Disability
History Timeline
The following is a select list of national and international milestones
highlighting people, events and legislation that effect disability rights.
1817
The
1848
The Perkins Institution, founded by Samuel
Gridley Howe in
1864
Columbia Institution for the Deaf and Dumb and
Blind was authorized by the U.S. Congress to grant college degrees. It was the
first college in the world established for people with disabilities.
1859
Charles Darwin publishes his controversial
book The Origin of the Species.
1865
P.T. Barnum’s
1883
Eugenics is a term that was coined by Sir
Francis Galton in his book Essays in Eugenics. Americans embraced the
eugenics movement by passing laws to prevent people with disabilities from
moving to the
1912
The Kallikak Family
by Henry H. Goddard was a best selling book. It proposed that disability was
linked to immorality and alleged that both were tied to genetics. It advanced the agenda of the eugenics
movement.
The Threat of the Feeble Minded
(pamphlet) created a climate of hysteria allowing for massive human rights
abuses of people with disabilities, including institutionalization and forced
sterilization.
1918
The Smith-Sears Veterans Rehabilitation Act
provided for the promotion of vocational rehabilitation and return to civil
employment of disabled persons discharged from
1924
The
1927
The Buck v. Bell Supreme Court decision ruled
that forced sterilization of people with disabilities was not a violation of
their constitutional rights. This decision removed all restraints for
eugenicists. By the 1970s, over 60,000 disabled people were sterilized without
their consent.
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld
1932
In order to take advantage of the popularity
of Tod Browning’s previous film Dracula the production head for MGM commissioned a new project, to
be “even more horrible.” Freaks was
released to near universal criticism. It
received so much bad press and created such ill will that MGM was forced to
withdraw it from circulation, suffering a loss of $164,000.
1935
The League for the Physically Handicapped in
The Social Security Act was passed. This
established federally funded old-age benefits and funds to states for
assistance to blind individuals and disabled children. The Act extended
existing vocational rehabilitation programs.
1939
World War II began. Hitler ordered widespread mercy killing of the sick and
disabled. The Nazi euthanasia program (code name Aktion T-4) was instituted to
eliminate “life unworthy of life.”
1940-44
908 patients were transferred from an
institution for retarded and chronically ill patients in
1940
The National Federation of the Blind was
formed in
The American Federation of the Physically
Handicapped, founded by Paul Strachan, was the first cross-disability national
political organization to urge an end to job discrimination, lobby for passage
of legislation, call for a National Employ the
Physically Handicapped Week and other initiatives.
1941
Hitler suspended the Aktion T4 program that
killed nearly one hundred thousand people. Euthanasia continued through the use
of drugs and starvation instead of gassings.
1942
Henry Viscardi, an American Red Cross
volunteer, trained hundreds of disabled soldiers to use their prosthetic limbs.
His work at
1943
The LaFollette-Barden Vocational
Rehabilitation Act added physical rehabilitation to the goals of federally
funded vocational rehabilitation programs and provided funding for certain
health care services.
1944
Howard Rusk began a rehabilitation program for
disabled airmen at the U.S. Army Air Force Convalescent Center in
1945
President Harry Truman signed PL-176 creating
an annual National Employ the Handicapped Week.
1946
The Hill-Burton Act (also known as the
Hospital Survey and Construction Act) authorized federal grants to states for
the construction of hospitals, public health centers and health facilities for
rehabilitation of people with disabilities.
The National Mental Health Foundation was
founded by World War II conscientious objectors who served as attendants at
state mental institutions rather than in the war. The Foundation exposed the
abusive conditions at these facilities and became an impetus toward
deinstitutionalization.
1947
The President’s Committee on National Employ
the Physically Handicapped Week was held in
The Paralyzed Veterans of America was
organized.
1948
The National Paraplegia Foundation, founded by
members of the Paralyzed Veterans of America as the civilian arm of their
growing movement, took a leading role in advocating for disability rights.
We Are Not Alone (WANA), a mental patients’
self-help group, was organized at the
-----------------------1950’s
through 1960’s------------------------
Self-Help
Movement
Deinstitutionalization
Movement
Demedicalization
Movement
Consumerism
Movement
1950
Mary Switzer was appointed the Director of the
U.S. Office of Vocational Rehabilitation where she emphasized independent
living as a quality of life issue.
