Disability Awareness:
The Untold Story
Ruthee Goldkorn
No Barriers
disAbled Access
Consulting and Advocacy
Services
Introduction
How we are influenced by language, words
and people
Influence of Media
Changes in Language
– People with disAbilities vs. Disabled People vs.
“Those people”
– “The 10 Commandments of How to Address
People with disAbilities”
Back in Time: The History of
Disability Advocacy
1817: The American School for the Deaf,
Hartford, CT
1890s: Advocates pushed for the creation of
state workers’ compensation programs
1909: NY Public School System adopted
American Braille
Back in Time: The History of
Disability Advocacy
1909: The first folding wheelchair
1932: Disabled American Veterans is
chartered by Congress
1935: The League of the Physically
Handicapped in NYC
Back in Time: The History of
Disability Advocacy
1940: National Federation of the Blind in PA
– Advocating for white cane laws and
programs for the blind
1940: The American Federation of the
Physically Handicapped is founded
– The first cross disability national political
organization
1947: Paralyzed Veterans of America is
founded Birmingham Hospital in Van Nuys,
CA
Back in Time: The History of
Disability Advocacy
1949: The National Wheelchair Basketball
Association is founded
– The first wheelchair basketball tournament
in Illinois
1957: National Wheelchair Games in NY
1960: Paralympic Games held in Rome
Back in Time: The History of
Disability Advocacy
1964: The Acoustic Coupler invented
– Forerunner of telephone modem: teletype
messages to be sent on phone lines
1968: Architectural Barriers Act
1970: The California Association of the
Physically Handicapped (CAPH) established
– Transformed into Californians with Disability
Rights (CDR)
Back in Time: The History of
Disability Advocacy
1972: US District Courts in District of
Columbia ruled that children with disabilities
cannot be excluded
1973: Disabled Parking Stickers
1973: Federal Aid Highway Act
– Federal funds to pay for construction of curb cuts
Rehabilitation Act of 1973:
– Title V and Section 504
Back in Time: The History of
Disability Advocacy
1974: The Ms. Wheelchair America Pageant
established in Ohio
– Advocacy and activism platform for women with
mobility disability
1976: Transbus Group
– Consisted of: Disabled in Action of PA, The
American Coalition of Cerebral Palsy Associations
and others
– File suit to require that all buses purchased by
public transit authorities receiving federal funds
meet Transbus specifications
• Making them wheelchair accessible
Back in Time: The History of
Disability Advocacy
1977: Disability Rights Activists in 10
cities stage demonstrations in
occupations at the offices of the federal
HEW to force the Carter Administration
to implement Section 504
– Signed on April 28, 1977
Back in Time: The History of
Disability Advocacy
1978: Disability rights activists in
Denver stage a sit-in blocking the
Denver Regional Transit Authority buses
– It was the first action in a year-long civil
disobedience campaign to force Denver to
purchase wheelchair lift equipment
Back in Time: The History of
Disability Advocacy
1981-1983: The Reagan Administration
attempted to amend or revoke the
implementing sections for 504 and the
Education for All Handicap Act of 1975
1981-1984: The Reagan Administration
terminated Social Security benefits of
people with disabilities
Back in Time: The History of
Disability Advocacy
1983: American Disabled for Accessible
Public Transit is organized in Denver
– For 7 years ADAPT conducted a civil
disobedience campaign against the
American Public Transit Association
1985: Wrye Crips
– Radical disability theater group founded in
California
Back in Time: The History of
Disability Advocacy
1986: Air Carrier Access Act
1989: The Federal Appeals Court in ADAPT v.
Skinner rules that federal regulations
requiring that transit authorities spend only
3% of their budget on access are arbitrary
and discriminatory
1990: The Americans with Disabilities Act
signed
Back in Time: The History of
Disability Advocacy
1990: The Wheels of Justice Campaign in
Washington DC organized by ADAPT brings
hundreds of people with disabilities to DC in
support of ADA. Occupied Capital Rotunda
and were all arrested
1993: The American Indian Disability
Legislation Project is established
1995: Justice for All is founded
Back in Time: The History of
Disability Advocacy
1995: American Association of People
with Disabilities is founded
1996: Congress passed legislation
eliminating more than 150,000 children
with disabilities from Social Security
1996: Not Dead Yet was formed by
disability advocates to oppose Jack
Kevorkian
Back in Time: The History of
Disability Advocacy
2006: CDR Impact
– A project to end disability discrimination
To not remove barriers to access as required under State and Federal
code and law is an intentional act of Discrimination!
