Accessibility Guidelines for Unitarian Universalist Congregations
Happy 25 ADAp2
1.
2. • Our Dark Beginnings…The Pendulum Shifts
• Methods for Dealing with Disabilities throughout the years
• Three Models of Thought
• The Disability Hierarchy
• Activists of the Past (4 slides)
• Vets Lead the way to Change
• Question and Answer
• The Big Three
• Accomplishments Made
when Groups Organize &
Collaborate
• The Disability Rights
Movement (2 Slides)
• Other Minority Rights Groups
• The Disability Rights
Movement (1 Slide)
• Parents of Children
• Established or Influenced (2 slides)
• The A.D.A. has made Changes
• Wrap-Up
• References
3. It has been said that in primitive societies,
people with disabilities were viewed as equals.
Though they may have possessed limitations
they were still able to contribute in some way,
and always had a place within their
communities.
Unfortunately as society moved toward the
challenges of the industrial age many with
disabilities experienced a wide range of cruel
fates from being locked away and abused to
being denied life-saving treatments and
euthanized, as societal beliefs and values
swung , like a pendulum, from tolerance and
acceptance to one of fear and embarrassment.
5. Enlightenment
Medical
Independent Living
• PWD seen as either gifts from God or Products of sin.
• PWD viewed as sources of inspiration or shame
• Cures/miracles can only happens if sins are repented
• PWD viewed as broken and need to be fixed
• PWD are incurable and therefore cannot function in society as
“normal”
• Good quality of life will never be achieved because the person
presents with too many limitations
• PWD viewed as fine; Society is viewed as broken
• Quality of life can be achieved through removal of
environmental and attitudinal barriers
Enlightened/Spiritual
Medical
Independent Living (patterned after the Minority Model)
6. The steps on this photo represent
levels of acceptance. Acceptance by
society depends on 4 things:
• Level of Visibility
• Level of Severity
• Level of society’s
understanding
• Societal values
7. Not everyone from the past believed that people with disabilities were an
embarrassment or worthless. Many educators for example, saw the their potential
to reason and learn and some were willing to train using more practical, humane
and conventional methods to help those with intellectual disabilities succeed in
community life.
Others wrote of the mistreatment and abuses they personally have experienced in
order to expose institutions and asylums, advocating for more humane treatment
and ultimately, de-institutionalization.
In 1841, while teaching Sunday school to women in jail, Dix noted the deplorable
conditions that those with mental illness had to face. She fought to get that
changed. Her success in doing so prompted her to visit jails throughout the state
and eventually throughout the country, reporting her findings and managing to
get a total of 32 hospitals erected around the country. In 1848 she asked Congress
to grant over 12 million acres of land to be used for the mentally ill as well as the
blind and deaf. Congress approved it but President Franklin Pierce vetoed the bill,
stating that it wasn’t the federal government’s job to take care of the disabled.
8. Cardano was the first
physician to recognize
the ability of the deaf to
reason.
Itard spent 5 years training
Victor the "Wild Boy of
Aveyron," devising methods
of instruction that are still
influential.
The Founder of Gallaudet University established the first free
American school for the deaf and hearing impaired in 1817, It later
became known as the American School for the Deaf. Gallaudet was
also an advocate of manual training in all schools. Vocational
education was added to his school's curriculum in 1822.
9. In 1832, The Perkins School for the Blind is opened in Boston, by
Howe, who became the country's leading expert on educating the
disabled. In 1848, He establishes the Massachusetts School for
Intellectually Impaired Children and Youth, one of the first of its kind
in the United States.
In 1839, Seguin opened the first school for the severely retarded in
France. His methods for educating mentally disabled children by
using sensory training became famous throughout the world. In
1850 Seguin immigrated to the United States and established other
teaching centers that utilized his methods.
10. The Prisoners' Hidden Life or Insane Asylums Unveiled. Chicago:
Published by Packard in 1868.Written as an expose on insane asylums
in the 19th century, Packard
advocates for sweeping changes in the institutional system.
Institutionalized herself, the author offers a first-hand account from
inside the insane asylum.
In 1908, Beers publishes his autobiography, A Mind That Found Itself,
advocating for change in mental institutions. A year after the
publication, the National Committee for Mental Hygiene is formed to
advocate for changes to the mental health system. In 1909, Beer
founds the National Committee for Mental Hygiene.
11. • Until the end of the civil war back in the late 1800s. Society did
not consider providing for people with disabilities
• But with so many soldiers returning home severely wounded it
became clear that Medicine needed to become more advanced
and society could not ignore the needs of those who were once
able to fight for their country. As such, the first hospitals for vets
were established and congress made it possible for Vets to receive
some form of monetary compensation by giving them at least 50%
of their pensions.
