The Historical Foundation Of People With Disabilities Essay

In the United States today, there are over fifty-one million disabled adults and children. Throughout our nation’s history, we have not allowed the best treatment and care for these numerous citizens. But, in the recent past, the government has passed laws, made exceptions, and thoroughly tried to provide accommodations to these people with special needs. While this is true, America, as a whole, still views this group as strange or different. Even though this is exceptionally normal, it is not correct. The United States needs to be opened up to the truth about their fellow American citizens. The people of America ought to understand that these disabilities affect not only those who are disabled, but that it affects the family and friends

Douglas C. Baynton argues in his article, “Disability and the Justification of Inequality in American History”, that the concept of disability is culturally constructed and has been paid little to no attention to throughout history. He also argues that the term disability plays an important role in justifying discriminations against minority groups, based on gender, race, and ethnicity. He states that “Disability has functioned historically to justify inequality for disabled people themselves, but it has also done so for women and minority groups. That is, not only has it been considered justifiable to treat disabled people unequally, but the concept of disability has been used to justify discrimination against other groups by attributing disability to them.” (Baynton 94) He used women’s suffrage, African American freedom, and immigration restriction as examples to show how disability played an essential role in illustrating how minorities who were labeled as disabled were treated with discrimination. As they were labeled with disability, discrimination against them became justifiable, which ultimately proves that discrimination against disabled was thought as justifiable and were looked over.

People with disabilities were also forced to enter institutions and asylums. Society hid people with disabilities from a mean, fearful, and biased world. This continued until the Civil War and World War I when our veterans returned in a disabled state expecting the US government to provide some sort of help or rehabilitation in exchange for their service in the nation. Although President Roosevelt was the first president with a disability to take office was a great advocate for the rehabilitation of people with disabilities, the nation was still operated under the assumption that being disabled was and abnormal condition and needed to be medically cured. In the 1940's and 1950's, World War II veterans started placing pressure on the government for rehabilitation for their disabilities. The veterans made it more visible to a country filled with thankful citizens who were concerned about the well-being of the men who sacrificed their lives for their country. By the 1960's, the civil rights movement began to take place and disabled citizens saw this as an opportunity to join forces along with the minority groups to demand equal treatment, equal access, and equal opportunity for people with disabilities. The Disability Rights Movement just like the others faced negative attitudes and stereotypes. In the 1970's, disability rights activists lobbied congress and marched on Washington to include civil rights language for people with disabilities into the 1972 Rehabilitation

Individuals with disability have had a long history of maltreatment in America. From being thought of as possessed individuals in need of exorcism, targeted for heinous experiments, unknowingly sterilized, being labeled imbecile, feeble minded, and retarded, to being shipped off to state schools or mental asylums, those with disabilities were given no consideration as a valuable and able to contribute member of society. In a speech to congress, Frank Bowe, a highly educated deaf-man highlighted this claim by stating, “we are not even second-class citizens, we are third-class citizens” (Bowe, F. 1977--need citation), and Jim Cherry (2001) furthered the ideal in his words, that prior to “1970 we [disabled citizens] had no right to education, to employment, to transportation, to housing, or to voting. There were no civil rights laws for us, no federal advocacy grants. Few people looked beyond our medical needs” (Cherry, J.L, 2001 http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/0701/0701cov.htm). Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 attempted to fundamentally change how disabled people were reguarded.

Before the passage of the Americans Americans with Disabilities Act, disabled people were not viewed as equals or treated with the same dignity as someone who was

Americans with disabilities make up the largest minority group in the United States. Approximately fifty million people in the United States live with physical or mental handicaps. This minority group is unique in that it is made up of people from all socioeconomic classes, genders and races. Mental and physical impairments do not discriminate. As with other minorities, Americans with disabilities face unique challenges and discriminatory behaviors. For centuries, disabled people had to battle irrational fears and stereotypes due to the lack of medical understanding. The first demand for equal treatment for disabled people came in the 1960s. The struggle for disability rights has followed a similar pattern to many other civil rights movements – first negative stereotypes must be challenged, followed rallying for political and institutional change and lobbying for the self-determination of a minority community. As a result the examples of the African American civil rights and women’s rights movements encouraged the disability rights movement, and after decades of campaigning and lobbying, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed in 1990.

