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EVOLUTION OF THE DISABILITY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
1. HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES ON DISABILITY
The history of disability is one of shifting views where disabled individuals have experienced
significant discrimination based on the culture and social norms in existence during any given
time period. Disability in those civilizations was seen as a sign of some wrongdoing or social
transgression; it was seen as a punishment from the gods. The eugenics movement of early
twentieth century had a perverted belief in which persons with disabilities were considered as
causing deterioration of the human gene pool, resulting in policies of forced sterilization and
exclusion. As manifested by the experiences of military men after World War I and II, the
disabled who acquired their disabilities from war were neglected, discriminated and had no
access to adequate assistance. Yet, they were breaking the barriers by becoming activists thus
changing the perception of society on disability matters. During the period 1950’s and 1960’s,
there was emergence of the independent living movement that dealt with the aspect of
independence and self-reliance of persons with disability. Simultaneously, parents with children
who have developmental disabilities started demanding education and support. However, many
obstacles and prejudice continued to persist and some authors documented through the middle of
the twentieth century. The biggest civil rights breakthroughs began in the 1970s, although the
ferment reached back into the 1960s. Prior to the twentieth century, other developments
included; The four major legislative enactments were: The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 The four
major court cases were: The disabilities movement gathered pace in the 1980s and achieved
enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, outlawing discrimination and
providing for access. Thanks to tireless efforts of advocacy across over several decades, change
originated from the core of disable societies has gradually altered the perception of opportunities
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for disable persons. Yet, integration and integration’s impact of the disabled into mainstream
society are not total. Still shining brightly in the 21st century, the disability movement presses on
to continue dismantling the last vestiges of oppression and to embrace disabled identities. It is
only through continuous work and perseverance, and the support of other people who believe in
the integrated independence that many fight for today, to fully realize that these rights that have
been so hard to be won are upheld.
a. Ancient and medieval views
In the ancient and medieval worlds, disability defined signified differently. We know that, for
instance, in ancient Greece and Rome, signs of physical ‘defect’ signified moral decay.
Conspicuous deformities such as clubbed feet or limbs were, for instance, deemed as the mark of
sinfulness. It contributed to the frequent marginalization of disabled citizens most of the time.
But only some of them like Claudius of Rome managed to ascend as emperors of the roman
empire. Similar to what has been observed in the case of the Virtue ethic of Stoicism the
perception of Impairment was also positively influenced as it accepted the fact that virtue and
character-controlled physicality rather than the other way round. In Europe during the medieval
age, there were many different interpretations of disability that were religious in nature. Instead
of signs of the possession or a curse, they were regarded as a mark of sin, a trial of faith, a vent
for divine wrath, or the sign of sanctity. The disabled have caused people to react in horror as
well as amazement. Some disabled people saw their social status within organized aid initiatives,
which are ideas that Christianity brought to the society. However, prejudices based on religious
beliefs were also a reason for the persecution of some as witches or sorcerers. Towards the later
medieval period, the arriving of philosophical rationalism helped bring about more scientific
analysis of impairments. As the period of renaissance came into force, anatomy and medicine
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disciplines improved and with that, unearthing of causes behind some of the disability. However,
it is imperative to note that the notion of people controlling their luck was still upheld, thereby
continuing to argue disability through personal responsibility frameworks, culture has therefore
had varied implications in different civilizations in relation to disability. If regarded as the
physical manifestation of moral depravity or envisioned through a religious perspective,
disability had not only resonance social significance in the ancient and medieval periods but also
extended to modernity with varying degree of advancement albeit with some signs of
improvement in place at times.
b. Industrial Revolution impact
There are a number of changes that took place during the Industrial Revolution which affected
the economic and social aspects of the society including people with disabilities. People shifted
from an agricultural lifestyle to an industrial one as industries taken over the agricultural
business and people migrated from the countryside to cities in the hope of finding employment,
this migration disrupted the family and community care support structures that were commonly
associated with the care of disabled individuals. Many disabled persons remained socially
marginalized, living as paupers or in unemployment, or in almshouses and asylums without these
supports. The development of dangerous machinery and risky working environments also led to
new disabilities and handicaps as a result of accidents happened at the workplace. Injurious
employees did not adapt and lacked current concept of disability, organizations dismissed many
of them, leaving them without ways to feed themselves. Although the process of
institutionalization may have had some noble aims of caring for disabled people, this process
transformed such facilities into overcrowded ‘factories’ which imprisoned disabled individuals
and excluded them from the society. The inmates were neglected and abused in these facilities
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where the eugenics philosophy of prevention of disability often meant the nonrecognition of
even the most basic rights. Advocacy for disability rights would emerge in the twentieth century
to challenge such practices. In the same period, prosthetics and assistive devices industries also
advanced as more availability of material such as metal and leather and growth of mechanics’
technologies enhanced artificial limbs and equipment for amputees and for other individuals with
paralysis or missing limbs from birth congenial deformities. Prosthetics is as old as the
civilization itself, though the occurrence of known assistive devices significantly increased
during the Industrial Age. Nevertheless, only the ones who could afford it had the opportunity to
do so as these forms of assistance were rather primitive even by today’s standards. Existing class
segregation made worse by industrial capitalist development therefore disabled people in lower
classes remained without facilities.
