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Home , Disabled in Action, Ed Roberts (activist), Frank Bowe, Judith Heumann, Kitty Cone, Willowbrook State School

Timeline - Advocacy

1841 Dorothea Dix begins to advocate for people with held in prisons and ACT INST Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the poorhouses. PSY USA Disability Rights Movement. WOM 1854 New England Gallaudet Association of the Deaf founded Montpelier, Vermont. ACT DF Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the ORG USA Disability Rights Movement. 1878 Modified Braille demonstrated by Joel W. Smith to American Association of ACT BLI Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the Instructors of the Blind. Rejecting it, association instead continues to support New EDU ORG Disability Rights Movement. York Point, even though blind readers complain it is more difficult to read and write. USA "War of the Dots" ensues, with blind advocates mostly favoring Modified Braille, while sighted teachers and administrators, who control transcription funds, back Point. 1880 National Convention of Deaf Mutes in Cincinnati, Ohio. Gathering ultimately leads ACT DF Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the to founding of National Association of the Deaf (NAD), which will resist oralism ORG USA Disability Rights Movement. and suppression of American Sign Language. 1901 National Fraternal Society of the Deaf founded by graduates of Michigan School ACT DF Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the for the Deaf. As only fraternal life insurance company run by Deaf people, advocates L&P ORG Disability Rights Movement. during first half of 20th century for Deaf people's rights to buy insurance and get USA driver's licenses. 1908 Clifford Beers, A Mind That Found Itself, exposes abusive conditions in public and ACT INST Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the private mental hospitals. PSY PUB Disability Rights Movement. USA 1908 Society for Mental Hygiene, patient self-advocacy group promotes improved ACT ORG treatment of people with mental illnesses. PSY USA 1909 Modified or American Braille adopted by New York Public School System for ACT BLI Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the instruction of blind children in response to public hearings where blind advocates call EDU USA Disability Rights Movement. on schools to discontinue New York Point. 1909 National Committee for Mental Hygiene founded by Clifford Beer in NYC. ACT PSY Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the USA Disability Rights Movement. 1932 Disabled American Veterans chartered by Congress to advocate for disabled ACT ORG Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the veterans with federal government. PHY USA Disability Rights Movement. VET

1934 California Council of the Blind founded by Jacobus ten Broek, Dr. Newel Perry, and ACT BLI other blind Californians. Becomes model for subsequent National Federation of the ORG USA Blind. 1935 League of the Physically Handicapped founded in to oppose hiring ACT EMP Paul K. Longmore and David discrimination under the Works Progress Administration, a federal work-relief L&P ORG Goldberger. “The League of the program. Through protest demonstrations in Manhattan and Washington, D.C., it PHY USA Physically Handicapped and the eventually generates 1500 jobs for physically handicapped workers in New York City. Great Depression: A Case Study in the New Disability History.” Journal of American History 87:3 (December 2000): 888-922, online at: http://www. historycooperative.org /journals/jah/87.3/ 1940 American Federation of the Physically Handicapped founded by Paul Strachan. ACT EMP Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the First cross-disability, national political organization in U.S. Advocates against ORG PHY Disability Rights Movement. employment discrimination. Calls on U.S. Congress to establish a National Employ USA the Physically Handicapped Week. 1940 National Federation of the Blind founded at meeting of blind advocates in Wilkes- ACT BLI Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the Barre, Pennsylvania. Jacobus tenBroek elected first president. Takes civil rights ORG USA Disability Rights Movement. approach. Demands that blind people have a significant say in programs affecting them and currently controlled by sighted professionals. Calls for dog guide and "white cane laws," the first access and accommodations statutes. 1946 Cerebral Palsy Society of New York City established by parent advocates. Will ACT DD Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the expand to national organization, Associations. ORG PHY Disability Rights Movement. USA 1946 National Mental Health Foundation founded by conscientious objectors who during ACT INST Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the the World War II did alternative service in mental hospitals. Publicizing oppressive ORG PSY Disability Rights Movement. conditions in institutions, it helps launch the deinstitutionalization movement. USA 1947 Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA) founded by delegates from Veterans ACT ORG Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the Administration hospitals across U.S. meeting at Birmingham Hospital in Van Nuys, PHY USA Disability Rights Movement. California. VET 1947 Presidents Committee on National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week ACT EMP Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the convenes first meeting in Washington, D.C. Through state and local committees, its ORG PHY Disability Rights Movement. ongoing public relations effort will utilize motion picture theater trailers, radio and USA TV public-service announcements, and billboards to persuade employers and the general public of the competency of people with disabilities and that its “good business to hire the handicapped.” 1948 National Paraplegia Foundation founded by members of Paralyzed Veterans of ACT ORG Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the America as civilian counterpart in disability rights advocacy. PHY USA Disability Rights Movement. VET 1948 We Are Not Alone (WANA), mental patients’ self-help group, founded at Rockland ACT ORG Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the State Hospital, New York City. PSY USA Disability Rights Movement. 1949 National Foundation for Cerebral Palsy founded by representatives of parents ACT CHAR Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the groups. Renamed United Cerebral Palsy Associations, Inc., in 1950. Along with DD PHY Disability Rights Movement. Association for Retarded Children, becomes major component of a post-World War II USA parents’ movement advocating for the rights of people with disabilities. 