For starters, disabled people in the United States were not always treated equal, as they are today. As recent as the mid 1900’s, disabled people were stripped of their rights and experimented on. From 1950 to 1972 the Willowbrook State

History tells us that it has been a long road to liberty and a continual fight for civil rights for those with disabilities. One of the most influential times for change in the lives of disabled Americans occurred during the 1960s and 1970s, and became know as the Disability Rights Movement.

As African Americans had once fought for desegregation, people with disabilities mirrored African Americans when they protested injustice through the streets. Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act offered some protection as it banned discrimination on the basis of disability (https://dredf.org/news/publications/the-history-of-the-ada/). Section 504 was a historical moment because it was the first time people with disabilities were seen as a class. The Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund states that “Section 504 recognized that while there are major physical and mental variations in different disabilities, people with disabilities as a group faced similar discrimination in employment, education and access to society,” but there was still the question of how Section 504 regulations would be publicized (https://dredf.org/news/publications/the-history-of-the-ada/). The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare became responsible for broadcasting these regulations, which would serve as guidelines for all federal agencies. Section 504 regulations, which were issued on May 4, 1977, helped form the foundation for the ADA and helped further the disability rights movement

There are some misconceptions with ADA and most people believe that ADA has become a history on the day it was signed on July 26, 1990 which it was not the case. It started by the people all over the United States in Urban and rural areas fighting for their rights in other word people started to notice the wrongdoing and determine to advocate to help push people with disability to conquer the barrier by speaking up for their rights. Before 1900’s people with disability were afraid to speak up because of public’s poor ideology toward people with disability. However it changed after World War I when veterans returned home from war most of them end up became disabled. Therefore Veterans expected to receive rehabilitation service from the government in exchange for their service to the country. Rehabilitation service improved moderately in the 1930’s such as providing service such as government assistance for people with disability. Also during this time period one very important person, Franklin D. Roosevelt who was U.S. President, served from 1933 to 1945, and was disabled; Roosevelt is one of the huge rehabilitation supporter advocate for people with disability. Ironically during Roosevelt’s presidency people’s attitude with disability remains the same-negative. As World War II begun in 1940’s and as predicted to World War I when World War II ended many Veterans returned home disabled and put on high demands on government to provide the rehabilitation and vocational services and make sure that their disability are shown in public to make the change. Meanwhile government assistance made some change but people with disability do not have a suffice access to public transpirations and lacks of gain a job due to their physical appearance. It was 1960’s when the civil rights movement began to notice in

How does this social construction of disabilities impact institutional policies, and societal and individual behaviors regarding disabilities? In other words, how have people with disabilities been marginalized in the past and present at those three levels? Please be specific and provide examples to support your answers.

The history of the Americans with Disabilities Act begins way before the signing of the act on June 26, 1990. It began with the citizens living in towns across the United States. Parents who had children with disabilities were tired of their children being excluded. As more and more people joined the fight, the disability rights movement began. ADA owes its birthright to the thousands of people who make up the disability rights movement working for years attending protests, drafting legislation, testifying, negotiating, lobbying, and filing lawsuits (Mayerson, 1992).

In my essay you will learn about Jamaican and Haitian culture and their outlooks on disability. Laster on you will see the comparisons between those two cultures and the American culture. I selected the Jamaican culture because it has always been a dream of mine to visit Jamaica. I selected Haiti because I am not well educated on their culture.

Despite the response to disability varying greatly between times, places and cultures (Barnes, 2012), there is no doubt that disability has an immeasurable impact on people’s lives. Disability affects an individual’s identity and their ability to work, socialise and be involved in society. In this essay I will discuss how approaches to disability have changed over time, specifically how approaches to disability have developed in recent centuries. I will start by discussing the medical model before moving on to its direct challenge in the social model. Finally I will discuss responses to the social model, in particular the biopsychosocial model.

Prior to the course, Perspectives on disability, my understanding of disability was a fundamental, concept of disability, in which I knew it existed, and also have seen and interacted with people considered to have a disability. I never took a deep look at all the social and political factors that exist within the spectrum of disability. This course has allowed me to examine all aspects of disability, which has changed my view and approach of what a disability is and how it is viewed. "Historically, disability has been viewed fundamentally as a persoal tragedy, which has resulted in diasbled people being seen as objects of pity or in need of charity. They have been subject to descriminatory policies and practices in which the predominant images of passivity and helplesness reinforced their inferior status"(Barton 4). Uncovering the framework of disability, by studying the historical, soicial political and educational standpoint, I see the intricacies in which gives me a greater understanding and awareness of the topic.