20 Years in Self Advocacy Disability Civil Rights Movement

1
20 Years in Self Advocacy Disability Civil
Rights Movement
20th Anniversary Americans with Disabilities Act

• Presented By
• Maryland Disabilities Forum

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Self-Advocacy as a Civil Rights Movement

• The self-advocacy movement is modeled after civil
  rights movements of the 1950s and 1960s.
• The emphasis on normalization and
  deinstitutionalization in the 1970s and the
  self-help movements of the 1980s spurred the
  emergence of the self-advocacy movement for
  adults with disabilities in the United States.
  (Wehmeyer, Agran, Hughes, 1998)

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1990

• ADAPT
• American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today
• ADAPT organizes a support demonstration Wheels
  of Justice in Washington, D.C. for the passage
  of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
• Demonstrators occupy the Capital Rotunda and many
  protesters are arrested.

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ADAPT for ADA
In a rally in Washington, D.C., before the
passage of the ADA, demonstrators extend the
frame of civil rights by incorporating slogans
from the civil rights movement.
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ADAPT for ADA
ADAPT Demonstrators gather in the Capital Rotunda
to support the passage of the Americans with
Disabilities Act.
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Accessibility Demonstrations
Demonstrators for access to public transportation
and buildings.
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Inaccessibility Continues
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Moves Toward Accessibility

• Secretary of Transportation, Sam Skinner, finally
  issued regulations mandating lifts on buses.
• These regulations implemented a law passed in
  1970 (The Urban Mass Transit Act) which required
  lifts on new buses.
• The transit industry had successfully blocked
  implementation of this part of the law for twenty
  years.

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July 26,1990
President George Bush signing the Americans with
Disabilities Act
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1990

• Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) becomes
  federal law. Extends protection of the 1973
  Rehabilitation Act to private sector. Requires
  access and prohibits discrimination in public
  accommodations, state and local government, and
  employment. Requires reasonable accommodation,
  access to transportation and telecommunications.
  The ADA is specific where 1973 act was vague.
• IDEAIndividuals with Disabilities Education Act.
• Education for All Handicapped Children Act is
  reauthorized with amendments.
• A growing emphasis on the deinstitutionalization
  of state-supported institutions for people who
  are intellectually disabled or mentally ill opens
  opportunities to live and work in the community.

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1991Changing Public Perception

• Jerrys Orphans
• Jerrys Orphans, a group that protests against
  the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Association
  Telethon, holds its first annual protest.
• The group is made up of former Jerrys Kids and
  is critical of the event because of
  its focus on the pity approach to
  fundraising.

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Changing Public Perception
Evan J. Kemp, Chairman of the EEOC (1990-93) and
an individual with a disability, in addition to
many others, believed the telethon encouraged
society to see people with disabilities as
childlike, helpless, hopeless, nonfunctioning
and noncontributing members of society.
Kemp contended that people with disabilities
suffered far more from lack of jobs, housing --
lack of access to society -- than from the
diseases MDA sought to cure. The Telethon was
urged to reform to portray people with
disabilities "in the light of accomplishments,
capabilities and rights, and to "inform the
public of the great waste of money and human life
that comes from policies promoting dependence
rather than independence."
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Telethon Reform

• Telethons, such as the Easter Seals', United
  Cerebral Palsy's, changed their process by
  including adults with disabilities and offering
  more segments on things like "independent living"
  which those in the disability rights movement had
  urged.

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1991SABE

• Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE) was
  founded during the Second North American People
  First Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
• The groups objectives included closing all
  institutions, making self-advocacy readily
  available, and working in conjunction with the
  criminal justice system to ensure people with
  disabilities know their rights.

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SABE on Self Advocacy

• Self-Advocacy is About
• independent groups of people with disabilities
  working together for justice by helping each
  other take charge of our lives and fight
  discrimination. It teaches us how to make
  decisions and choices that affect our lives so we
  can be more independent. It teaches us about our
  rights, but along with learning about our rights,
  we learn about our responsibilities. The way we
  learn about advocating for ourselves is by
  supporting each other and helping each other to
  gain confidence to speak out for what we believe
  in (SABE, 1991).

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1994Self Determination and Self Advocacy

• Essential to Self-determination is "a combination
  of skills, knowledge, and beliefs along with an
  understanding of ones strengths and weaknesses
  enabling a person to engage in goal-directed,
  self-regulated, autonomous behavior. When acting
  on the basis of these skills and attitudes,
  individuals have greater ability to take control
  of their lives and assume the role of successful
  adults in our society"
• (Field, Martin, Miller, Ward, Wehmeyer, 1998,
  p.2).

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• Self-determination skills for students with
  disabilities was the focus of extensive research
  and development in the 1990s. Field and Hoffman
  (1994) conceptualized self-determination as a
  process that includes
• knowing yourself,
• valuing yourself,
• planning to reach goals,
• acting upon those plans, and
• learning from the experience.
• This simple model provides the framework for
  developing a specific type of self-determination
  skill, self-advocacy. The theme of these
  Self-advocacy Activities is self-knowledge and
  developing a sense of self-worth, the first two
  stages of the Field and Hoffman model.