1950 Association for Retarded Children of the United States founded in Minneapolis by ACT DD Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the delegates from state associations of parents. Later renamed Association for Retarded ORG USA Disability Rights Movement. Citizens and finally The ARC. 1950 Barrier-free movement launched by disabled World War II veterans, other people ACT L&P with disabilities, and disability advocates. Over the next two decades, this campaign, PHY USA working with the National Easter Seals Society, the President’s Committee on VET Employment of the Handicapped, the Veterans Administration, and other entities, fashions national standards for “barrier-free” buildings and promotes their implementation in federal and state laws. 1953 , later known as “father of the movement,” contracts ACT PHY [Dias and Chadwick], Disability polio. USA Social History Project. 1955 Harold Wilke becomes founding director of the Commission on Religion and Health ACT EMP Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the of the United Church of Christ General Synod in New York. He labors to integrate PHY REL Disability Rights Movement. women and people with disabilities into religious life and ordained ministry. USA 1957 Association for Retarded Children appoints Gunnar Dybwad executive director. ACT DD ORG USA 1957 Little People of America, advocacy and social organization for people who variously ACT ORG Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the identify themselves as little people, dwarves, or short-statured people, founding PHY USA Disability Rights Movement. meeting in Reno, Nevada. 1958 American Federation of the Physically Handicapped disbands at convention in ACT ORG Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the Grand Rapids, Michigan, but members reorganize as the National Association of the PHY USA Disability Rights Movement. Physically Handicapped, Inc. 1958 Toomeyville Gazette, later renamed Rehabilitation Gazette, begins publication ACT PHY Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the under editorship of Gini Laurie at the Toomey Pavilion Polio Rehabilitation Center in PUB USA Disability Rights Movement. St. Louis. It becomes an early advocacy organ for independent living, disability rights, and cross-disability alliances. It publishes articles by writers with disabilities examining all aspects of the disability experience. 1960 Deinstitutionalization campaign for people with developmental disabilities ACT DD begins. Seeks to move individuals from large institutions the small group homes with INST L&P community-based services. But such services never receive full or adequate funding. USA (1960s) 1961 American Council of the Blind established. ACT BLI ORG USA 1962 Edward V. Roberts sues the University of California at Berkeley for rejecting his ACT EDU Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the admission application. He becomes its first student with a significant physical PHY USA Disability Rights Movement. disability. That same year, James Meredith sues the University of Mississippi and becomes its first African-American student. 1963 John Hessler enters University of California at Berkeley, joining Ed Roberts as ACT EDU Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the second student with significant physical disability. Other physically disabled students PHY USA Disability Rights Movement. soon enroll at Cal. They band together as “the Rolling Quads.“ 1965 Autism Society of America established by parents of children with autism to address ACT DD Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the lack of services, prevalence of discrimination, and the dominant medical perspective MED ORG Disability Rights Movement. attributing autism to poor parenting rather than neurological basis. USA 1965 Vocational Rehabilitation Amendments of 1965: Establish National Commission ACT DF Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the on Architectural Barriers to Rehabilitation of the Handicapped. Authorize sign L&P REH Disability Rights Movement. language interpreters for Deaf vocational rehabilitation clients. Expand existing USA vocational rehabilitation programs. Support construction of rehabilitation centers. 1966 Organization for Accessible Buildings founded in Rochester, New York, by a ACC ACT group of young adult users. Later renamed Handicapped Independence IL ORG HERE Inc., a volunteer consumer/advocacy organization. In 1979 reorganizes as PHY USA Regional Center for Independent Living. 1970 founded in New York City in June by Judy Heumann (see entry ACT PHY Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the below) and other disabled activists. Chapters later organized in several other USA Disability Rights Movement. Northeastern cities, including Philadelphia and Baltimore. DIA uses direct action protest demonstrations and lawsuits to advance disability rights. It reflects to emerging features of disability rights activism. Its members belong to a younger generation. The organization is cross-disability rather than disability-specific. 1970 : In May, New York City Public School system refuses teaching ACT EMP license to Judy Heumann, a wheelchair rider. Even though the Board of Examiners PHY USA regards her as physically fit, they fear that her use of a wheelchair will endanger WOM schoolchildren in an emergency. Heumann sues the school district in federal court, charging job discrimination. Soon after she co-founds Disabled in Action of New York, a disability rights activist organization. (See entry above). Drawing extensive news media coverage, she wins the lawsuit and receives a teaching license. The Board of Education opens teaching positions to people with physical disabilities. 1970 The Insane Liberation Front founded in Portland, Oregon. ACT ORG Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the PSY USA Disability Rights Movement. 1970 Paraquad founded by St. Louis nursing home resident Max Starkloff. It will ACT IL Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the become a major independent living Center. ORG PHY Disability Rights Movement. USA 1970 Physically Disabled Students Program (PDSP) founded University of California at ACT EDU Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the Berkeley by Ed Roberts, John Hessler, Hale Zukas, and other students. Two years IL PHY Disability Rights Movement. later they will go on establish the Center for Independent Living in Berkeley to USA provide for personal assistance services, , and political advocacy in the off-campus community. 