c. Medical model of disability
The medical model of disability entails a notion that disability is pathology inherent in the person
and disability is seen to be within a person. This has been the view that has always been held by
societies in their management of disability throughout history. Since the ancient time, disability
can best be understood as a medical model meaning that it lies within the capacity of the
individual to cope with barriers in society. The medical model prevailed a lot at the 18th and 19th
centuries as there were progress in the area of modern medicine and as there was increasing faith
in science and medicine to classify and eradicate disease and disability. Therefore, the medical
model of disability emerged as valid throughout the nineteenth century and as a result, people
with disability were medicalized and locked up in large state-run asylum and hospitals with the
aim of isolating them from the society under the guise of treatment and reformation. But the fact
remains that learners within these institutions endured inhumane and neglectful conditions in
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most cases. The virtual perpetuation of this segregation grounded on the medical model is still
felt to date. Even though there are several disabilities that can be treated with some degree of
success with medical procedures, the medical model in itself is too narrow, as it does not address
economic, social and cultural and political obstacles that limit the options of people with
disabilities. It is centered on the notion of the impaired subject as opposed to the environment
that the subject engages with. A criticism that can be levelled out to the medical model is that it
has provided a reason to exclude people with disability from society for centuries. The political
movement of disability which started in the 1960s did not accept this construction of disability as
an individual misfortune which must be cured or treated as charity case. However, the social
model conceptualizes disability as contextual, stemming from the relationship of the impaired
person with his or her environment and society.
d. Social model of disability
The social model of disability which rose to prominence in the 1960’s and 1970’s was a shift in
paradigm with regard to disability. While the medical model marked disability as a personal
characteristic, the social model placed disability in the society structures. These barriers may be
physical, for example, some buildings that are out of reach for the disabled or may be attitudinal,
for instance, looking down on the disabled as if they are incapable of doing anything on their
own. The social model, therefore, views disability as cultural and societal construction and
focuses more on the disablement process as a social rather than an individual problem. The social
model was created by activists and academicians in order to shift the focus from medical aspects
of the life with an impairment to the social factors that address or marginalize people with
impairments. The social model of disability sees a distinction between those with a physical or
mental problem that is shared by many people and lack of opportunity to take part in social life
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due to barriers, which is disability. This places the root of disability beyond the individual and
within the societal context, as people of all shapes have not been considered in the construction
of structures, vehicles, schools, and other aspects of daily life. Politically utilized, the social
model asserts that access barriers are wrong for disabled people’s rights and calls for changes to
context rather than bodgers and/ or thinkers. Whereas the medical model seeks to restore
individuals with disabilities to their so-called ‘normal’ state, the social model seeks to create
conditions that enable disabled people to live the same kind of life as any other citizen
irrespective of one’s physical, sensory, or mental impairment.
e. Emergence of disability studies
Disability studies as an academic discipline started in the 1970s brought about a change from
medical models. While the medical model had long reigned supreme, positing disability as a
person’s medical defect or pathology that required curing or rehabilitating, disability scholars
began to segued disability as a social and/or political construct that was produced through
environmental and perceptual barriers. Critics of the medical social model of disability and
institutionalization of disabled persons in the past they said that disability is a social construct
and not a medical model. They studied how culture treated disabled persons and confined them
to their current unenviable positions. Davis’ book Enforcing Normalcy followed the idea of
normalcy from the nineteenth century when the industrial revolution standardized or rationalized
bodies and minds in order to further economic efficiency and social order. Such notions
promoted the idea of disabled individuals’ inferiority and, therefore, contributed to their
subjugation. Self-advocates and scholars over the years have pointed out how policies and
practices have placed people with disabilities in separate and unequal environments, wherein
rights and opportunities are being withheld. Disability studies focus on oppression of disabled
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people’s civil and human rights and emphasizes the barriers in the environment, not the
impairment of bodies and minds – this is thanks in part to the independent living movement
which had its roots in the 1970s. The field challenges the nondisabled mastery that has tainted
policies, programs, and infrastructure, and language about disability for centuries and places
people with disabilities as experts leading research and activism. Disability studies therefore
disrupt static categorizations and enhances socially opportunities, utility, engagement and equity.