• In 1918 WWI Veteran’s were the first to benefit from the Smith-
Fess Act: an act geared toward providing vocational guidance and
training to obtain jobs in the community.
• Thanks to Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman,
by the end of the 2nd World War, Veterans and others with
disabilities could receive Social Security. But this was not enough.
12. “How do you think Veterans and other people
with disabilities managed to deal with the day-
to-day challenges of living independently?”
“They start to organize
and fight !”
13. Though there were 3 very prominent figures who stood out in the
fight for equal rights, it must be mentioned that they were just a few,
from the many people out there who played a strong role by letter
writing, organizing, making phone calls and marching and protesting.
14. • De-Institutionalization
• Accessible Transportation for all
• Equal access to education via the
Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act
• Equal access to
telecommunication for all
For more facts and details refer to your timelines
15. Edward Roberts
• In 1962 Ed. Roberts stepped foot in
Berkley University.
• With Ed’s help a minority drop-out
prevention Mentoring Program
was established for Students with
disabilities.
• In 1967, through Ed Roberts, the
first Center for Independent Living
got started in Berkley.
• By 1972 Centers for Independent
Living Became incorporated
16. • Judy Heumann from New York was originally going to become a speech therapist but was denied by the Board of
Education, as she was seen as an insurance Liability
• In 1970 Heumann and several friends with disabilities founded Disabled in Action, an organization set to
securing the protection of people with disabilities under civil rights laws
• She organized the sit-ins at the U.S. Department of Health Education, and Welfare offices in San Francisco
resulting in HEW Secretary Joseph Califano signing the Rehabilitation Act's Section 504 regulations
• Disabled in Action is founded in New York City by Judith
Heumann, after her successful employment discrimination suit
against the city's public school system. With chapters in several
other cities, it organizes demonstrations and files litigation on
behalf of disability rights.
• As a legislative assistant to the chairperson of the U.S. Senate
Committee on Labor and Public Welfare, in 1974 she helped
develop legislation that became the Individuals with Disabilities
Education Act. An early leader in the Independent Living
Movement.
• She moved to Berkley in 1975 and became Deputy Director of it’s
CIL and later co-founded the World institute on Disability along
with Ed Roberts and Joan Leon.
17. • The 1960’s was a time for lots of
protest. Disability Rights leaders like
Heumann and Roberts looked to other
minority rights groups for guidance on
how to get their voices heard.
• These groups provided the example of
organizing and that strength and
power lies in numbers
• Demonstrator protests were for the
most part, peaceful BUT persistent
with mass media exposure.
18. Among his Accomplishments:
• Known as the father of the A.D.A. and the Godfather
of the Disability Rights Movement.
• He was present at the signing of the Americans with
Disabilities Act on July 26, 1990.
• In 1998 he received the Presidential Medal of
Freedom.
• In 1989 Dart was appointed to chair the President’s
Committee on Employment of People with
Disabilities. Once there, Dart quickly shifted the
focus of the committee from urging businesses to
hire the handicapped, to advocating for full civil
rights of People with Disabilities.
• In 1986 he was assigned to head the Rehabilitation
Services Administration
19. As everyone is aware, parents are every child’s first
teacher. This is especially true when the child has, or
develops a disability. Children like Ed Roberts learned
through example. Zona Roberts fought hard to keep her
son in school during the first years of Ed’s having Polio.
Without parents who accept disability as a part of life,
children, and society in general will continue to view
disability negatively.
As time moved forward parents became determined to
see that their children with disabilities enjoy the same
rights and privileges as their able-bodied counterparts.
Through them, many laws and organizations sprouted
up.
Zona Roberts Back in 2013
at Berkley University
20. 1949 - The National Foundation for Cerebral Palsy is chartered by
representatives of various groups of parents of children
with cerebral palsy. Renamed the United Cerebral Palsy Associations,
Inc., in 1950, it becomes a major force in the parents' movement
of the 1950s and thereafter.
1950 – The Muscular Dystrophy Association was formed.
The Association for Retarded Children of the U.S. (The Arc) is
founded in Minneapolis by representatives of
various state association of parents of mentally retarded children.
1966 – The Federal Bureau for the Handicapped was formed to serve the
educational needs of disabled children.
1970 - The above mentioned Bureau began providing funds for the training of
Special Ed Teachers and for making separate materials for classes
The Developmental Disabilities Services and Facilities Construction
Amendments are passed. They contain the first legal definition of
developmental disabilities and authorize grants for services and
facilities for the rehabilitation of people with developmental
disabilities and state "DD Councils.“
21. 1972 – District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, in
PARC v. Pennsylvania, strikes down various state laws
used to exclude disabled children from the public schools.