1971 Berkeley, California, curb ramp program: Local disability rights activists write and ACC ACT lobby for curb cuts at city intersections. Plan requires “off-center” curb cuts so as not L&P PHY to create hazards for blind pedestrians. Municipal Public Works Department objects to USA proposal, but City Council adopts it, appropriating $30,000 annual budget. 1971 Mental Patients’ Liberation Front founded in Boston. Mental Patients’ Liberation ACT ORG Project founded in New York City. PSY USA 1971 National Center for Law and the Handicapped established at University of Notre ACT L&P Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the Dame. First legal advocacy center for people with disabilities in U. S. USA Disability Rights Movement. 1971 Wyatt v. Stickney: U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama outlaws ACT CRT Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the “warehousing” people with disabilities in institutions without rehabilitation or DD INST Disability Rights Movement. education. Rules that they have a constitutional right “to receive such individual L&P USA treatment as (would) give them a realistic opportunity to be cured or to improve his or her mental condition.” Decision is important victory of deinstitutionalization movement. 1972 Boston Self-Help Center established. Grows out of independent living project at ACT IL Boston University. ORG PHY USA 1972 Center for Independent Living (CIL) established in Berkeley, California. Usually ACT IL Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the considered first independent living center anywhere. Non-residential agency directed ORG PHY Disability Rights Movement. by people with disabilities, provides information and advocacy to support disabled USA people to live in their own households in the community. Funded by a $50,000 grant from the federal Rehabilitation Services Administration. 1972 Houston Cooperative Living Residential Project founded in Houston, Texas. Along ACT IL Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the with the Berkeley and Boston centers, will become one of the models for future ORG USA Disability Rights Movement. independent living centers. 1972 Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law established in Washington, ACT L&P Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the D.C. Provides legal advocacy to protect the rights of people with psychological ORG PSY Disability Rights Movement. disabilities. USA 1972 Legal Action Center established to provide legal representation to people with ACT AIDS Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the alcohol or drug-related disabilities. Later provides advocacy for people with L&P ORG Disability Rights Movement. HIV/AIDS. Operates in New York City and Washington, D.C. PSY USA 1972 Madness Network News begins publishing in . ACT PSY Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the PUB USA Disability Rights Movement. 1972 Network Against Psychiatric Assault founded in San Francisco. ACT ORG Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the PSY USA Disability Rights Movement. 1972 Pennsylvania Association of Retarded Children (PARC) v. State of Pennsylvania: ACT CRT U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania declares unconstitutional DD EDU various state laws barring children with disabilities from public schools. Decision L&P USA prompts activists to file many other right-to-education lawsuits. During 1970s they will look to the courts to advance disability rights. Advocates refer to this ruling during the congressional congressional hearings regarding Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. 1972 President Nixon’s veto of Rehabilitation Act protested: activists attending annual ACT L&P Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the meeting of President’s Committee for Employment of the Handicapped demonstrate USA Disability Rights Movement. against veto. Demonastration organizers include leaders of Disabled in Action, National Paraplegia Foundation, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and other advocacy groups. 1972 Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority sued to compel accessible ACC ACT Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the design of new subway system: Paralyzed Veterans of America, National Paraplegia L&P PHY Disability Rights Movement. Foundation, and Richard Heddinger file suit demanding incorporation of accessibility USA features in planning of new, multibillion-dollar subway system in Washington, D.C. Landmark court ruling in their favor important victory in campaign for accessible public mass transit. 1972 Willowbrook State School: Parents of inmates in , New York, ACT CRT institution sue New York Governor Nelson Rockefeller (New York ARC v. DD INST Rockefeller) to correct abusive conditions. TV exposé by reporter L&P USA provokes public outcry. Press coverage, parent advocacy, and the lawsuit eventually result in transfer of large numbers of people with developmental disabilities from Willowbrook into community-based living arrangements. 1973 Bill of Rights for the Handicapped adapted at United Cerebral Palsy Association ACT DD annual meeting in Washington, D.C. ORG PHY USA 1973 Conference on Human Rights and Psychiatric Oppression meets at University of ACT PSY Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the Detroit. First such gathering. USA Disability Rights Movement. 1973 Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities organized. Will lobby for proposed ACT DD Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the legislation that will become Developmentally Disabled Assistance and Bill of Rights L&P USA Disability Rights Movement. Act of 1975 and Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. 1973 In-Home Support Services: Berkeley CIL lobbies not just to save but to expand ACT IL personal-assistance services program. As result, IHSS monthly payments increased to L&P PHY $450. CIL also campaigns successfully for state supplement to new federal USA Supplemental Security Income program. 1973 Protest against President Nixon’s veto of Rehabilitation Act of 1973: On May 4 in ACT L&P Washington, D.C., demonstration organized by Disabled in Action of New York USA includes all-night candlelight vigil at Lincoln Memorial and other demonstrations involving hundreds of people with disabilities. 