2. EARLY DISABILITY RIGHTS EFFORTS
The history of disability rights movement in the United States could also be dated back to the
end of the World War II when disabled veteran soldiers became conspicuous and highlighted the
plight of people with disabilities. Organizations such as the National Federation of the Blind
were established in the 1940s with a mission to promote the independence of blind persons and
ensure they are fully included in society. The independence movement during the 1950s and the
1960s to be headed by disabled people such as Ed Roberts was characterized by a call for self-
determination, self-employment, and self- governance. The ABA-68 that made architectural
barriers in buildings funded by federal agencies inappropriate and the Rehab Act of 1973 which
banned discrimination in federal programs were some of the early achievements. The disabilities’
rights activism and legal actions in the 1960s and 1970s led to deinstitutionalization campaigns
that aimed at freeing up people with disabilities from incarceration and abuse occurring in
punitive state institutions. Discrimination in schools and workplace was another area that was
fought and changed by legal cases such as PARC v Pennsylvania that made right to education for
children with intellectual disabilities legal in 1971. Such as the League of the Physically
Handicapped used high profile actions to fight over inaccessible transport launching the
nationwide accessibility campaigns. Rehab programs using attendant services were provided
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with the empowering shift and the independent living center model of peer-support and
consumer-directed services. Nevertheless, the prejudice in transportation, architecture, and
education, as well as unemployment and underemployment, continued to rise, causing new
indignations. Persons with disabilities started shifting from a medical model of treatment
focusing on restoration and being dependent on the goodwill of others to a social model that
advocated for equal rights, or a right to control one’s life as a disabled person and to be isolated
rather than excluded. This confrontationally defiant disability rights movement emerged in 1970s
not only to claim some basic rights to access but to challenge the existing social culture that
excluded people with disabilities.
a. Post-World War I veterans' advocacy
After the World War I thousands of soldiers were discharged from the army with newly acquired
disability either in the form of amputation or long-term health complications which were as a
result of exposure to hazardous materials and chemicals or post war stress disorders. These
veterans were able to obtain very limited governmental assistance and often suffered from lack
of social acceptance. Organizations that consisted of the veterans and eager citizens started
emerging from the early 1920s to lobby federal and state authorities to enhance medical
facilities, training, compensation for injuries sustained during duty, and job protection for
disabled veterans. One of the most significant and highly active was the American Legion,
founded in 1919. They played a key role in the founding of the Veterans Bureau which paved
way for the current Department of Veterans Affairs. The Bureau initiated the establishment of
hospitals and sanitoriums, which focused on the targeted services for the mentally and physically
challenged veterans. Similarly, the Disabled American Veterans advocated and achieved more
legislation like the World War Veterans Act of 1924 which mandated that all disabled veterans be
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treated equally not to mention that they be given job opportunities no matter the cause of the
disability, a clause which extended coverage to all disabled civilians under the New Deal policies
of the 1930s. On smaller, grassroots level, activists provided employment assistance and job
readiness training for the new influx of disabled citizens. There was a clear attempt to change the
status of disabled people in the society from a helpless bunch who cannot contribute anything to
society to people who, with appropriate support and aids in place at the workplace, are capable of
leading productive lives. Special schools were opened so that disabled students have their own
vocational education prospects and learn mistakeable abilities like business, typewriting,
repairing of radio and more according to the child’s choice and capabilities. Civilian disability
rights movements copied from the veteran campaigns that had made a significant point that
disabled groups could largely benefit from rehabilitative services. The seeds sown by these
collective efforts of lobbying groups of veterans, charity aid organizations, educators, employers
who were willing to give employment opportunities to the disabled veterans, and the disabled
people themselves fighting for their rights in the 1920s would in the long run paved way for
more systematic changes for disabled citizens with regards to accessibility, economic
independence, employment, and social integration under Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
b. Formation of disability-specific organizations
Succinctly, it is crucial to note that disability-specific advocacy and support organizations have
been formed in the 1960s and 1970s due to the perceived and felt injustices and exclusion
experienced by the people with disabilities. Advocates including the American Coalition of
citizens with disability, the Association of persons with severe handicaps, the Coalitions for
citizens with disability, the Disability rights education and defense fund, the National council on
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independent living and the World institute on disability altered perceptions of disability issues.