Social Security Amendments established a
federal-state program to aid permanently and totally disabled persons.
1951
Howard Rusk opened the
1952
The President’s Committee on National Employ
the Physically Handicapped Week became the President’s Committee on Employment
of the Physically Handicapped, a permanent organization reporting to the
President and Congress.
1953
1954
The U.S. Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of
Education of Topeka ruled that separate schools for black and white children
are unequal and unconstitutional. This pivotal decision became a catalyst for
the Civil Rights Movement.
Vocational Rehabilitation Amendments were
passed that authorized federal grants to expand programs available to people
with physical disabilities.
Mary Switzer, Director of the U.S. Office of
Vocational Rehabilitation, authorized funds for more than 100 university-based
rehabilitation-related programs.
Social Security Act of 1935 was amended by PL
83-761 to include a freeze provision
for workers who were forced by disability to leave the workforce. This
protected their benefits by freezing their retirement benefits at their
pre-disability level.
1956
Social Security Amendments of 1956 created the
Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) program for disabled workers aged
50 to 64.
1958
Social Security Amendments of 1958 extended
Social Security Disability Insurance benefits to dependents of disabled
workers.
Rehabilitation Gazette
(formerly known as the Toomeyville Gazette), edited by Gini Laurie, was a grassroots publication which became an early voice for
disability rights, independent living and cross-disability organizing. It
featured articles by writers with disabilities.
1960
Social
Security Amendments of 1960 eliminated the restriction that disabled workers
receiving Social Security Disability Insurance benefits must be 50 or older.
1961
President
Kennedy appointed a special President’s Panel on Mental Retardation.
The American National Standard Institute, Inc.
(ANSI) published American Standard Specifications for Making Buildings
Accessible to, and Usable by, the Physically Handicapped. This landmark document became the basis for
subsequent architectural access codes.
1962
The President’s Committee on Employment of the
Physically Handicapped was renamed the President’s Committee on Employment of
the Handicapped reflecting increased interest in employment issues affecting
people with cognitive disabilities and mental illness.
Edward
Roberts sued to gain admission to the
1963
President Kennedy called for a reduction “over
a number of years and by hundreds of thousands, (in the number) of persons
confined” to residential institutions and asks that methods be found “to retain
in and return to the community the mentally ill and mentally retarded, and
thereto restore and revitalize their lives through better health programs and
strengthened educational and rehabilitation services.” This
resulted in deinstitutionalization and increased community services.
The
Mental Retardation Facilities and Community Health Centers Construction Act authorized
federal grants for the construction of public and private nonprofit community
mental health centers.
1964
The
Civil Rights Act, signed by President Johnson, prohibited discrimination on the
basis of race, religion, ethnicity, national origin and creed (gender was added
later). This Act outlawed discrimination on the basis of race in public
accommodations and employment as well as in federally assisted programs.
1965
Medicare
and Medicaid were established through passage of the Social Security Amendments
of 1965, providing federally subsidized health care to disabled and elderly
Americans covered by the Social Security program. These
amendments changed the definition of disability under Social Security
Disability Insurance program from “of long continued and indefinite duration”
to “expected to last for not less than 12 months.”
Vocational
Rehabilitation Amendments of 1965 were passed
authorizing federal funds for construction of rehabilitation centers, expansion
of existing vocational rehabilitation programs and the creation of the National
Commission on Architectural Barriers to Rehabilitation of the Handicapped.
The National Technical Institute for the Deaf
at the Rochester Institute of Technology in
1966
The President’s Committee on Mental
Retardation was established by President Johnson.
Christmas in Purgatory
by Burton Blatt and Fred Kaplan documented conditions at state institutions for
people with developmental disabilities.
1968
The
Architectural Barriers Act prohibited architectural barriers in
all federally owned or leased buildings.
1970
The Urban Mass Transit Act required all new
mass transit vehicles be equipped with wheelchair lifts. APTA delayed
implementation for 20 years. Regulations were issued in 1990.
The
Rolling Quads was started by Ed Roberts at U C
Disabled
in Action was a group started by Judy Heumann at
Developmental Disabilities Services and
Facilities Construction Amendments were passed which contained the first legal
definition of developmental disabilities. They authorized grants for services
and facilities for the rehabilitation of people with developmental disabilities
and state DD Councils.