1973 Vocational Rehabilitation Act: After President Nixon twice vetoed bills to ACT L&P Berkowitz, Disabled Policy, 178- reauthorize the federally supported, state-run vocational rehabilitation system, REH USA 180. Congress overrides his objections, passing the act on September 26. It establishes several important innovations: (1) while maintaining the traditional emphasis on vocational rehabilitation of people with physical disabilities, it gives priority to those with “severe handicaps.” But it leaves the definition of that concept vague. In general, it refers to a disability so significant that it substantially limits an individual’s capacity to function within his or her family and community. Rather than providing a clear definition of “severe handicap,” the act relies on numerous specific examples, including blindness, cancer, deafness, mental retardation, and paraplegia. (2) The act also authorizes Client-Assistance Programs, ombudsmen within but independent of state rehabilitation agencies to safeguard consumers’ rights. In 1984 Congress will make these programs a requirement for federal funding. Disability rights advocacy groups, particularly those for clients with mental disabilities, play an important role in staffing client-assistance projects. (3) Title V, Section 501, mandates affirmative action in federal hiring handicapped persons. This section is never enforced. (4) Section 502 establishes the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board. (5) Section 503 obligates private contractors or subcontractors receiving $2500 or more in federal funds to develop affirmative action plans regarding employment of people with disabilities. This provision is never enforced. (6) Section 504 prohibits discrimination against “otherwise qualified” handicapped individuals in federally- funded programs. It is the first legal measure barring discrimination against people with disabilities. The U.S. Department Of Health, Education and Welfare’s Office of Civil Rights, rather than its vocational rehabilitation division, is tasked with drafting the implementing regulations. This ensures that 504 will be promulgated as a civil rights law rather than an element of vocational rehabilitation. It also generates a new definition of “handicap.” Whereas the vocational rehabilitation program emphasizes employability, the 504 regulations define a handicapped person as an individual who has a physical or mental impairment that limits one or more major life activities, an individual who has a record of such an impairment, or who is regarded as having such an impairment. The regulations and subsequent litigation give rise to a disability rights concepts such as “reasonable accommodation,” “reasonable modification,” and “undue burden.” These terms and concepts will be incorporated into the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Drafting of the 504 regulations drags on for four years. It becomes a focal issue and organizing tool for disability rights activism, for the first time uniting a range of disability constituencies and organizations in a cross-disability political alliance through the American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities. 1974 American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities (ACCD), first national cross- ACT L&P disability political alliance. Organized by 150 participants at annual meeting of the USA President’s Committee on Employment of the Handicapped. Will focus on promulgation of regulations implementing Section 504. 1974 Atlantis Community established in Denver, Colorado, by Wade Blank, civil rights ACT IL activist and parent of disabled child, who campaigns to move adults with significant ORG PHY significant disabilities from nursing homes to independent living. USA 1974 Boston Center for Independent Living founded. ACT IL Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the ORG USA Disability Rights Movement. 1974 First Client Assistant Project (CAPs) established to advocate for state vocational ACT L&P Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the rehabilitation agencies’ clients. REH USA Disability Rights Movement. 1974 Disabled Women’s Coalition founded at UC Berkeley by Susan Sygall and Deborah ACT ORG [Dias and Chadwick], Disability Kaplan. Also involved are , Corbett O’Toole, and Susan Schapiro. The USA WOM Social History Project. members give lectures and right for feminist publications on issues concerning women with disabilities. They also organized support groups and retreats for disabled women. 1974 Housing and Community Development Act, Section 8: Housing and Rental ACT L&P Assistance Program authorizes federal financial aid to retrofit buildings for access USA and construct new accessible housing. 1974 People First, self-advocacy organization of people with cognitive/developmental ACT DD Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the disabilities, holds first convention in Salem, Oregon. ORG USA Disability Rights Movement. 1974 North Carolina statewide building code with strict access requirements adopted. ACC ACT Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the Drafted by disabled architect and accessibility pioneer Ronald Mace, it serves as a PHY USA Disability Rights Movement. model for other states’ access laws. Mace also establishes Barrier Free Environments to promote accessible products as well as structures. 1975 American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities holds first official meeting. Frank ACT ORG Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the Bowe becomes first executive director. USA Disability Rights Movement. 1975 The Association of Persons with Severe Handicaps (TASH) founded by special ACT DD Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the educators in response to PARC v. Pennsylvania (1972) and other right-to-education EDU ORG Disability Rights Movement. rulings. It will later oppose aversive behavior modification and demand closing of all USA residential institutions. 1975 National Center for Law and the Deaf founded in Washington, DC. ACT DF L&P USA 1975 Parent Training and Information Centers established to instruct parents of children ACT EDU Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the with disabilities regarding their children’s rights under the Education for All USA Disability Rights Movement. Handicapped Children Act. 1975 Western Center on Law and the Handicapped established in Los Angeles. Later ACT L&P Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the renamed Western Center on Law and the Disability Rights. USA Disability Rights Movement. 