They faced system/process related barriers and for them disability was not a medical model or
misfortune but a human rights issue. These group offered support services, and advocacy for the
disabled population, it was composed people with disabilities and other supporters of disability
rights. They called for change in policies that allow lack of physical accessibility, they spoke of
discrimination in the areas of housing, transportation, education and employment and they
demanded freedom and self-determination. By means of marches, litigations, lobbying and
massive crusades, they forced the government to address the long suffering and marginalization
the blacks had been subjected to for decades. One of the first steps included the passage of
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act in 1973 that prohibited discrimination on the basis of
disability in federal programs. As was also the case with the 1975 Education for All Handicapped
Children Act otherwise known as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act that required
public schools to admit students with disabilities. These groups provided awareness of the social
injustices disability community faced, as well as the common demands that were shared. The
social model of disability helped them to pinpoint the major problem in the inability of disabled
citizens to participate fully in social, economic, and political activities due to barriers created by
society and not by the physical limitations of the impairment. They promoted policy reforms on
such matters as, access, health, mobility or transport, end of life decisions, choice in health
matters, parenthood, and where one lives. Self-organization and management were a main
characteristic of the Independent Living Movement, which focused on the transfer of power from
professionals and carers to the disabled persons themselves. These organizations offered supports
from people with similar experiences as well as promoted disability pride. By launching effective
awareness campaigns, lobbying other social justice movements and civil disobedience, the
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disability rights network changed the negative attitudes of the public and the government,
thereby reversing or eradicating the disabling policies as well as gaining the civil rights. All these
made them succeed in the achievement of greater inclusion, accessibility, and empowerment of
disabled Americans.
c. Parent advocacy groups
During the 1950 s and 60s, as a movement for the rights of disabled children to gain treatment
and resources began to emerge, parents of children with autism considered they have no place in
existing systems. Consequently, they started grouping to share and seek changes on the quality of
services that affected them. A part from these there were few other small groups such as National
Association for Retarded Children, which was formed in 1950 and United Cerebral Palsy
Association which was founded in 1949. These groups also campaigned for improvement of the
funds and support to research in disability in addition to advocating for educational programs
that would enable the integration of disabled students into the normal society, they also fought
for the extension of other civil rights laws for a ban on disability discrimination in areas such as
employment, public transportation and housing.
More organizations were formed in the 60s and 70s with an emphasis on certain disabilities like
Tourette syndrome and Down syndrome and attention disorders, some groups decided that they
wanted to protest and demonstrate in different ways in order to increase awareness of the issue.
NAS was formed in 1972 to stage a sit in at the Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare’s
office demanding him to act and provide funding to research. Other groups for instance
Association for Children with Learning Disabilities arranged public hearings whereby parents
would express their concern on how challenging it was for them to get diagnoses or special
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education plans. These stories I think helped to also demonstrate the real issue that families were
struggling with – going through a number of bureaucracies to get health care, educational
services and funding for the disability.
In 1975 Education for All Handicapped Children Act which became the part of the parent
movement in order to receive Free Appropriate Public Education was achieved. Subsequently,
several groups evolved and diversified from simple interest groups into providing service
delivery such as producing literature, support systems, recreational and childcare services during
the summer. Concerns shifted to raising awareness about disability with publicity details that
provided positive realistic representations, they also began offering professional development for
educators and administrators across the district to enhance efforts of school inclusion for
disability. In sum, the parent advocacy movement was extremely important during the 195-70s
for advancing legislative reforms, ensuring the provision of new essential services, and helping
to gain mainstream society’s acceptance of the disabled persons’ rights and potentialities in the
future.
d. Deinstitutionalization movement
Deinstitutionalization movement started in the late 1960s, and early 1970s it aimed to shift
disabled people from state’s institutions. It was almost designed to shut down state hospitals and
institutions providing for people with disability and place them in the community. Such states of
human dignity as the conditions of living in state institutions where people with disabilities were
to be subjected to physical abuse, overcrowding, lack of staff and inadequate care program
initiated this movement. Therefore, the disability rights activists campaigned for the
rehabilitation of people who were in institutions to be placed in community settings so that they
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could be treated better. It was claimed that institutions deprived individuals of civil rights and
provided them with limited or no chance to improve their living conditions and gain more
freedom. Integration and participation were the key approach that was used to achieve the goal of
decentralizing and humanizing care with intent to shut down the institutions and include these
people into the society.
Deinstitutionalization was in pursuit of the objectives of the greater disability rights movement
with regard to the civil liberties and chances of disabled people. Disability rights activists such as
Ed Roberts who became its first leader also advocated for the independence of the disabled and
self-determination, which opposed the institutional system. Gainard’s reasons for change are
similar to Roberts, who left an institution in California to attend UC Berkeley; there he became
an advocate for the independent living program, this produced a clear picture of what people
with disability could do if institutions were removed from their path. Deinstitutionalization
promised the chance for socially inclusive and independent lives, meaningful participation and
opportunities previously denied to people confined in large state institutions. It is evidenced that
some of the former residents got jobs and education once they got re-established into the
neighborhoods and towns.