The
Physically Disabled Students Program (PDSP) was founded by Ed Roberts, John
Hessler, Hale Zukas and others at UC Berkeley. With its focus on community
living, political advocacy and personal assistance services, it became the
nucleus for the first Center for Independent Living, founded in 1972.
1971
The
The U.S. District Court, Middle District of
Alabama decided in Wyatt v. Stickney that people in residential state schools
and institutions have a constitutional right “to receive such individual
treatment as (would) give them a realistic opportunity to be cured or to
improve his or her mental condition.”
Disabled people were no longer to be locked away in custodial
institutions without treatment or education.
The Mental Patients’ Liberation Project was
initiated in
The Fair Labor Standard Act of 1938 was
amended to bring people with disabilities (other than blindness) into the
sheltered workshop system.
1972
The
The Rehabilitation Act was passed by Congress
and vetoed by Richard Nixon.
The U.S. District Court,
The U.S. District Court, Eastern District of
Pennsylvania, in PARC v.
Social Security Amendments of 1972 created the
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.
The law relieved families of the financial responsibility of caring for
their adult disabled children.
The Houston Cooperative Living Residential Project
was established in
The
The
Paralyzed
Veterans of
The Network Against
Psychiatric Assault was organized in
In New York ARC v. Rockefeller, parents of
residents at the
Disabled in Action demonstrated in
Demonstrations were held by disabled activists
in
The
1973
The
Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was passed. Sections 501, 503 and 504 prohibited
discrimination in federal programs and services and all other programs or
services receiving federal funds. Key language in the Rehabilitation Act, found
in Section 504, states “No otherwise qualified handicapped individual in the
Handicap parking stickers were introduced in
The first Conference on Human Rights and
Psychiatric Oppression was held at the
The Federal-Aid Highway Act authorized federal
funds for construction of curb cuts.
The Architectural and Transportation Barriers
Compliance Board established under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 enforced the
Architectural Barriers Act of 1968.
The Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities
advocated for passage of what became the Developmentally Disabled Assistance
and Bill of Rights Act of 1975 and the Education for All Handicapped Children
Act of 1975.
1974
The Disabled Women's Coalition was founded at
the
Atlantis
Community, Denver,
The
Halderman v. Pennhurst, filed in
The first Client Assistant Project (CAP) was
established to advocate for clients of state vocational rehabilitation
agencies.
Barrier Free Environments, founded by Ronald
Mace, advocated for accessibility in buildings and products.
1975
The
Education of All Handicapped Children Act (PL 94-142) required free,
appropriate public education in the least restrictive setting. This Act was
later renamed The Individuals With Disabilities
Education Act (IDEA).
The Developmental Disability Bill of Rights
Act established protection and advocacy (P & A) services.
The Community Services Act created the Head
Start Program. It stipulated that at least 10% of program openings were to be
reserved for disabled children.
The Developmentally Disabled Assistance and
Bill of Rights Act provided federal funds to programs serving people with
developmental disabilities and outlined a series of rights for those who are
institutionalized.
The American Coalition of Citizens with
Disabilities was founded. It became the
leading national cross-disability rights organization of the 1970s.
The Association of Persons with Severe
Handicaps (TASH) was founded by special education professionals in response to
PARC v.
U.S. Supreme Court ruled in O’Connor v.
Donaldson that people cannot be institutionalized in a psychiatric hospital
against their will unless they are determined to be a threat to themselves or
to others.
Parent and Training Information Centers were
developed to help parents of disabled children exercise their rights under the
Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975.
Ed
Roberts was appointed Director of the California Department of Rehabilitation.
He established nine independent living centers based on the
The
1976
Centers for independent living are established
in Houston and Chicago.
The Federal Communications Commission authorized
reserving Line 21 on televisions for closed captions.
1976 (cont’)
Higher Education Act of 1972 amendment
provided services to physically disabled students entering college.
Disabled in Action of Pennsylvania, Inc. v.
Coleman was known as the Transbus lawsuit. Disabled in Action of Pennsylvania,
the American Coalition of Cerebral Palsy Associations and others were
represented by the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia. They filed suit
to require that all buses purchased by public transit authorities receiving
federal funds meet Transbus specifications (making them wheelchair accessible).
Disabled in Action,
The
The
1977
Joseph
Califano, U.S. Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare, refused to sign
meaningful regulations for Section 504. After an ultimatum and deadline,
demonstrations took place in ten U.S. cities on April
5th. The sit-in at the
Section
504 regulations were issued.