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Self Advocacy

• An individuals ability to effectively
  communicate, convey, negotiate or assert his or
  her own interests, desires, needs, and rights.
  It involves making informed decisions and taking
  responsibility for those decisions. (VanReusen et
  al., 1994)
• Self-knowledge is the first step towards
  advocating for your rights knowing your
  strengths, needs, and interests.

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Tips for Self-Advocacy

• Know and understand your rights and
  responsibilities
• Learn all you can about your disability, needs,
  strengths, and weaknesses
• Know what accommodations you need as well as why
  you need them
• Know how to effectively/assertively communicate
  your needs and preferences
• Find out who the key people are and how to
  contact them if necessary
• Be willing to ask questions when something is
  unclear or you need clarification

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1994Maryland Disabilities Forum

• Self-Advocacy Activists with disabilities
  involved with other disability advocacy
  organizations, formed the Maryland Disabilities
  Forum (MDF) in order to produce statewide systems
  change.
• The MDF holds a Gubernatorial Candidates Forum
  every four years, providing a platform for
  individuals with disabilities to hear about and
  engage in the policy issues that affect their
  lives.

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Maryland Disabilities Forum

• Recommended and advocated for the creation of a
  Department of Disabilities, elevating the
  Governors Office for Individuals with
  Disabilities to a cabinet-level department.
• Assisted in writing the legislation for the
  proposed department, which included
  recommendations given by MDF for implementing the
  New Freedom Initiative for Maryland.
• On May11, 2004, Governor Ehrlich signed Senate
  Bill 188, thus creating the new state Department
  of Disabilities.

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1995American Association of People with
Disabilities

• American Association of People with Disabilities
  is founded in Washington, D.C. by Paul G. Hearne
  with aid from disability activist Justin Dart and
  others.
• The group is The largest national nonprofit
  cross-disability member organization in the
  United States, dedicated to ensuring economic
  self-sufficiency and political empowerment for
  the more than 56 million Americans with
  disabilities.

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1996

• Not Dead Yet is established to protest assisted
  suicide of people with disabilities.
• The formation of the group was prompted by the
  acquittal of Jack Kevorkian for his role in the
  assisted suicide of two women with disabilities.
• The organization believes that a right to die
  could lead to a societal obligation to die.
• Of particular concern are calls for the
  rationing of health care to people with severe
  disabilities and the imposition of Do Not
  Resuscitate (DNR) orders for people with
  disabilities in hospitals, schools, and nursing
  homes.

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1996Increasing Voter Awareness

• President Clintons challenge to the nation to
  establish a national disability policy based upon
  three simple creeds inclusion, not exclusion
  independence, not dependence and empowerment,
  not paternalism wins the support of the
  disability community.
• More than ever before, disability self-advocates
  are pushing policy toward greater inclusion of
  people with disabilities into society.

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1996

• President Clinton renews the call of his
  predecessors for greater community inclusion of
  people with intellectual disabilities by signing
  Executive Order 12994.
• President Clinton encourages America to see the
  abilities, not the limitations in every American,
  and to recognize the worth and dignity that every
  American contributes to the nation.
• The Presidents Committee for people with
  Intellectual Disabilities answers this call with
  a series of reports, including The Journey to
  Inclusion A Resource Guide for State
  Policymakers and Collaborating for Inclusion
  1995 Report to the President.
• (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)

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1999

• Global Perspectives on Independent Living for the
  Next Millennium hosts an International Summit
  Conference on Independent Living in Washington,
  D.C.
• The conference brought 125 leaders of the
  Independent Living movement from 50 countries
  together to compare services and bring about
  additional cooperation.

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1999Integrated Setting

• The United States Supreme Court
  rules on Olmstead v. L.C. and E.W.
  stating that the Americans with Disabilities Act
  requires public agencies to provide services in
  the most integrated setting.
• The case states services should
  not be provided in an institutional
  setting if a person with a
  disability can be served in a
  community- based environment.

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1999

• Kids As Self Advocates (KASA), an organization
  created by youth with disabilities for youth to
  educate society about issues concerning youth
  with a wide spectrum of disabilities.
• KASA believes in supporting self-determination,
  creating support networks and proactive advocacy
  for all youth with disabilities in our society.

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1999

• The Work Incentives Improvement Act (Ticket to
  Work) becomes law.
• Designed to increase beneficiary choice, remove
  barriers, and provide greater opportunities for
  people with disabilities to participate in the
  workforce and lessen their dependence on public
  benefits.

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2001New Freedom Initiative

• The New Freedom Initiative is announced by
  President George W. Bush as a comprehensive plan
  representing an important step in working to
  ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to
  learn and develop skills, engage in productive
  work, make choices about their daily lives and
  participate fully in community life.

