The document summarizes the rhetoric of the disability rights movement in the United States. It began in the 1800s but gained momentum in the mid-1900s as disabilities became more of a social issue. A key achievement was the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits discrimination against the disabled. The movement aimed to promote equal political and social rights and break down barriers facing the disabled community. Several rhetorical artifacts are described, including personal stories, articles celebrating the ADA's anniversary and promoting inclusion, and a speech by a prominent disability rights leader calling for equal treatment.

1. RHETORIC OF THE
DISABILITY RIGHTS
MOVEMENT
Maddie Frick

2. OVERVIEW OF MOVEMENT
• The Disability Rights movement started back in the 1800s but didn’t gain much
momentum until the mid-1900s when living with disabilities started to become more
of a social issue
• Movement’s greatest achievement was the passing of the Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA) in 1990, which is a civil rights law that prohibits the discrimination of
disabled persons in public settings such as work or school

3. MOVEMENT PURPOSES
• Equal political rights
• Equal social rights
• Break down the barriers and impressions that surround the disability community

4. RHETORICAL ARTIFACT #1
• “real story from people living with a disability” found on the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention’s website
• Father of four named Jerry; hit by drunk driver 30 years ago and is confined to a
wheelchair as a partial paraplegic
• The persuasive tactic used here is a narrative argument; these arguments are used
to construct stories to transform perceptions and get people to see the world from
their point of view
• This narrative has a degree of truth and comes from someone in the disabled
community who is keen on sharing how his own experience does not define or
weaken him. Jerry’s story was used to persuade people by drawing them in
emotionally and attempting to change the norms around the disabled community

5. RHETORICAL ARTIFACT #2
• Article from Talk Poverty that was written in 2015 to celebrate the 25th anniversary
of the passing of the American with Disabilities Act
• Fischer discusses how healthy people’s identity are based on their accomplishments,
but a disabled person’s identity is based solely on what they are unable to do.
• Polarization is used to emphasize how excluded the disabled community feels from
the rest of society

6. RHETORICAL ARTIFACT #3
• Excerpt from the Haiti story:
• “On March 19, 2016, three women — Vanessa Previl, Monique Vincent, and Jesula
Gelin — were murdered because they were deaf. The perpetrators held a belief that
women with disabilities are bad or evil spirits. This belief imperils individuals with
disabilities in Haiti, especially women with disabilities” (DRAF, 2019).
• This is an example of direct violence; the women were specifically targeted because
of their disability. The criminals believed it was god’s will and that they had to get
rid of the “evil” spirits within their community
• The author is playing on the reader’s emotions and pulling them in when describing
the atrocious acts of murder of people who are usually seen as the weak links in
society

7. RHETORICAL ARTIFACT #4
• Ed Roberts is one of the most famous leaders of the disability rights movement in
the mid-to-late 1900s
• An excerpt from his speech during a 1977 federal government sit-in in California:
• “We, who are considered the weakest, the most helpless people in our society, are the
strongest, and will not tolerate segregation, will not tolerate a society which sees us
as less than whole people. But that we will together, with our friends, will reshape
the image that this society has of us” (Ollibean, 2014).
• Language is used to transform perceptions
• Persuasion tactic used is identification

8. REFERENCES
• Disability and Health Stories from People Living with a Disability. (2019). Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from
https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/stories.html
• Disability Rights Advocacy Fund. (2019). Retrieved from http://drafund.org/
• Ollibean. (2014). Worth Repeating: Ed Robert’s 504 Sit-In Victory Rally Speech.
Retrieved from https://ollibean.com/edu/
• Wong, A. (2015). Telling Our Stories: Why I Launched the Disability Visibility
Project. Retrieved from https://talkpoverty.org/2015/07/29/outside-looking-
promoting-financial-inclusion-economic-stability-individuals-disabilities/