Max Cleland was appointed head of the U.S.
Veterans Administration. He was the first severely disabled and youngest person
to fill that position.
The White House Conference on Handicapped
Individuals drew 3,000 disabled people to discuss federal policy toward people
with disabilities. It resulted in numerous recommendations and acted as a
catalyst for grassroots disability rights organizing.
Legal Services Corporation Act Amendments
added financially needy people with disabilities to the list of those eligible
for publicly funded legal services.
In Lloyd v. Regional Transportation Authority,
the U.S. Court of Appeals, Seventh Circuit ruled that individuals have a right
to sue under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and that public
transit authorities must provide accessible service.
The U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit, in
Snowden v. Birmingham Jefferson County Transit Authority undermined this
decision by ruling that authorities need to provide access only to “handicapped
persons other than those confined to wheelchairs.”
1978
American
Disabled for Public Transit (ADAPT) was founded. It held a transit bus hostage
in
The
Title VII of the Rehabilitation Act Amendments
of 1978 established the first federal funding for consumer-controlled
independent living centers and created the National Council of the Handicapped
under the U.S. Department of Education.
On Our Own: Patient Controlled Alternatives to
the Mental Health System by Judi Chamberlin became the standard
text of the psychiatric survivor movement.
The
Handicapping America
by Frank Bowe was a comprehensive review of the policies and attitudes denying
equal citizenship to people with disabilities. It became a standard text of the
general disability rights movement.
1979
Part B funds created ten new centers for
independent living across the
In
The Disability Rights Education and Defense
Fund (DREDF), founded in
1980
The National Disabled Women's Educational
Equity Project,
Social Security Amendments, Section 1619 was
passed. Designed to address work disincentives within the Social Security
Disability Insurance and Supplemental Security Income programs, other
provisions mandated a review of Social Security recipients. This led to the
termination of benefits of hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities.
The Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons
Act authorized the U.S. Justice Department to file civil suits on behalf of
residents of institutions whose rights were being violated.
Disabled Peoples’ International was founded in
1981-1984
The Reagan Administration threatened to amend
or revoke regulations implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of
1973 and the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. Disability rights advocates Patrisha Wright
(DREDF) and Evan Kemp, Jr. (
The
Reagan Administration terminated the Social Security benefits of hundreds of
thousands of disabled recipients. Distressed by this action, several disabled
people committed suicide. A variety of groups including the
1981
The International Year of Disabled Persons
began. During the year, governments were encouraged to sponsor programs
bringing people with disabilities into the mainstream of their societies.
The parents of “Baby Doe” in
The Telecommunications for the Disabled Act
mandated telephone access for deaf and hard-of-hearing people at public places
like hospitals and police stations. All coin-operated telephones had to be
hearing aid-compatible by January 1985. The Act called for state subsidies for
production and distribution of TDD’s.
1983
The National Council on Independent Living
(NCIL) was founded by Max Starkloff, Charlie Carr and Marca Bristo.
A national ADAPT action was held for
accessible transportation in
The World Institute on Disability (WID) was
established by Ed Roberts, Judy Heumann and Joan Leon.
The Disabled Children’s Computer Group (DCCG)
was founded in
The National Council on the Handicapped called
for Congress to include persons with disabilities in the Civil Rights Act of
1964 and other civil and voting rights legislation and regulations.
The United Nations expanded the International
Year of Disabled Persons to the International Decade of Disabled Persons
(1983-1992).
The Job Accommodation Network (JAN) was
founded by the President’s Committee on Employment of the Handicapped to provide
information to businesses with disabled employees.
Amendments to the Rehabilitation Act provided
for the Client Assistance Program (CAP), an advocacy program for consumers of
rehabilitation and independent living services.
1984
Ted Kennedy, Jr., spoke from the platform of
the Democratic National Convention on disability rights.
The “Baby Jane Doe” case involved an infant
being denied needed medical care because of her disability. The litigation
argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in Bowen v. American Hospital Association
resulted in the passage of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act
Amendments of 1984.
The U.S. Supreme Court,
The National Council of the Handicapped became
an independent federal agency.
The Social Security Disability Reform Act was
passed in response to the complaints of hundreds of thousands of people whose
social security disability benefits were terminated. The law required that
payment of benefits and health insurance coverage continue for terminated
recipients until they exhausted their appeals.
The Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and
Handicapped Act mandated that polling places be accessible.
1985
The Mental Illness Bill of Rights Act required
states to provide protection and advocacy services for people with
psychological disabilities.
Final legal hearings on eugenics were held in
the
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Burlington
School Committee v. Department of Education that schools must pay the expenses
of disabled children enrolled in private programs during litigation under the
Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, if the courts ruled that
such placement is needed to provide the child with an appropriate education in
the least restrictive environment.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in City of
The International Polio Network,
The National Association of Psychiatric
Survivors was founded.
1986
Toward Independence,
a report of the National Council on the Handicapped, outlined the legal status
of Americans with disabilities and documented the existence of discrimination.
It cited the need for federal civil rights legislation (eventually passed as
the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990).
Concrete Change, a grassroots organization
advocating accessible housing, was organized in
The Employment Opportunities for Disabled
Americans Act was passed allowing recipients of Supplemental Security Income
and Social Security Disability Insurance to retain benefits, particularly
medical coverage, after they obtain work.
The Protection and Advocacy for Mentally Ill
Individuals Act was passed setting up protection and advocacy (P & A)
agencies for people who are in-patients or residents of mental health
facilities.
Rehabilitation Act Amendments of 1986 defined
supported employment as a “legitimate rehabilitation outcome.”
1987
Justin Dart, Commissioner of the
Rehabilitation Services Administration, was forced to resign after he testified
to Congress that “an inflexible federal system, like the society it represents,
still contains a significant portion of individuals who have not yet overcome
obsolete, paternalistic attitudes toward disability…”
The
1988
The Air Carrier Access Act was passed
prohibiting airlines from refusing to serve people simply because they are
disabled and from charging people with disabilities more for airfare than
non-disabled travelers.
The Civil Rights Restoration Act counteracted
bad case law by clarifying Congress’ original intention. Under the
Rehabilitation Act, discrimination in any program or service that receives
federal funding – not just the part which actually and directly receives the
funding – is illegal.
The Fair Housing Act amendments prohibited
housing discrimination against people with disabilities and families with
children. It also provided for architectural accessibility of certain new
housing units, renovation of existing units and accessibility modifications at
the renter’s expense.
The
"Deaf President Now" protest was held at
ADAPT protested inaccessible Greyhound buses.
The Technology-Related Assistance Act for
Individuals with Disabilities was passed authorizing federal funding to state
projects designed to facilitate access to assistive technology.
The Congressional Task Force on the Rights and
Empowerment of Americans with Disabilities was created by Rep. Major R. Owens,
with Justine Dart and Elizabeth Boggs, co-chairs. The Task Force began building
grassroots support for passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Congress overturned Ronald Reagan’s veto of
the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987.
In Honig v. Doe, the U.S. Supreme Court
affirmed the stay-put rule
established under the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975.
School authorities cannot expel or suspend or otherwise move disabled children
from the setting agreed upon in the child’s Individualized Education Program
(IEP) without a due process hearing.
1989
In ADAPT v. Skinner, the Federal Appeals Court
ruled that federal regulations requiring that transit authorities spend only 3%
of their budgets on access are arbitrary and discriminatory.
The original version of the American with
Disabilities Act was introduced in 1988. It was redrafted and reintroduced in
Congress. Disability organizations across the country advocated on its behalf
(Patrisha Wright, Marilyn Golden, Liz Savage, Justin Dart Jr., and Elizabeth
Boggs, among others).
The Center for Universal Design (originally
the Center for Accessible Housing) was founded by Ronald Mace in
Mouth: The Voice of
Disability Rights began publication in
The President’s Committee on Employment of the
Handicapped was renamed the President’s Committee on Employment of People with
Disabilities.
1990
The
Americans with Disabilities Act was signed by George W. Bush. The Act provided
comprehensive civil rights protection for people with disabilities. Closely
modeled after the Civil Rights Act and Section 504, the law was the most
sweeping disability rights legislation in history. It
mandated that local, state and federal governments and programs be accessible,
that businesses with more than 15 employees make “reasonable accommodations”
for disabled workers and that public accommodations
such as restaurants and stores make “reasonable modifications” to ensure access
for disabled members of the public. The act also mandated access in public
transportation, communication, and in other areas of public life.