These decisions will be cited by advocates during the
public hearings leading to passage of the Education for All
Handicapped Children Act of 1975. PARC in particular
sparks numerous other right-to-education lawsuits and
inspires advocates to look to the courts for the expansion
of disability rights.
1975 - "The Education for All Handicapped Children Act," public
law 94-142, was passed in 1975. This act allocated federal
dollars to states and localities in order to provide
education for children with disabilities. Included in the act
were provisions for a free and appropriate education,
individualized education programs with parental
involvement, establishment of due process proceedings,
and to provide an education in the least restrictive
environment.
22. Not Enough Adults with
Disabilities Pursuing Higher
Education
Approx. 77% of Adults with
Disabilities are still Unemployed
State Government Funding will
be Cut causing people with
disabilities to lose their
assistants and ultimately, their
ability to live independently and
be contributing
Members of their communities.
Youth with disabilities needing
mentors to guide them and
give them equal footing as
their nondisabled peers
23. Evolving from the blood, sweat, & tears of those
with disabilities and supporters throughout
history, the Americans With Disabilities Act is a
powerful document that has changed the lives of
so many. But this act has its’ limits and more
changes have to occur in order for there to be
true equality.
People with disabilities are a largely untapped
pool of talent, for the workforce, and as
contributing resources to the community in
general. Let’s work together to make our
community accessible and prosperous.
Let’s keep that pendulum from swinging back into
the darkness.
24. The Museum of Disability History
http://disabilityhistoryweek.org/pages/timeline/?page=11
An Introduction to the Disability Rights Movement
http://www.protectyourincome.com/education-center/an-
introduction-to-the-disability-rights-movement
Encyclopedia of American Disability History
http://www.fofweb.com/History/MainPrintPage.asp?iPin=EADH0676
&DataType=AmericanHistory
http://ncld-youth.info/index.php?id=61
National Coalition on Leadership & Disability
Wikkipedia Online Encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_disability_rights_in_the_Unit
ed_States
Editor's Notes
Hello Everyone. My Name is … I am going to share with you some of the struggles and triumphs that people with disabilities have faced over the years, and are still facing now. For those of you who may not know, this is the 25th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. In your packets, accompanying these presentation slides is am much more detailed timeline of events beginning from B.C. all the way through our current year. Here I was be giving you a quick run-through. By the way, when you hear me say the letters PWD, this means person or people with disabilities. OK, let’s begin.
So these are the topics we will be covering [READ LIST ON SLIDE]
[READ THE TOPIC AND THE TEXT]
As you can see, each of these images depicts a different horrific experience that people who were deemed as “not like the norm” were forced to undergo. People with intellectual impairments, mental illnesses and Epilepsy were locked away in prisons or institutions as the years they were also lobotomized, for the sake of “the cure”. When disability was feared or misunderstood they were deemed to be witches and burned alive and for fear that their conditions would contaminate, PWD were prevented from having children and even killed. The lives of children and adults with disabilities were not deemed worthy of living and were often subjected to involuntary experimentation. This mindset of life not worthy of living still exists now, when doctors decide to withhold life-saving treatments or practice assisted suicide without providing the person options and alternatives.
So I don’t know how many of you out there know this or not but there are explanations for why people tend to act and think the way they do. We call them Models of thought and there are several out there. But when attempting to understand the way PWD have been treated over the years, there are three that put everything into perspective. [READ THE TEXT FROM SLIDE] As time and society have changed, our thinking tends to change. This doesn’t necessarily mean that any of these models ceases to exist though. Cultural expectations, values, education levels, and beliefs still tend to reflect each of these models.
[READ THE TITLE AND TEXT] Now, I know that here in this country we tend to think that in this day and age, everybody gets treated fairly equally. The reality though, is that acceptance of differences can only be achieved if the person’s difference is subtle or even hidden. So if the person with the disability looks and acts more like the norm, the more advantages she or he will subsequently have in life.
[READ THE TITLE AND THE WHITE TEXT] The picture below is Dorothea Dix. She was actually a school teacher who would teach Sunday school to women in the prison system. It was during the time she was teaching that she realized that women with disabilities were not even being given the basic necessities to survive. Dix spent the next several decades of her life requesting more humane treatment and separate living arrangements for those with disabilities who were imprisoned.
Those with sensory disabilities were among the first to be recognized as capable of reasoning and learning, and among those to benefit from former education.
People like Thomas Gallaudet and Samuel Gridley Howe started schools to educate the Deaf and Blind. Others like Itard and Seguin devised practical methods for teaching and prove that even those with intellectual disabilities can learn.
Finally those, who’ve experienced first-hand, the abuses inflicted by institutionalization decided to become a voice for others in the same situation, not only writing and publishing books regarding their experiences, but also forming Associations that dedicated to stopping the abuses that go on there.