As important as it was, deinstitutionalization for individuals with disabilities was often done
without sufficient provision of transitional housing. When institutions released people, the latter
would end up as homeless, jailed, or return to receive care in nursing homes and mental
institutions. Insufficient community housing and failure to provide adequate aftercare were seen
as posing challenges to recently deinstitutionalized persons. In addition, the movement was more
concerned with the actual process of moving people from one place to another and offered little
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in changing societal perceptions of how disabled individuals should be integrated into the
community. The rest of the article also explains that discrimination and prejudice remained an
issue even after the shutting down of the institutions. Still, their closure and opening of new
programs of community living, consistent with the mission of the disability rights movement and
offering more opportunities for independence and social integration. The deinstitutionalization
efforts constituted one of the vital milestones for the disability rights movement in the second
half of the twentieth century.
e. Independent Living Movement
The Independent Living Movement was initiated in the 1960s and the early 1970s as a civil
rights campaign for and by disabled individuals that aimed at promoting the right to self-
determination, independence enhanced by the desire to be integrated into American society.
Being disappointed by discrimination and perceiving themselves as covered by the institution
and needing directions and supervision they demanded for changes in systems that will help
them to promote their rights and to have more choices in their lives. Low expectations, prejudice
and discrimination were evidenced through numerous negative experiences and self pity by Ed
Roberts, Judith Heumann and others who fought for disability rights and independent living
philosophy. The principle is that the disabled individuals are the best qualified to make decisions
that affect them, they have the right to be integrated in the society and be independent, and that
they competent to manage their lives and make choices for themselves if given the right
assistance. Centers for Independent Living incorporated and led by persons with disabilities
started offering essential services to help the people who were discharged from nursing homes or
other institutions to their homes in their community. These centers offered instruction in personal
care and daily living, provided resources for home care attendants, and helped with assistive
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technology and accessible housing, they also offered peer support groups and campaigned for the
enactment of civil rights legislation protecting the rights of the disabled among other agendas.
The Independent Living Movement was significant in changing people attitudes from medical
model approach attributing disability to disease and physical or mental abnormality to social
model and civil rights approach which identified limited opportunities as resulting from social
barriers and prejudice. It gave people with disabilities a voice and self-organizing capacities to
fight against stereotyping and to refuse to be limited to a bunch of roles and options that society
with low expectations assigned to them. While the Independent Living Movement was born from
the disability community, the mobilizing ideology quickly expanded beyond its origins. Such
ideas as self-determination, deinstitutionalization, and integration encompassing built
environment without barriers for disabled paved the way for more comprehensive civil rights
initiatives of disabled such as the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Thus, the Independent
Living Movement paved way for a greater appreciation and true incorporation of individuals
with disabilities into full citizenry.
3. CIVIL RIGHTS ERA AND DISABILITY ACTIVISM
The civil rights movement that occurred in the 1960s made society aware of unequal rights,
prejudice, and prejudice in society. Independents with disabilities and policy advocates saw
similar in their experiences of oppression and exclusion for voting. Realizing the civil rights of
African American people, the disabled people started coming out in the open and demanding
their rights. Initial activism originated from medical model where disabled people who were
physically impaired were able to survive thanks to medical interventions but now faced
challenges of social marginalization. In particular, the group of disabled returning veterans
played the key role in organizing the struggle for disability rights. Such groups as the Rolling
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Quads wanted police protection for the laws that prohibited discrimination in hiring, in schools,
and in facilities open to the public. Even in the college setting, students with disabilities
protested when they were denied reasonable accommodation by the college officials. Disabled
activists adopted similar tactics whereby they staged protests that involved blocking transport
means that were inaccessible. Disability rights campaigners grew increasingly dissatisfied with
their continued exclusion and segregation, and thus embraced the slogan, “Nothing About Us
Without Us” as a sign of protest against the continued exclusion of the disabled from decisions
which directly affected them. Affirming the value of collective power, disabled people of various
organizations banded together in the 1970s, through the Independent Living Movement. Centers
for Independent Living, institutions for and by and of disabled persons facilitated the process of
self- determination and more inclusion into the whole community. Activism progressed
significantly disability thinking and capacity in the public domain and sowed the policy change
seeds firmly within the civil rights era. Gains in eradicating discrimination in the legal
framework and wins on accessibility assurances set the stage for the Americans with Disabilities
Act passed in 1990 enshrine civil rights into federal law.
a. Section 504 sit-ins
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was the first civil rights protection for disabled
people in the United States of America, but it excluded mental illness from protection and barred
discrimination against people with such disabilities in any program or activity receiving federal
financial assistance. However more rules governing the implementation of Section 504 were not
signed until 1977 after the people staged protests all over the country to compel the authorities to
promulgate the rules. In April 1977, disability rights activists occupied offices in nine different
cities including San Francisco, Chicago, Dallas, New York, and Washington D. C., in the former
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Department of Health, Education, & Welfare to protest delays in the implementation of Section
504 and siting non-Compliance with the law.
