of the day, we can... go from thinking
56:02
about advocating for disability rights and independence,
56:06
you know, and really thinking about it in the
56:10
lens of talking only about veterans and people
56:15
who've been disabled because they were injured
56:18
in war. And we get overtime through pressure
56:24
and, you know, just advocacy and education. we
56:30
can move the needle in the right direction for
56:32
everyone who is disabled or not to have a more
56:37
independent life. And so I think that this episode
56:44
really shows that and really shows the ability
56:49
of people to provide the right kinds of pressure
56:52
over time and get the incremental wins over time
56:55
to eventually get to a place where... There's
57:00
just so much more freedom, so much more, you
57:04
know, independence and ability to control one's
57:09
destiny. And at the end of the day, it's important
57:14
for us to remember that we are, you know, if
57:17
we support the disability community and being
57:20
more independent, that uplifts everyone. So that's
57:26
our show for today, folks. Thanks for listening,
57:29
and I hope you have a good time until we release
57:34
a new episode. See you then. Please visit our
57:39
accessible website at www .disabilitypridepa
57:44
.org. You can find us on social media at Disability
57:49
Pride PA on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.