1976 Disabled in Action of Pennsylvania, Inc. v. Coleman: lawsuit filed by Public Interest ACC ACT Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the Law Center of Philadelphia representing Disabled in Action of Pennsylvania, PHY USA Disability Rights Movement. American Coalition of Cerebral Palsy Associations, and other parties, seeking ruling that public transit authorities receiving federal funds buy only buses that meet Transbus specifications for wheelchair access. 1976 Disability Rights Center established in Washington, D.C. Supported by Ralph ACT L&P Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the Nader’s Center for the Study of Responsive Law, it focuses on protecting people with TECH USA Disability Rights Movement. disabilities as consumers. For instance, the collaborates with the U. S. Department of Justice in anti-trust action against the dominant U. S. wheelchair manufacturer, Everest & Jennings. 1976 Section 504 of 1973 Rehabilitation Act: Democratic presidential candidate Jimmy ACT L&P Carter pledges to sign implementing regulations that still await promulgation despite USA extensive review by federal agencies and years of advocacy by disability rights activists. 1976 United Cerebral Palsy telethon picketed by Disabled in Action of New York. ACT CHAR Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the Condemns such fund-raising broadcasts as “demeaning and paternalistic shows which CUL PHY Disability Rights Movement. celebrate and encourage pity.” USA 1976 Westside Center for Independent Living established in Los Angeles. One of first ACT IL Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the nine California centers set up by state Department of Rehabilitation under Ed Roberts. L&P USA Disability Rights Movement. 1977 Halderman v. Pennhurst: lawsuit against Pennsylvania’s Pennhurst State School and ACT CRT Hospital that demands correction of harsh conditions at state “schools” for people DD EDU with mental retardation. Pennsylvania state court rules against “separate but equal” INST USA educational programs and institutions for children with disabilities, declaring they violate constitutional guarantees of equal protection under the law. The ruling in favor of the inmates establishes the right to services in the community for people with developmental disabilities and becomes a significant judicial precedent in the struggle battle for deinstitutionalization. 1977 Lloyd V. Regional Transportation Authority: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh ACT CRT Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the Circuit upholds the right of individuals to sue under Section 504 and rules that public PHY USA Disability Rights Movement. transit authorities must provide accessible service. But in Snowden v. Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit weakens this ruling by holding that transit agencies only need to provide access to “handicapped persons other than those confined to .” 1977 Section 504 sit-ins and promulgation: Despite candidate Jimmy Carter’s promise to ACT L&P implement 504 forthwith, in January administration officials begin review of draft USA regulations without consulting disability rights organizations, apparently aiming to revise and weaken them. Activists demand that HEW Secretary Joseph Califano sign regulations unchanged. When Califano ignores their deadline, on April 5 protesters occupy national and regional HEW offices in ten cities in coordinated cross-disability effort. Demonstrators in Denver are arrested, but cannot be jailed because facilities are inaccessible. In most cities protests end next day, but in San Francisco occupation, which initially includes 150 demonstrators, holds on until May 2, becoming longest sit-in at a federal building in U. S. history. Califano signs implementing regulations April 28. HEW issues them May 4. Section 504 rules define “handicap,” discriminatory policies and practices, and reasonable accommodations, thereby becoming enforceable civil rights law. 1977 White House Conference on Handicapped Individuals: in May, 3,000 delegates ACT L&P Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the representing every state review federal policies affecting persons with disabilities. USA Disability Rights Movement. Fashion White House Action Plan. Call for agency to assess and coordinate federal disability policies and programs. Sparks grass-roots activism. 1978 Denver (Colorado) Regional Transit Authority buses blocked by disability rights ACC ACT Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the activists protesting total inaccessibility of city’s public transit system. Atlantis PHY USA Disability Rights Movement. Community organizes year-long civil disobedience campaign to get transit authority to buy wheelchair lift-equipped buses. Effort begins what will become militant national disability rights group ADAPT (American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit). 1978 Fiesta Educativa, Inc., Los Angeles-based educational advocacy group established ACT EDU Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the by Latino parents of children with disabilities. LAM ORG Disability Rights Movement. USA 1978 Handicapping America by Frank Bowe. Critical examination of social status of ACT PUB Frank Bowe, Handicapping Americans with disabilities and public policies affecting them. Concise declaration of USA America: Barriers to Disabled U. S. disability rights movement’s perspective and agenda in that era. People (New York: Harper and Row, 1978). 1978 On Our Own: Patient Controlled Alternatives to the Mental Health System by Judi ACT PSY Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the Chamberlin, manifesto of psychiatric survivor movement. PUB USA Disability Rights Movement. 1978 Transbay Terminal Sit-In, San Francisco: for two hours during late afternoon rush ACC ACT hour, disability rights activists block major buslines to protest and call public attention PHY USA to inaccessibility of public transit. 1979 Disabled People’s Civil Rights Day, October 20, rallies in major cities declare ACT USA solidarity among Americans with disabilities. 1979 Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), legal and legislative ACT L&P Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the advocacy organization that will spearhead many efforts including campaign for ORG USA Disability Rights Movement. passage of Americans with Disabilities Act, founded in Berkeley, California. 1979 National Alliance for the Mentally Ill founded Madison, Wisconsin, by parents of ACT ORG Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the individuals with psychiatric disabilities. PSY USA Disability Rights Movement. 