In terms of the duration the sit-in that occurred in San Francisco was the longest, the disability
rights leaders sat at three entrances of the federal building, slept overnight and chanting “Sign
504!” in order to put pressure on the government. This led to their insistence that regulations to
implement Section 504 be signed right away. The sit-ins made the issue go national and it was
then that people were made aware of civil rights for disabled persons. Protesters being evacuated
from buildings after occupying them became more widespread and this brought awareness.
After these very noisy protests, which some people have labelled the disability rights
movement’s ‘Boston Tea Party’, the Carter administration said it would sign the regulations that
enforce Section 504 and it did so on April 28, 1977. The sit-ins were a key event in the history of
activism and institutionalized protests by disabled individuals for their rights to legal civil
protection. Following the disability rights movement, the Americans with Disabilities Act were
passed in 1990 to ensure that everyone with a disability was not discriminated against at the
workplace, in businesses, services and facilities owned by the government, and public
transportation or communication that used phone and other communication devices. The Section
504 sit-ins set the basis for the eventual passing of the other significant acts for the disabled in
America. "
b. Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund
The Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund or (DREDF) was founded in 1979 as one of
the foremost legal advocacy organizations for and led by disabled individuals in their fight for
civil, human, and legal rights. DREDF was started by Pat Wright and other independent living
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movement activists for rights, access and independence of individuals with disabilities, following
legislations such as the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 that required accessibility in buildings
that received federal grants, Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act that made discrimination
against persons with disabilities unlawful if the discriminator received federal funding or grants
and the 1975 Individuals with Disabilities Education Act that ensured that children As a key
center for disability justice since its establishment, DREDF has been an essential force behind
the advocacy for disability legislation and legal rights including on education, employment rights
and in any other areas that makes disabled people to be empowered to fully be agents of change
with dignity and power in society.
Some DREDF activities included advocating for compliance with and extension of the 1990
Americans with Disability and Act which banned discrimination of people with disabilities and
the provision of accessibility as a continuation of the civil rights issues achieved by minority
groups in the prior decades. It was DREDF leadership that came up with the integration mandate
that was an order to all authorities managing public transit services to provide full access to their
services to disabled users. DREDF litigation has also affirmed rights of disabled prisoners and
detainees to obtain and use assistive devices and health care in prisons and jails; prevented
discrimination in insurance coverage of fertility treatments for disabled people; defended
accommodations and accessibility for disabled students during sit-ins and exams; and protected
access to rehabilitative services that can help disabled people live independently after passage of
the ACA Medicaid expansion.
c. Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
The freedom for people with disabilities was brought about by the Americans with Disabilities
Act signed in 1990 after years of advocacy by disabled persons for their civil liberties. It is
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important to note that the roots of the disability rights movement could be traced back to the
period after the Second World War that saw disabled soldiers coming back from the war front to
be met by barriers to employment and access. People with disabilities also started demanding
their rights and also freedom of movement influenced by the African American civil rights
movement of the 1950s and 1960s. These groups, for instance, the League of the Physically
Handicapped demanded change through nonviolent actions like marches or occupying buildings
to draw attention to inaccessible transport or no access to work. These actions played part in the
enactment of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 in an effort to provide civil rights for
persons with disabilities.
Carrying on this spirit forward, disabled activists for the first time mobilized collectively cutting
across physical, sensory, developmental, intellectual and psychiatric disabilities to demand a
wholesome legislation – the Americans with Disabilities Act. Similar to previous civil rights
bills, the ADA makes discrimination in hiring, promotion, training, and retention unlawful and
requires physical accessibility of jobs, government services, and places of public facilities
including businesses. Over and above the Rehab Act it has a wider scope fielding in all aspects of
society rather than fielding in federally funded programs only. The ADA came after decades of
witnessing disabled people being prejudiced, segregated, and denied opportunities to work, vote
and be served in businesses, contrary to the U. S Constitution. After finally obtaining this major
law, the disability community enjoyed the long sought recognition of the disability civil rights
after a long time of discrimination with subsequent political activism akin to civil rights
campaigns of other minorities and oppressed.
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d. Intersection with other civil rights movements
Disability Rights Movement overlapped notably with other movements for civil rights in the
1960s and 1970s, and while following in the footsteps of prior movements, it also paved the way
for subsequent mobilization. Leaders deliberately emulated these protests with the quiet
insistence of Martin Luther King or Rosa Parks and other black people. Occupation of federal
space, protest walking and stopping buses and trains also drew on the Black freedom struggle, on
recognizing the parallels between the exclusion and isolation of disabled persons and the
oppression of other minorities, the activists adopted the discourse of civil rights and empowered
decision making. They dismissed the conventional orthodoxy that persons with disabilities
required attendants and concentration camps and rather they insisted on independent decision-
making.
