Let's “Talk” About Disability Facilitator's Tips for This Module

Facilitator’s Guide ADA Trainer Network, Module 2b

Let’s “Talk” about Disability

About this module

Goal: To enhance understanding of challenges faced by people with disabilities in work and everyday life. Format: Film clip and discussion Time: About 20 minutes Format: Large group activity/discussion Potential audience: general audiences, employers/business leaders, educators Materials needed: Film clip

Facilitator’s Tips for this Module

This module is designed to enhance understanding of the everyday challenges faced by people with disabilities including some of ways in which disability is created or made more limiting by the design of processes, services, systems, and spaces and by the attitudes and assumptions of others about what it means to be a person with a disability.

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Facilitator’s Guide ADA Trainer Network, Module 2c

Facilitator’s Notes for this Module

Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 1)

This is the title slide for this module.

Remind participants that they may not be able to get all their questions answered about the ADAAA in this module. They can call the toll-free ADA Center TA line at 800 949 4232 if they have further questions.

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Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 2)

Change this slide to reflect your regional information.

Trainers, be sure to advise participants that this training is not intended as legal advice.

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Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 3)

As you show this slide, pose the question to the audience. This is a reflective activity; let participants know that they will not be asked to share their response with the group.

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Facilitator’s Notes (Slides 4)

This model was predominant in the 1700’s-early 1800’s. It was based on a religious belief that if you were physically or mentally different, you were morally flawed in the eyes of God. In the mid-1700’s, young men and women who wanted to enter the clergy were inspected from head to foot to ensure that their bodies were not “flawed.” A flawed body, it was felt, equaled a flawed soul and was seen as a message that God was “displeased.” During this time it was common to believe that disabilities were “afflictions” and the result of spiritual defect, perhaps even indicating that the person was possessed by evil demons. Often these individuals were institutionalized, usually in warehouse like environments with no care or treatment. NOTE: Be sure to describe the picture on this slide as some audience members may not be able to see it. The picture on the right depicts a girl and the caption above reads “Our Afflicted Sister.” The sign the girl is holding says “Pity the poor girl that is deaf and dumb and blind.”

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Facilitator’s Notes (Slides 5)

In the mid-1800’s view shifted slightly from a religious base to one based on medicine and science. Here we see the Charles Dickens character “Tiny Tim.” Ask participants if they are familiar with the Tiny Tim character. If any are, ask them what words come to mind to describe Tiny Tim. Some words might be: helpless, crippled, poor little boy, powerless, object of pity, handicapped. Ask participants how Tiny Tim, if he would have grown up, would’ve been likely to make a living. The answer is: begging in the streets. The term “handicap” has been traced to a number of different sources and it’s hard to know which source is completely accurate. But one of the suggestions harkens back to this time in our history when people like Tiny Tim, people with disabilities, had to make a living with their “hand in their cap” or begging in the streets. As a facilitator, use this as a teachable moment. The word handicap has fallen into dis- use in the disability community (though it is commonly used elsewhere, such as “handicapped parking”) because of its legacy rooted in a time when people with disabilities were powerless and devalued.

With the Medical Model, disability became viewed more as the result of a genetic defect and as a medical condition that needed to be treated and cured. Segregation and institutionalization continue but have slightly more emphasis on treatment versus just hiding people with disabilities away and withholding care or treatment. While this model could be considered an improvement in thinking, it still focused on what was “wrong” with the person with a disability and often resulted in the expectation that a person should fix whatever was wrong, and if they

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couldn’t then they should simply accept their lot in life as being different and therefore inferior, unequal to other people.

There is a picture form the Dickens story of Tiny Tim holding a crutch, being carried on his father’s back.

Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 6)

Around this time, we also saw more people with disabilities in circuses and “freak shows”. On the one hand, people with disabilities were able to form a community in this setting, coming together under a common identity and having mutual acceptance for one another. However this community was formed at the cost of exploitation, not just exploitation of their disability and differences but also of other minority identities such as race, gender, etc.

NOTE: Briefly describe the pictures to the audience: The slide contains 3 pictures, a picture of conjoined twins, dressed alike. A poster advertising “Harvey’s Midges” with a picture of a full- size man holding 2 very small adults with another two on the ground at his feet. All are dressed very nicely in evening clothes. The third picture is an advertisement for a circus sideshow with an advertisement for a “fat lady.”

