Judy Heumann and the Disability Rights Movement
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32473/ufjur.v21i2.108724Keywords:
undergraduate researchAbstract
The disability rights movement focuses on guaranteeing equal rights and opportunities to individuals with disabilities. Though people with disabilities advocated for improved conditions and government help as far back as the early 20th century, the movement really began in earnest in the 1970s following the lead of the civil rights revolution. Disability activists called for the explicit protection of individuals with disabilities through changes in public law. Their efforts, helped foster the creation of federal laws (particularly the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act- ADA) that specifically addressed discrimination on the basis of disability and required institutions to provide appropriate accommodations. Through understanding how ableism influenced medical, legal, and educational institutions, a greater understanding of life for citizens prior to the ADA can be formed. This paper focuses on how an individual court case was used to hold these institutions accountable for continued exclusion of people with disabilities and set the stage for the disability rights movement moving forward.
Metrics
References
Burch, S. (2001). Reading between the Signs: Defending Deaf Culture in Early Twentieth-Century America. In P.K. Longmore & L. Umansky, The New Disability History: American Perspectives (pp. 214-235) New York, NY: New York University Press.
Haegele, J.A. & Hodge, S. (2016). Disability Discourse: Overview and Critiques of the Medical and Social Models. Quest. 193.
Heumnann J.E. (2016). Our fight for disability rights – and why we’re not done yet. TED video. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/judith_heumann_our_fight_for_disability_rights_and_why_we_re_not_done_yet/up-next.
Kay, S.H., LaPlante, M.P., Carlson D., & Wenger, B.L. (1996). Trends in Disability Rates in the United States, 1970-1994. Abstract: Number 17. US Department of Education.
Malcom, A. H. (1970). Polio Victim, 22, Is Denied Lincense to Teach in City’s Schools. The New York Times. Retrieved from A. Proquest Historical Newspapers.
Maroto, M. & Pettinicchio D. (2015). Twenty-Five Years After the ADA: Situating Disability in America’s System of Stratification. Disability Studies Quarterly. Accessed November 15, 2018, http://dsq-sds.org/article/view/4927/4024.
Nielsen, K. E. (2012). A Disability History of the United States. Boston: Beacon Press.
Ostiguy-Finneran, B. & Peters, M. L. (2018). Ableism. Readings for Diversity and Social Justice. In Adams et al. New York: Routledge.
Piascik, A. (2017) Constance Baker Motley: A Warrior for Justice. Retrieved from https://connecticuthistory.org/constance-baker-motley-a-warrior-for-justice/.
Ruffalo, M. L. (2018). The American Mental Asylum: A Remnant of History. Psychology Today. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/freud-fluoxetine/201807/the-american-mental-asylum-remnant-history.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Some journals stipulate that submitted articles cannot be under consideration for publication or published in another journal. The student-author and mentor have the option of determining which journal the paper will be submitted to first. UF JUR accepts papers that have been published in other journals or might be published in the future. It is the responsibility of the student-author and mentor to determine whether another journal will accept a paper that has been published in UF JUR.