1979 Self Help for Hard of Hearing People, Inc. founded Bethesda, Maryland, by ACT DF Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the Howard “Rocky” Stone. ORG USA Disability Rights Movement. 1980 Disability Rag & Resource, activist disability rights periodical, begins publishing in ACT PUB Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the Louisville, Kentucky. USA Disability Rights Movement. 1980 National Disabled Women’s Educational Equity Project founded. Based at ACT EDU [Dias and Chadwick], Disability Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) in Berkeley. Directed by PUB USA Social History Project. Corbett O’Toole. Conducts first national survey on disability and gender. Publishes WOM No More Stares. Holds regional training programs for women with disabilities in Eugène, Oregon; Pocatello, Idaho; and Minneapolis. Convenes first national Conference on Disabled Women’s Educational Equity in Bethesda, Maryland. 1980 Networking Project on Disabled Women and Girls started by Harilyn Rousso at ACT USA [Dias and Chadwick], Disability New York City YWCA. She publishes book and produces film, both entitled Loud, WOM Social History Project. Proud and Female. 1981 Mobility International USA (MIUSA) founded to facilitate international contacts ACT INT [Finger], “International among people with disabilities. ORG PHY Independent Living Timeline” USA 1981 Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon criticized in New York Times opinion ACT CHAR article by Evan Kemp, Jr., for promoting pity and reinforcing stigma against CUL ORG disabled people. PHY USA 1981 National Black Deaf Advocates established. ACT DF Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the ORG USA Disability Rights Movement. 1981 Reagan Administration threatens Section 504 and Education for All ACT EDU Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the Handicapped Children Act: Newly elected administration proposes amendments to L&P USA Disability Rights Movement. Section 504 and education law or withdrawal of implementing regulations. Led by Patrisha Wright of the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) and Evan Kemp, Jr., of the Disability Rights Center, disability rights activists launch grassroots lobbying campaign. Administration receives over 40,000 letters and postcards opposing its agenda. After three years, administration abandons plan. 1981 Supplemental Security Income benefits terminated by Reagan administration, ACT L&P 1981-1984: Hundreds of thousands of disabled recipients removed from roles. Several USA commit suicide, though most are restored. Activists vigorously protest policies. 1982 “Baby Doe” case: Doctors in Bloomington, Indiana, advise parents of newborn with ACT BIO Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the blockage of esophagus to reject life-saving surgery because infant has Down DD EUTH Disability Rights Movement. Syndrome. Activists try to intervene, but child starves to death. Disability rights and L&P MED right to life advocates persuade Reagan Administration to issue regulations to protect USA disabled newborns from life-threatening medical discrimination. 1982 National Council on Independent Living founded under leadership of Max ACT IL http://www Starkloff, Charlie Carr and Marca Bristo to speak for independent living centers and ORG PHY .ncil.org/ independent living movement. USA 1983 American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit (ADAPT) protests inaccessible ACC ACT http://www. public transportation at American Public Transit Association (APTA) convention in L&P PHY adapt.org/back. Denver in October. First national action of militant disability rights group founded at USA htm. Atlantis Community in Denver. Campaign will use civil disobedience tactics to oppose APTA’s and many local public transit agencies’ resistance to making a public transit systems accessible. Will continue for seven years until passage of Americans with Disabilities Act. 1983 National Council on the Handicapped, National Policy for Persons with ACT L&P Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the Disabilities, (August) calls on U. S. Congress to protect Americans with disabilities USA Disability Rights Movement. from discrimination by including them in “the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other civil and voting rights legislation and regulations.” 1983 Sharon Kowalski seriously injured by drunk driver near Onamia, Minnesota. When ACT PHY Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the her parents find out she is a lesbian, they place her in a nursing home rather than USA WOM Disability Rights Movement. having her return to the home she shared with her partner Karen Thompson. Thompson battles for eight years to get Kowalski of the nursing home. Disability rights activists join with lesbian activists to free Kowalski, forging ties between the two movements. 1983 Task Force on Regulatory Relief: Chaired by Vice President George Bush, Reagan ACC ACT Administration intends it to reduce federal regulation of businesses, schools, and state EDU L&P and local governments. Aims to weaken implementing regulations for Section 504, USA Education for All Handicapped Children Act, and Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board. But backs down in face of vigorous organized opposition from disability rights movement. Modifies regulations only affecting ATBCB. 1983 World Institute on Disability established by Ed Roberts, Judy Heumann, and Joan ACT INT [Finger], “International Leon in Oakland, California. L&P PHY Independent Living Timeline”; USA Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the Disability Rights Movement. 1984 Ted Kennedy, Jr., addresses Democratic National Convention about disability ACT AMP rights. USA 1984 Social Security Disability Reform Act adopted by U. S. Congress after hundreds of ACT L&P Berkowitz, Disabled Policy, 150. thousands of complaints about unjust termination of disability benefits. Whereas 1980 USA reforms had aimed to remove people from the rolls, this act protects recipients’ rights. Limits Social Security Administration to cutting off benefits only based on “the weight of the evidence” in a specific individual’s case. Requires continuance of benefits and health insurance coverage until terminated recipients exhaust their appeals. 