Amidst these, the disability rights movement offered significant insights to continuing
philosophical discussions on equity, access, and prejudice, such a breakthrough offered the
disabled people the much-needed visibility and legal rights on which the subsequent lobbying
depended. To ensure mobility-impaired individuals had access to federally funded buildings, the
Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 was passed followed by the Americans with Disabilities Act
years later. Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 which banned discrimination against
physically disabled persons in organizations that received federal funds for education prior to
Title I X that guards against discrimination in education based on gender. Thus, posters stating
“504 and We Shall Overcome” established an active link between Section 504 and the civil
rights song.
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Hospitality partnerships gradually meant that the objectives of disability activists were becoming
intertwined with those of other social justice movements. For instance, lesbian and women’s
liberation activists within the independent living movement advocated and joined with people
with disabilities to achieve attendant care services enabling them to leave institutions and lead
community lives. While these movements might not necessarily have been coordinated, the fact
that they all occurred simultaneously in the twentieth century gave each campaign collective
support in pushing for legal reform in issues of equality, accessibility and non-discrimination for
disadvantaged groups. These traditions are still present today as activists in the present strive for
establishing progressive coalitions for change.
e. International disability rights efforts
The disability rights movement was born in the 1960s and 1970s in parallel with the Civil Rights
movement and other minorities’ movements, when disabled people decided to unite to fight for
their rights. Reflecting the spirit of civil right movement and other such movements the League
of the Physically Handicapped in New York raised slogans against discrimination and non-
accessibility and began fighting for disability act like section 504 of Rehabilitation act which
banned discrimination of disabled people by any organization receiving federal grants. Society
began to notice the disability struggles during this period and paved way for the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990.
On the international level, disability advocacy began to emerge as well. Other organizations that
existed earlier include Disabled Peoples International, an organization formed in 1981 and
Rehabilitation International that also promoted cross disability and international disability rights
activism. The independence for disabilities movement started in the early 1980s and key
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principles included independence, choice, and ensuring that people with disabilities were not
confined to institutions. Independent living values became the basis of a great deal of advocacy
as people with disabilities began to claim entitlement for rights rather than for charity or
treatment.
This was through a World Symposium on Human Rights that was held in Vienna in 1993 with
300 delegates from more than ninety nations to come up with the declaration on the rights of
disabled persons. The post 1993 Vienna Declaration and Program of Action emphasized on the
need for the right to development as well as the protection of human rights around the globe with
particular focus on the disabled. Although non-binding, the declaration was valuable in terms of
symbolism, being a disability human rights declaration and influencing the discourses between
the disabled people organizations, UN agencies, policy makers and funders. It built momentum
leading up to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities adopted by the UN in
2006: a ground breaking treaty ratification regarding the human rights of disabled people that
asserts their right to equal worth. Currently, there are 182 ratifications to the CRPD, and it serves
as the baseline of current global priorities for the international disability community in terms of
human rights, as well as a tool for monitoring and advocacy work to this day.
4. MODERN DISABILITY RIGHTS ISSUES
The landmark act in the United States regarding disability rights was the Americans with
Disabilities Act of 1990 that banned discrimination on the grounds of disability with regard to
employment, public service, public accommodation and telecommunications. Present
contemporary disability rights issues indicate that more progress is still pending. Issues of
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accessibility, teaching for students with disabilities, income disparity, and health care and
attitudes towards individuals with disabilities are still present today.
The ADA requires less accessibility in public areas and services, and while there have been
improvements over the years, there are still inaccessible facilities, vehicles, websites, and
technologies preventing disabled people from fully engaging in society. Accessibility standards
or the lack thereof, remain a primary focus of the ADA and require better implementation and
enforcement to be effective, facilities for disabled persons should be incorporated into building
designs and construction to be accessible to all. The second element of accessibility in addition
to the physical one that involves providing information through technology, services and training
to people with sensory, intellectual and developmental disabilities.
When it comes to what schools provide, laws such as IDEA have opened up the door to more
integration, however, separate settings and restraint-seclusion remain, which counteracts
equality, access, and learning. When the teachers’ have biases, they set low expectations and
exclude disabled students, particularly those who have intellectual, developmental or emotional
disabilities for the appropriate support from the teachers. Those covering transition planning and
services that focus on preparations to independent living and work should be enhanced.