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New Freedom Initiative

• The Initiative's goals
• Increase access to assistive and universally
  designed technologies
• Expand educational opportunities
• Promote home ownership
• Integrate Americans with disabilities into the
  workforce
• Expand transportation options and
• Promote full access to community life.

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2001National Disabled Students Union

• NDSU was formed to protest the fact that the
  Supreme Court said that people with disabilities
  who work for the state, state government or
  state university cannot sue the state for
  violations of the Americans with Disabilities
  Act.  
• The National Disabled Students Union (NDSU) is a
  national, cross-disability, student organization
  founded in response to the U.S. Supreme Court
  decision limiting the enforcement of Title I of
  the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (Board
  of Trustees of the University of Alabama et al.
  v. Garrett et al).  

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2002Help America Vote Act

• Its goals include the replacement of voting
  machines, voter registration reform, better
  access to voting for people with disabilities and
  poll worker training.
• To the disability community, HAVA is more than an
  election reform statute it is a civil rights
  law. It gave individuals with disabilities what
  no other previous civil rights statute had given
  before the right to participate in elections as
  other voters do and to cast a private and
  independent ballot.

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With increasing accessibility to voting
locations, individuals with disabilities are
actively pursuing their rights as citizens to
engage in the political determination of
leadership.
The Help America Vote Act of 2002 required
polling places to have at least one voting system
accessible for people with disabilities.
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2004

• The development of group consciousness among
  people with disabilities gave rise to the
  disability civil rights movement seeking to
  promote pride in the history, activities, and
  cultural identity of people with disabilities
  throughout the world.
• The first annual Disability Pride Parade marched
  in Chicago, IL.  It was the first national and
  worldwide parade about being
• Disabled Proud!

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2005Money Follows the Person Act

• Gives people the freedom to choose where they
  want to live and receive services. Promotes
  transition and community integration.
• ADAPT classified the MFP as win-win in that
  people with disabilities get the choice to live
  in the community and states get the needed
  resources to rebalance their long term service
  systems to increase the availability of community
  based services.
• MFP helps states comply with the ADA and the
  Olmstead decision, comparing nursing home costs
  to their waivers, and ICF-MR costs to their
  waivers.
• MFP provides respite care services for caregivers
  of adults with disabilities or long-term illness.
  

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Money Follows the Person in Maryland

• The Maryland Disabilities Forum lead other
  disability advocacy groups in providing
  stakeholder input to the State for their grant
  proposal to the Center for Medicare and Medicaid
  Services for 3.5 million in federal funding,
  over five years, to change Marylands long-term
  care system.

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2009Community Choice Act

• The Community Choice Act (H.R. 1670 and S. 683),
  part of the historic healthcare reform
  legislation provides a person with a disability
  the choice of where to live, rather than being
  forced to stay in institutional care.

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Community Choice Act

• The Community Choice Act provides Americans with
  disabilities equal access to community-based
  services and supports.
• Provides individuals with disabilities in nursing
  homes and other institutional settings with
  options to receive community-based services.
• Helps address waiting lists by providing
  guaranteed access to a community-based benefit
  within Medicaid.
• Amends Medicaid to require state Medicaid plan
  coverage of community-based attendant services
  and supports for certain Medicaid-eligible
  individuals.
• States receive an enhanced federal matching rate
  for meeting certain benchmarks and for serving
  people whose costs exceed 150 percent of average
  nursing home costs.

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Defending Our Freedom

• ADAPT organizes a campaign to address massive
  state cuts during economic
  recession.
• Defending Our Freedom a three-prong national
  campaign aimed at organizing the
  disability community to
• Demand that the Obama administration fulfill
  its duty to aggressively protect the civil rights
  of disabled Americans and enforce the Americans
  with Disabilities Act/Olmstead decision
• File complaints with the Health and Human
  Services Office of Civil Rights and the U.S.
  Department of Justice that document the violation
  of rights of individuals who have been forced
  into institutional settings and denied community
  services.
• Document the disability communitys efforts to
  fight back against state cuts, rally others to
  join the fight, and hold public officials
  accountable when they do not support people with
  disabilities freedom.

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A Movement Still in Progress

• This display offers a glimpse into the past 20
  years of the disability civil rights movement and
  successful systems change tracing the evolution
  of self advocacy since the historic passage of
  the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.
• America has come a long way with advocacy for
  policies that improve the lives of people with
  disabilities and movements toward full social
  inclusion. The disability civil rights movement
  is still in motion. Advocates recognize the need
  for effective change is greater than ever, for
  even though progress has been made, social
  awareness is still evolving.

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Presented By The Maryland Disabilities Forum

• The Maryland Disabilities Forum is a non-profit
  cross-disability organization led by people with
  disabilities that provides leadership in
  facilitating systems change to achieve community
  inclusion, civil rights and equal opportunities
  for people with disabilities. The Forum achieves
  this by connecting people with disabilities,
  other individuals, and organizations providing
  them with the opportunity to network and engage
  in public forums to increase awareness among
  people with disabilities and enhancing their
  participation in the policy setting and
  implementation process by providing a wide
  spectrum of information.