1984 Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act requires that federal ACT L&P Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the election polling stations be physically accessible to elderly and physically disabled PHY USA Disability Rights Movement. voters. Also requires provision of large-print instructions and telecommunications devices for the Deaf. But activists discover that act’s enforcement provisions are very weak. 1985 National Association of Psychiatric Survivors established. ACT ORG Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the PSY USA Disability Rights Movement. 1985 Blind activists Nadine and Steve Jacobson charged with disorderly conduct for ACC ACT refusing to leave exit-row seats on a United Airlines flight. Acquitted in November. BLI USA 1985 Wry Crips, radical disabled women’s theatre group, founded in Berkeley, California. ACT ART Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the USA WOM Disability Rights Movement. 1986 ADAPT activists demand U. S. Congress adopt Americans with Disabilities Act ACT L&P without weakening amendments. Demonstrate in Washington, DC, March 10-16, with PHY USA 75 crawling up the steps of U. S. Capitol to symbolize obstacles in Congress people with disabilities surmount. 1986 Concrete Change, grassroots accessible housing advocacy group, founded in Atlanta, ACC ACT Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the Georgia. USA Disability Rights Movement. 1986 Disabled people are minority group like blacks and Hispanics say 53-54% of ACT PUB International Center for the people with disabilities aged 16-44 in Louis Harris and Associates national survey in USA Disabled, The ICD Survey of June. Substantial majorities in every age group seen need for legal protection against Disabled Americans: Bringing discrimination, with largest majorities among younger adults (16-34 82%, 35-44 83%, Disabled Americans into the 45-54 77%, 55-64 72%, 65 and older 68%). Mainstream (New York: International Center for the Disabled, 1986), 112-15. 1986 Hollywood Walk of Fame renamed “Walk of Shame” for lack of curb cuts. On ACC ACT March 5 disability rights activists smash one corner with sledgehammers opening the PHY USA “People’s Ramp #1.” 1986 National Council on the Handicapped, Toward Independence, report issued ACT L&P Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the February 1 documents discrimination and recommends “a comprehensive law PUB USA Disability Rights Movement. requiring equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities [and] prohibiting discrimination on the basis of handicap.” Recommendation eventually leads to Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. 1986 Protection and Advocacy for Mentally Ill Individuals Act passed by U. S. ACT L&P http://www. Congress. Created Protection and Advocacy Individuals with Mental Illness (PAIMI) PSY USA pai-ca.org/ program, agencies to protect civil rights of in-patients or residents of mental health pubs/503101. facilities. htm. 1986 Society for founded. ACT USA Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the Disability Rights Movement. 1987 Association of Late Deafened Adults (ALDA) established in Chicago. ACT DF Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the ORG USA Disability Rights Movement. 1987 Chicago Board of Elections sued by Illinois disability-rights groups for violating ACC ACT federal Voting Rights for Elderly and Handicapped Act by continuing to use L&P PHY inaccessible polling places, November 10. USA 1987 Rehabilitation Services Administration Commissioner Justin Dart forced to ACT PHY resign after testifying before congressional committee that federal bureaucracy is REH USA dominated by outdated and paternalistic attitudes toward people with disabilities. 1988 ADAPT activists protest inaccessible Greyhound interstate buses, July- ACC ACT [Dias and Chadwick], Disability September. PHY USA Social History Project. 1988 Congressional Task Force on the Rights and Empowerment of Americans with ACT L&P Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the Disabilities co-chaired by Justine Dart, Jr. and Elizabeth Boggs builds grassroots PHY USA Disability Rights Movement. support for passage of Americans with Disabilities Act. 1988 A Fish Called Wanda, motion picture comedy criticized by disability rights activists ACT BRI for ridiculing character who stutters. CUL USA 1988 , in Washington, DC, premier educational institution for Deaf ACT DF people in world: hearing-dominated Board of Trustees selects as new president a USA hearing person with no experience of Deaf community. “Deaf President Now” movement, spearheaded by Gallaudet students, shut down campus for five days, demanding that trustees rescind their choice and replace her with one of two Deaf candidates. On March 13, administration announces appointment of I. King Jordan as Gallaudet’s first Deaf president. 1988 National Council on the Handicapped, On the Threshold of Independence. ACT L&P Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the PUB USA Disability Rights Movement. 1988 Telecommunications Accessibility Enhancement Act adopted by U. S. Congress. ACT DF Requires federal agencies to improve access to federal telecommunications system for TECH USA individuals with hearing or speech disabilities. 1989 American with Disabilities Act, which was introduced in U. S. Congress the year ACT L&P Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the before, is reintroduced in a revised version. Disability-rights advocacy groups around USA Disability Rights Movement. U. S. campaign for it. Key leaders include Patrisha Wright, nicknamed the “general,” and Marilyn Golden, both of DREDF, Liz Savage, Justin Dart, Jr., and Elizabeth Boggs. 1989 Berkeley, California, public schools agree to retrofit facilities for access following ACC ACT Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund filing of lawsuit, September. EDU USA 1989 Larry McAfee, ventilator-using, spinal cord injured quadriplegic battered by Georgia ACT BIO social welfare system which provides no support for independent living, seeks and EUTH IL gets court order for physician-assisted suicide. But intervention of disability rights L&P USA advocates leads him to change his mind. He testifies to Georgia State Legislature in favor of independent living program. 1989 Mouth: The Voice of Disability Rights, activist magazine, first published. ACT PUB Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the USA Disability Rights Movement. 