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Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 7)

The American eugenics movement was rooted in the work of Sir Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin, who in the 1880s studied the upper classes of Britain, and arrived at the conclusion that their social positions were due to a superior genetic makeup. Early proponents of eugenics believed that, through selective breeding, the human species should direct its own evolution. They tended to believe in the genetic superiority of Nordic, Germanic and Anglo- Saxon peoples; supported strict immigration laws and supported the forcible sterilization of the poor, "immoral," and people with disabilities. After World War I (the late 1910’s through the 1920’s), organizations that promoted eugenics, such as the Race Betterment Foundation began to crop up to promote the" ideal American" at fairs and exhibitions. Eugenicists believed in keeping the breeding “stock” of America pure by segregating people who were different (had disabilities, were from different races or ethnicities) separate from those who they deemed to be “fit”. When the movement spread to the US, it led to the passage of laws to prevent people with disabilities from marrying or having children. In many instances it led to institutionalization of those who were different. Often this segregation took particularly vicious forms as people who were deemed “genetically unfit” were subjected to unnecessary surgeries and forced sterilizations, including children. It wasn’t until the end of World War II, when the world got its first look at how far Nazi Germany had taken this idea, that the movement lost its momentum. However, these ideas never totally went away. Virginia’s forced sterilization law that was first passed in 1924 was not repealed until 2001.

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NOTE: Briefly describe what the pictures illustrate. In the first, men hold signs that read statements such as: • I must drink alcohol to sustain life; shall I transfer that craving to others? • Would the prisons and asylums be filled if my kind had children? • I cannot read this sign, by what right have I, children? In the second picture, the caption reads Cincinnati’s problem. The heading of a picture reads The Feeble-minded: or the hub to our wheel of vice, crime and pauperism. It shows a picture of a man in the middle of a wheel with words like city hospital, jail work house and charity around the outside. The third picture is a photo of 4 people with a caption under it that reads “the feebleminded breed feebleminded. We pay the cost.

Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 8)

During WWI, many young men and women returned from the battlefield with a range of disabilities: chemical burns, amputations, sensory disabilities and psychiatric disabilities. Seeing their own family members and neighbors returning from the war with a range of disabilities made it difficult to view people with disabilities as being “genetically unfit” or “polluting the human gene pool.” They had been healthy when they went to war and were cut down in their prime as a result of defending our country. They had the national attention and

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their pity. Consequently, the Rehabilitation Movement began, as we tried to help veterans with disabilities return to society and to a normal work life.

While people with disabilities’ rights are beginning to be acknowledged now, it’s primarily within the context of returning war vets. The people with life-long disabilities were not included in these efforts as quickly. For example the Vocational Rehabilitation Act in 1920 was primarily just for veterans, not for those who always had a disability. Eventually, the rehabilitation techniques that were put into place for veterans were applied to others, like those who had been injured in industrial accidents.

There are two pictures on the slide: The first shows a picture of four young men in fatigues with bandages from their injuries. The second shows a picture of a young man with his head and eye covered in gauze that reads “They did their part; let’s do ours. Rehabilitate the veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade”

Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 9)

During this time, society’s views of people with disabilities started to shift from pure tragedy and pity to admiration for their “courage” and “ability to overcome” their disability and “be just like everyone else”. We begin to see people with disabilities displayed throughout society and media as “poster children” and objects of charity. Many of the efforts during this time, for example telethons, fundraisers, etc., were operated based on this “charity” view. This view implies people with disabilities, while wonderful and admirable, still need to be taken care of, treated, made better, etc. Charities used these assumptions to get donations money and time

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for the charitable cause of disability. It also was not uncommon for people with disabilities to believe they needed to compensate for their disability, rise above it, etc. so much so that they would be offended at being labeled as disabled and would promote that they are “just like everyone else.” NOTE: Pick a few pictures in the slide to point out and describe to the audience. • A picture of a man with a guide dog that reads “be thankful you can see” • A picture of a girl with crutches that says “suppose nobody cared? I cared” • A picture of a woman working at a sewing machine at Illinois Industries for the Blind that reads “a better life for the blind” • A stamp that shows a picture of a boy with a disabilities holding the hand of a woman that reads “for crippled children” • A picture of a small boy with a toy that reads “New Jersey State Elks Crippled Children’s fund: I’m glad somebody cares” • A stamp showing a man getting out of a wheelchair and walking that says “hope” • A picture of a small boy taking someone’s hand that reads “retarded children can be helped”.