End Disability Discrimination!
Don’t Tread on our Civil Rights!
CDR Impact is a project of Californians for Disability Rights, Inc. www.disabilityrights-cdr.org
“The Current State of Transportation
for People with Disabilities in the US”
2002: A national study conducted by the US
Bureau of Transportation Statistics found that
6 million people with disabilities have
difficulties obtaining the transportation they
need.
2000: Research conducted by the Harris poll
and funded by the National Organization on
Disability established that nearly 1/3 of
people with Disabilities report having
inadequate access to transportation.
“The Current State of Transportation for
People with Disabilities in the US”
Behind these statistics are many personal stories of
lives severely limited by the lack of transportation.
Some people with disabilities who are willing and
able to work cannot do so because of inadequate
transportation.
Others cannot shop, socialize, enjoy recreational or
spiritual activities or even leave their homes.
Some individuals with disabilities who need medical
services must live in institutions due solely to the lack
of safe, reliable transportation to needed medical
services.
“The Current State of Transportation for
People with Disabilities in the US”
As a consistent theme in most transit systems
across the US, the ADA has spawned great
improvements, but many compliance gaps
remain that pose significant problems to
transportation for people with disabilities.
Additionally, because the ADA merely
requires that when public transportation is
provided, it must be made accessible for
persons with disabilities.
“The Current State of Transportation for
People with Disabilities in the US”
Where there is no public transportation, it is
likely that no transportation exists at all for
people with disabilities.
– In some sectors, such as in rural areas, grossly
insufficient funding imposes harsh gaps in the
transportation grid.
– In other sectors, such as accessible taxis, a lack of
requirements has meant very uneven progress.
As a result, people with disabilities are still at
a significant disadvantage compared with the
general public.”
Where Do We Go From Here?
The Advisory Committee Invitation for California
Mobility Action Plan
Transit be added as a Medi-Cal
reimbursable item, (i.e. buying bus
passes for people with disabilities or
books of tickets)
Consider that para-transit could become
an eligible Medi-Cal vendor. Currently
many para-transit agencies can’t get
reimbursed for medical transport
Where Do We Go From Here?
United We Ride Council
– A Federal grant program, consisted of the Mobility Task
Force with a project advisory committee, Olmstead advisory
committee and Senior and Disability Advocacy Groups will
provide input on this concept
We must expand the vision of transportation for
people with disabilities and bring it into the 21st
century.
Where Do We Go From Here?
We are active, we are mobile, we are
employable, we are underemployed,
and we lack the same opportunities as
the abled to participate with equality and
equity.
Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission
In 2006, the Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission (EEOC) made visible progress in
advancing equal employment opportunity, yet
much work remains. Our challenge in 2007 is
to make the most effective and efficient use of
agency resources to foster fair and inclusive
work environments for all individuals.”
– Naomi C. Earp, Chair EEOC
Concluding Thoughts
To facilitate achieving any goals, any
mission of EEOC or the state DFEH
transportation is a critical component
and mass transportation agencies must
be brought to the table.
We cannot work, if we cannot get to the
work place.
Concluding Thoughts
“…California was a pioneer in disabled access. Our laws
predate the ADA by over 20 years. I am not asking local
building departments to do anything that has not been
required of them for over 20 years. What has been the
longstanding public policy of this state is now national
policy through the ADA. Please join me in a renewed
commitment to strong and vigorous enforcement of state
disabled access laws and regulations. By ensuring that
persons with disabilities have full; and equal access to
public facilities and privately-funded public
accommodations, we benefit the State of California
Concluding Thoughts
by tapping the talents of persons with disabilities, talent
that unfortunately has not been utilized to the fullest extent
possible. Creating a barrier-free California not only is the
right thing to do, but it is in the economic interest of the
state to accomplish this goal.”
Daniel Lungren
Attorney General, State of California
September 17, 1992
References
1.
2.
3.
Frieden, L. National Council on Disability Report,
“The Current State of Transportation for People
with Disabilities in the US.” June 13, 2005.
Ogawa, G. Invitation to Participate in the Mobility
Action Plan Implementation Project. State
Department of Transportation, Division of Mass
Transportation. 2007
The Southeast ADA Center. ADA Headliner April
2007