Sam Skinner, U.S. Secretary of Transportation,
issued regulations mandating lifts on buses.
American Disabled for Accessible Public
Transit (ADAPT) organized The Wheels of Justice campaign in
The Committee of Ten Thousand was founded to
advocate for people with hemophilia who were infected with HIV/AIDS through
tainted blood products.
The Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resource
Emergency Act was passed to help communities cope with the HIV/AIDS epidemic.
American Disabled for Accessible Public
Transit (ADAPT) changed its focus to advocating for personal assistance
services, changing its name to American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today
(ADAPT).
The Education for All Handicapped Children Act
was amended and renamed the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).
1992
Amendments to the Rehabilitation Act were
infused with the philosophy of independent living.
1993
The American Indian Disability Legislation
Project was established to collect data on Native American disability rights
laws and regulations.
A legal case of four men convicted of sexual
assault and conspiracy for raping a 17-year old mentally disabled woman in Glen
Ridge, New Jersey, highlighted the widespread sexual abuse of people with
developmental disabilities.
Robert Williams was appointed Commissioner of
the Administration on Developmental Disabilities. He is the first
developmentally disabled person to be named the Commissioner.
1995
Maria Rantho, South African Federation of
Disabled People’s Vice-Chair, was elected to Nelson Mandela’s Parliament in
The First International Symposium on Issues of
Women with Disabilities was held in
ACLIFM, an organization of people with
disabilities in
Justice for All was organized by Justin Dart
and others in
When Billy Broke His
Head…and Other Tale of Wonder premiered on PBS.
The film is about the disability rights movement.
The American Association of People with
Disabilities was founded in
The U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit in
Helen L. v. Snider ruled that continued institutionalization of a disabled
Sandra Jensen, a member of People First, was
denied a heart-lung transplant by the Stanford University School of Medicine
because she has Down’s syndrome. After
pressure from disability rights activists, Stanford U School of Medicine
administrators reversed their decision. In 1996, Jensen became the first person
with Down's syndrome to receive a heart-lung transplant.
1996
Congress passed legislation eliminating more
than 150,000 disabled children from Social Security rolls along with persons
with alcohol and drug dependencies.
Not Dead Yet, formed by disabled advocates to oppose
those who support assisted suicide for people with disabilities, focused on the
idea of rationing health care to people with severe disabilities and imposition
of “do not resuscitate” (DNR) orders for
disabled people in hospitals, schools, and nursing homes.
In Vacco v. Quill and Washington v.
Glucksberg, the Supreme Court validated the state prohibition on
physician-assisted suicide, deciding that the issue is within the jurisdiction
of the states.
1998
The Persian Gulf War Veterans Act was passed.
In Bragdon v. Abbott, the U.S. Supreme Court
decided that under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the definition of
disability includes asymptomatic HIV.
In Pennsylvania Department of Corrections v.
Yeskey, the Supreme Court decided that the Americans with Disabilities Act includes state prisons.
1999
In Carolyn C. Cleveland v. Policy Management
Systems Corporation, et. al., the Supreme Court
decided that people receiving Social Security disability benefits are protected
against discrimination under the Americans with Disabilities Act if and when
they are able to return to work.
In Olmstead v. L.C. and E.W., the Supreme
Court decided that individuals with disabilities must be offered services in
the most integrated setting.
In three employment cases (Sutton et. al. v.
United Air Lines, Inc., Murphy v. United Parcel Service, Inc. and Albertsons,
Inc. v. Kirkingburg) the Supreme Court decided that individuals whose
conditions do not substantially limit any life activity and are easily
correctable are not disabled under the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The Works Incentives Improvement Act (Ticket
to Work) became law, allowing those who require health care benefits to work.
2001
The
Author Unknown. A Chronology of the
Disability Rights Movements. http://www.sfsu.edu/~hrdpu/chron.htm
Author Unknown. Significant Dates and
Events in Disability History.
http://www.disabiltyhistory.org/textonly/timetext.html
Fleischer, D. Z., & Zames, F.
(2001). The disability rights movement: From
charity to confrontation.
Francis, L. P., & Silvers, A.
(Eds.). (2000) Americans with disabilities:
Exploring implications of the law for individuals and institutions.
Special thanks to Paul Longmore,
PhD for verification.
©2001, rev. 2002 by the
This publication of the