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Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 10)

During the 1960’s people of color and women fought for their civil rights. People with disabilities also began to see themselves as a minority group and gain awareness of themselves as a group who didn’t receive equal treatment, like other minorities. People began to disagree with the idea that they needed to be fixed and instead asked that people and environments adapt to meet their needs. They began to talk about “Disability Pride” and to embrace their identity as people with disabilities.

They began to band together over their shared identity and experiences of discrimination. An example of this is the Independent Living Movement that worked to get people with disabilities out of institutions and into community living. This movement is based on the idea that people with disabilities have the right to live where they want to, contribute to society, and ultimately, know their needs and abilities better than people without disabilities.

More groups are being created for people with disabilities by people with disabilities. Rather than having a charitable focus, these groups were formed to give people with disabilities a community around their shared identity. Examples are the National Paraplegia Foundation, National Wheelchair Basketball Association, and National Foundation for Cerebral Palsy.

The picture on the slide shows people with disabilities participating in a protest. One person is holding up a sign that reads “we shall overcome” another reads “access is a right.”

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Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 11)

This model takes on a more current philosophy that physical and attitudinal barriers are the real disabilities. People with disabilities began to say that often the biggest barrier was not the disability itself, but the barriers created by society that prevent the full and equal participation of people with disabilities. Disability has gone from being viewed as a condition that must be overcome to being seen as a life experience. This model focuses on the role of society in gaining equality for all citizens including people with disabilities without them being seen as “special.” Within this model, society has a responsibility to address barriers that prevent the participation of people with disabilities. The focus shifts from fixing individuals to eliminating socially constructed barriers (meaning everything from prejudice to physical access barriers).

There are two pictures on the slide: the first shows a protest and the second shows a man wearing a Gallaudet University shirt signing we shall overcome. In 1988, Gallaudet – a University of students who are deaf and hard of hearing, hired a new president. Like all of the prior presidents, she was a hearing person. Students protested this insisting on a “Deaf President Now”. This event received wide media coverage and resulted in the new president resigning after the first week. Another candidate, who is deaf, was then offered and successfully filled the position. This event is sometimes referred to as DPN or Deaf Way.

Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 12)

Both the Civil Rights/Minority Model and the Social Construction Model have been reflected in legislation as well. The Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 mandated that federal buildings be accessible to those with physical disabilities. This act is considered to be the first ever federal disability rights legislation. The Rehabilitation Act is thought to be the greatest achievement in the disability rights movement as it was the first civil rights law protecting people with disabilities from discrimination. This law (and its amendment) represent the first major legislative effort to secure an equal playing field for individuals with disabilities. Section 504 was designed to protect individuals with disabilities from being discriminated against based solely on their disability in services and programs that receive federal funds such as government agencies, federally-funded projects, K-12 schools, and postsecondary entities (state colleges, universities, and vocational training schools). Litigation arising out of Section 504 will generate central disability rights concepts like “reasonable modification,” “reasonable accommodation,” and “undue burden.” The Rehabilitation Act of 1998 included amendments to Section 508 of the Act. This section prohibits the Federal government from procuring electronic and information technology goods and services, including web design, that are not fully accessible to those with disabilities.

Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 13)

During the 1980’s and ’90’s we began to see more and more laws granting access to people with disabilities: The Education for All Handicapped Children Act (P.L. 94-142) was passed in 1975 to support states and localities in protecting the rights of, meeting the individual needs of, and improving the results for infants, toddlers, children and youth with disabilities and their families. Before this law was enacted, many children with disabilities were denied access to education. The most recent version of this law is the Individuals with Disabilities Education Improvement Act of 2004 (IDEA 2004). This law was closely aligned with the No Child Left Behind Act to ensure that “special education can become a service for [children with disabilities] rather than a place where such children are sent” (§ 601(c)). 95% of children with disabilities are now being educated in their neighborhood schools in regular classrooms with their nondisabled peers (U.S. Department of Education, 2001). High school graduation and employment rates among youth with disabilities have increased dramatically. Post-secondary enrollments among individuals with disabilities receiving IDEA services have more than tripled since 1978. The picture on the slide shows a group of people protesting. One holds a sign that reads, I can’t even get to the back of the bus” United States Department of Education (2001). The condition of education. Retrieved June 13, 2006, from http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2001/2001072.pdf

Other laws: Telecommunications for the Disabled Act (TDDs, TTYs); Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act; Air Carrier Access Act; Protection & Advocacy for Mentally Ill Individuals Act; Fair Housing Amendments Act; Developmental Disabilities Act; Civil Rights Restoration Act.

Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 14)

Of course all of this prior legislation contributed to the writing and passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. The ADA expanded Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act to protect people with disabilities from discrimination in a variety of settings, not just those that are federally funded, spanning across the public and private sector, employment, and telecommunications.

Title I protects qualified individuals with a disability from discrimination throughout the employment process. Title II is designed to protect people with disability in all services, programs and activities provided or made available by state or local governments and their affiliate agencies (i.e., public schools, government meetings, transportation services, and public recreation facilities). Title III requires owners of public business/accommodation facilities to remove physical barriers for accessibility when it is readily achievable to do so. Title IV mandates accessibility in telecommunications such as relay services, TDD, and closed captioning services. Title V includes miscellaneous provisions and covers items such as state immunity from suits for damages and paying attorney’s fees. It further states that the federal government ©Northeast ADA Center, 2012 Page | 16 Facilitator’s Guide ADA Trainer Network, Module 2c

can sue states and assess financial penalties for non-compliance with the ADA. It protects people with disabilities from retaliation when an ADA complaint is filed. Also, it states that stricter non-discrimination laws will always apply in states that have enacted stricter laws.

Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 15)

The ADA has significantly impacted the lives of people with disabilities. A study conducted by the National Council on Disability found that this impact occurred in as little as five years after the law was passed (NCD, 2005). The preliminary findings of NCD’s ADA Impact study indicate that significant strides have been made in such areas as transportation and accessible public facilities, including restaurants, theaters, stores, and museums. • Telephone relay services are being used at high levels, and changes in technology are making usage easier. • Public transit systems in the United States have made dramatic progress in becoming more accessible, especially to wheelchair users. • The percentage of Americans with disabilities voting in 2004 increased dramatically. • The education gap between people with disabilities and people without disabilities is shrinking and people with disabilities are attending post-secondary institutions in record numbers. • People with disabilities are experiencing less discrimination in employment.

NCD’s ADA Impact Study also indicates that a number of barriers remain, such as the lack of affordable housing for people with disabilities, which have slowed the realization of the ADA’s objectives. Employment rates for people with disabilities are still well below that of people without disabilities. In 2009, an estimated 36.0 % of working-age (21-64) people with disabilities were employed, compared to an estimated 76.8 % of people without disabilities. Source: Erickson, W., Lee, C., von Schrader, S. (2011, March 17). Disability Statistics from the 2008 American Community Survey (ACS). Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Disability Demographics and Statistics (StatsRRTC). From www.disabilitystatistics.org

Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 16)

On September 25, 2008 President Bush signed the ADA Amendments Act into law. This law was created because some Supreme Court decisions since 1990 had narrowed the definition of disability considerably resulting in the erosion of protections for many people with disabilities. The ADAAA restores the original intent of the ADA and rejects strict interpretation of the definition of disability while stating clearly that the ADA is in place to provide broad coverage and protection to anyone who has, or is regarded as having, a disability. It expands the list of what is considered a major life activity and it forbids the consideration of mitigating measures (like hearing aids, prosthetics, etc.) in determining whether a disability exists. It also prohibits discrimination “on the basis of disability.” This change is important because it prevents

discrimination on the basis of disability rather than on whether the person can actually prove they have a disability. Finally the bill requires that guidance documents are published by enforcing agencies, such as the EEOC and Department of Transportation, where the law can be interpreted too broadly.

Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 17) The purpose of this slide is to give participants a chance to think about and discuss how they came to form opinions about what it means to be a person with a disability and what impact these social paradigms and the ADA have had on their views about people with disabilities. Again, participants are not required to share their views aloud.

To close out this activity, summarize how the attitudes and misperceptions of larger society have contributed to the disablement of people with disabilities. The more people with disabilities are able to participate in work and community life, the more society will see and benefit from their contributions, which will help to improve perceptions of disability in America.

Facilitator’s Notes (Slide 18)

National Network: Please insert your centers contact information into this slide.

Conclude by reminding participants that the training materials were produced by the Northeast ADA Center in collaboration with the National ADA Network. Remind them of the free and confidential technical assistance and other services available from your local ADA Center and from the ADA Centers throughout the country. Mention the ADA TA line: 800-949-4232.