[READ THE TITLE AND THE TEXT]
[read right off the slide]
An interesting fact that the three of these people featured here, share in common is that they all had contracted Polio and became wheelchair users. For both Roberts and Dart the first task was to learn to adjust to their new “identities” as chair users. Heumann acquired her disability during her infancy and never acquired an “able-bodied” identity. Though they were were 3 very prominent figures who stood out in the fight for equal rights, it must be mentioned that they were just a few, from the many people out there who played a strong role by letter writing, organizing, making phone calls and marching and protesting.
Before we focus more on the Big Three and the specific roles they played, let’s briefly acknowledge all that has been accomplished when people come together:
[READ THE TITLE AND TEXT]
So we have now come to the first of the Big 3 and you can see just some of the many accomplishments he was accredited with. Ed acquired Polio at the age of 14; a point in his life where he seemed to have a promising future in sports, specifically Baseball and Football. He was a young guy who originally never took school seriously. Polio, however changed the “playing field” for him dramatically. Once he came to terms with his new identity, Ed saw education as the key to freedom. Ed learned how to advocate for himself from his mother, Zona. She fought hard for Ed to be allowed to re-enter school and to graduate. Ed himself learned how to organize and fight while in college, observing other protests. Even though so many people kept trying to bar him from receiving his education, Ed Roberts eventually earned his Doctorate, started the first Center for Independent Living, and in 1975 He became the Director for the California Department of Vocational Services, the same Department that tried hard to deny him services because they felt he was just too disabled to work.
Judy Heumann also contracted Polio but her experience with it was quite different, as she didn’t know how to walk yet, and thus, never had to “adjust” to a new experience. Like Ed, the school wanted to keep Judy from attending, stating that she would be a safety hazard if a fire ever broke out. Also like Ed Judy’s mother became her first teacher, involving Judy in her first self-advocacy efforts. Ultimately she was allowed to attend and graduate from school. Her original goal was to become a Speech Teacher but when she was refused her Diploma for the basically the same reason she had been banned from schools years before, she decided to form her own advocacy group at the age of 22. That was the turning point which caused her to pursue advocacy work.
The mid 50s and throughout the 60s were a time of great turbulence. Rallies and protests ranging from the Vietnam war, to minority rights groups sprung up everywhere. Most were prevalent in the college campuses where Ed, Justin, and Judy were attending; the perfect breeding ground for stimulating conversations and new learning to take place among advocates with disabilities. Ed Roberts in particular was said to have been fascinated with the Women’s Rights organizations. He liked their tactics of appearing docile, weak, and needy, only to unleash their rage, once they’ve acquired their listener’s sympathy.
Unlike Ed and Judy, whose struggles partially began from personal and financial necessity, Justine Dart was born and raised in a very wealthy family. A Chicago native, his father was a Businessman and his mother’s father was the owner to the Walgreens franchise. He never really knew of struggle until Polio affected him in 1948. By then he was college-bound and like Ed, he needed to first adjust to the new circumstances of his life. During his college years he studied became very active with protesting for minority rights. He majored in Political Science and wanted to teach History but like Judy, he was denied that chance. This denial however, did not immediately trigger Dart to pursue advocacy. Justin instead decided to go to Japan to start his own Tupperware business. While in Japan he meets his new wife and comes to discover the inequalities and mistreatment being faced and experienced by PWD. Though his businesses thrived, he sold them and ultimately decided to pursue advocacy work full-time.
A part from the Big Three and other advocates and activists, the biggest group to emerge, were parents of children with disabilities. As time moved forward parents became determined to see that their children with disabilities enjoy the same rights and privileges as their able-bodied counterparts. Through them, many laws and organizations sprouted up.
This and the next slide are just brief lists of the numerous activities and organizations that parents either influenced or personally got together and formed for the sake of their children. Many parents were leery of the idea of having to send their children with disabilities off to institutions. They wanted their children to have an equal opportunity to learn and be a part of their communities
Parents were determined to both acquire resources and be resources for other parents in their situations. As such, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (I.D.E.A.) was created to give children equal access to education, and Associations like Autism Speaks were formed.
We have come a long way but there’s still a ways to go. The pictures depicted on this slide ALL have a tremendous impact on our Employment status and Economy in General. Though you may not see how Personal Assistant Care and Youth Mentoring figure into the equation, consider the bigger picture. Adolescents are the next to rise up and take over the current jobs we have. With no guidance or support teens with disabilities will not measure up and adequately compete with their peers for positions. Now imagine hiring a talented able-bodied employee. He or she has come in with loads of ideas and generated lots of revenue for your business. One day, that person becomes seriously and permanently injured, requiring assistance just to perform the most basic self-care tasks. To maintain their incomes and continue working, they need to somehow be able to maintain their independence. Without assistants the talented employee would need to quit, your business could lose money.