1989 President’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, new name for ACT EMP Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the President’s Committee on Employment of the Handicapped. L&P ORG Disability Rights Movement. USA 1990 ADAPT, American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit, recasts its acronym as ACT IL http://www. American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today to reflect shift in focus L&P USA adapt.org/ following passage of Americans with Disabilities Act. Demanding policies supporting back.htm; Pelka, ABC-Clio independent living and personal assistance services, ADAPT activists demonstrate at Companion to the Disability annual meeting of for-profit nursing home industry trade organization, American Rights Movement. Health Care Association, in Atlanta, October 5-10. 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act signed into law by President George H. W. Bush on ACC ACT For full text of American with July 26. Prohibits discrimination services and employment and requires “reasonable L&P USA Disabilities Act (ADA) 1990 (P.L. accommodations” or “reasonable modifications” to guarantee access to people with 101-336): disabilities in federal, state, and local government facilities and programs, most http://ada.gov/pubs/ada.txt. For private businesses, public transportation, telecommunications, and other public other information about the law spheres of American society. and its implementation: http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/. Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the Disability Rights Movement. 1990 Committee of Ten Thousand establishes advocacy organization for people with ACT AIDS Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the hemophilia infected with HIV/AIDS through contaminated blood products. MED USA Disability Rights Movement. 1990 Jerry Lewis describes being someone with a neuromuscular disability as being ACT CHAR Jerry Lewis, “If I had Muscular “half a person.” Sparks disability rights protests around U.S. CUL USA Dystrophy,” Parade, (September 2, 1990), 4-6. 1990 “Wheels of Justice” demonstration in Washington, D.C., calls on U. S. Congress ACT L&P [Dias and Chadwick], Disability to pass Americans with Disabilities Act. Organized by ADAPT, hundreds of disability USA Social History Project; Pelka, rights activists fill Capitol rotunda. When they refuse to disperse, Capitol police arrest ABC-Clio Companion to the them. March. Disability Rights Movement. 1991 ADAPT protest at Health Care Financing Administration headquarters in ACT IL Washington, D.C. demands federal government designate proportion of Medicaid L&P USA funds for in-home personal assistance services, April. 1991 Bree Walker Lampley, Los Angeles TV news anchor, criticized on radio call-in ACT BIO program for continuing pregnancy given likelihood her child will inherit her physical PHY USA disability, syndactyly, which involves partial fusing of bones in fingers and toes. Local activists condemn criticism as bigotry.government designate proportion of Medicaid funds for in-home personal assistance services, April. 1991 Karen Thompson gains guardianship of disabled partner Sharon Kowalski over ACT CRT objections of Kowalski’s parents. USA WOM 1992 ADAPT nationwide protests demands federal and state financing of personal ACT IL assistance services, January 15. L&P USA 1992 ADAPT demands American Medical Association support national personal ACT IL assistance services policy in demonstration at AMA’s Chicago headquarters. L&P USA May. 1992 Muscular Dystrophy Association telethon protested in twenty U. S. cities. ACT CHAR September. CUL USA 1995 American Association of People with Disabilities founded in Washington, D.C. ACT ORG Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the USA Disability Rights Movement. 1995 Boston University reverses commitment to accommodating students with ACT CRT learning and other disabilities. President John Silber criticizes them for being EDU LD “trained to the trellis of dependency on their special status and the accommodations USA that are made to it.” He cites as typical a student with narcolepsy he calls “Somnolent Sarah.” In a subsequent lawsuit against the university on behalf of disabled students, he is forced to admit that he made her up. 1995 Helen L. v. Snider: U. S Third Circuit Court of Appeals rules that Commonwealth ACT CRT Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the (state government) of Pennsylvania’s policy of funding nursing home residents see IL L&P Disability Rights Movement. but not independent living violates Americans with Disabilities Act. USA WOM 1995 Sandra Jensen, California woman with Down syndrome and member of self ACT DD Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the advocacy organization People First, denied heart-lung transplant by Stanford MED USA Disability Rights Movement. University Medical School because of her disability. When disability rights activists WOM protest, hospital administrators authorize the operation. In January 1996, Jensen becomes the first person with Down Syndrome to receive heart-lung transplant. 1995 Justice for All established Washington, D.C. Begins publishing online newsletter. ACT PUB Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the USA Disability Rights Movement. 1995 Christopher Reeve sustains high level spinal cord injury in horse-riding competition. ACT MED Becomes controversial spokesperson for cure research in opposition to accessibility USA and civil rights. In 2004, the medical treatments supposedly designed to improve his chances for cure cause his death. 1995 When Broke His Head… and Other Tale of Wonder, landmark PBS documentary, ACT CUL examines disability prejudice and disability rights activism in contrast to typical USA inspirational or medically oriented films. 1996 Max Cleland, trilateral amputee and Vietnam War veteran, elected U. S. Senator ACT AMP Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the from Georgia. USA VET Disability Rights Movement. 1996 Sen. Robert Dole, disabled World War II veteran, becomes first person with visible ACT PHY Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the disability since Franklin Roosevelt to run for president of United States. USA VET Disability Rights Movement. 1996 Not Dead Yet founded by disability rights activists to oppose and ACT BIO Pelka, ABC-Clio Companion to the other advocates of physician-assisted suicide. EUG EUTH Disability Rights Movement. USA 1999 Target department store chain suited in nationwide class-action lawsuit for ACT EMP alleged employment discrimination against deaf and hard of hearing job applicants. USA Accused of refusing to provide applicants with sign language interpreters and of telling some Deaf applicants company was not hiring when hearing applicants were being received. October.

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Institute on Disability University of San Francisco