Disability has left income inequality and poverty higher amongst such people because of limited
jobs and low wages, high costs and restricted earning and savings – all made worse by the
COVID outbreak. Accessibility solutions, technologies for the impaired, diversification of
recruitment and employment, decent wages, and changes to asset limits are required. While
healthcare benefits entail coverage gaps, transphobic rejection of trans people’s organs and
treatment, inaccessible physical buildings and equipment, staff without disability sensitivity, and
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providers disregarding disabled people’s experience, the latter is worse for multiple-marginalized
disabled people, prejudicial and discriminative public culture of disability which regards disabled
persons as less than human, as substandard and a liability as opposed to human beings equally
entitled to the chance at life and worthy to be part of society hinders inclusion. Continued
struggles for disability justice also include attempts to change media portrayal, language,
approaches to policy, and support systems.
a. Employment discrimination
The Employment Discrimination Fund is based on the Americans with Disabilities Act, a Civil
Rights Act that protects the rights of disabled persons, this fund enables quicker processing of
some of the complaints that may be made under the ADA through the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission. It allows the EEOC to immediately investigate charges by individuals
with intellectual disabilities as well as provide necessary information and consultation on rights
and obligations, and methodologies for creating programs to raise awareness. The Fund
comprises of the funds provided by Congress, interest, and any costs that any federal agency has
incurred in compensating for the violations of Section 501 of the Rehabilitation Act. In this
respect, the EEOC provides the monetary damages to the complainant with ID before embarking
on an investigation from this revolving fund. This means those who need relief do not wait for
long hours alleviating them and enabling them to continue with their lives. Although reducing
the time and costs to man and resources can help in cutting costs for both parties, some disability
advocates opine that the practice hinders the development of a strong enumeration of legal
precedents that could be helpful in the future in fortifying the ADA. Instead, they opt to allow
more complaints to get to a stage where they would have accumulated ample factual information
through investigations and then move to federal court if the complaints remain unresolved. But,
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going to court largely entails a lot of expenditure and often may take a very long time before the
case is decided. Since EEOC complaints end up 90% being dismissed or closed administratively,
the Fund is a practical solution which supports people with ID who experience discrimination in
employment decisions, including hiring, promotion, wages, or discharge. It is not perfect, but it
provides a way to approach the issue of dealing with obstacles to becoming financially
independent, and this is still a problem for many of the citizens with disabilities. The right for
work with dignity, the right to be employed not in accordance with prejudices or misconceptions
but rather in accordance with one’s abilities and skills is still not only a dream of today’s society.
b. Accessible technology and design
Technological availability and designation mean products, services and place that can be
conveniently access and utilized by disabled persons. This includes things like the universal
design for buildings, products, and even digital contents that can be accessed and used by anyone
without the need to adapt to different scenarios as per their age and ability. While technology and
design for the disabled has been a concern in the post-modern world, it has only recently risen as
a global disability issue. It is now unlawful for individuals in the disability category to be
excluded in public facilities and workplaces through enactment of legislations such as Americans
with Disabilities Act, still, it is a challenge to fully enforce and implement these laws to the
letter.
Furthermore, technology has evolved at a much faster rate which has left inadequacies in the
provision for equal access for the disabled individuals. Applications on personal digital
assistants, touchscreen terminals, and smart home gadgets are created without the concept of
accessibility. It also gives a set of digital walls that cannot be accessed by vision, hearing,
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cognitive and mobility disabled people. Where some disability advocates assert that the product
could be designed for everyone in an all-encompassing manner, there are those who propose that
such features be incorporated into the manufacturing process during the initial development
stages, which is commonly known as ‘inclusive design’. But traditional culture and mindset,
along with the lack of design thinking and knowledge about ADA, is such that many a tech firm
continues to view accessibility as a mere add-on or an assemblage rather than a fundamental
human right.
There are also remaining barriers related to accessibility of buildings and structures. It was
ascertained that roughly the same figure, 25 percent, of the disabled population is able to enter a
standard supermarket without much difficulty because of barriers such as restricted corridors,
high shelves and no lifts or ramps. Subways and buses including are not fully accessible they
usually do not have working elevators or announcements. It also indicated that there are issues
that limit disabled people’s independence and restrict their interactions with communities.
Hence, there is a need for better legal compliance and, more importantly, active universal design
to eliminate such systems.
Technology, buildings and public places should be accessible to the disabled if people with such
disability are to be given their rightful place and fair treatment in society. Despite the advances
due to the activism of disability rights, there remain significant disparities between the legal
standards in various countries for accessibility and the actual implementation of those
standards. Eradicating stereotypical thinking and continuing with the practice of UD principles
are important to ensure disability rights in the contemporary world.
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c. Education inclusion
Education inclusion as defined entitles every child with a disability to have education in a
general classroom with non-disabled peers to the maximum level possible. This is a fundamental
human right for the people with disability as others who are able-bodied are striving to have
access in all areas of life. But there still remain a number of challenges that affect the process of
attaining education for all. Perception barriers are still evident among some teachers and
principals who deny the possibility of mainstreaming students with more severe disabilities into
regular classrooms because they erroneously believe that such students cannot compete
academically and behaviorally with their nondisabled counterparts. There is also a shortcoming
in training teachers on how to teach students with different abilities and learning disabilities for
students with learning difficulties and students known as learners with special needs, and training
in Universal Design for Learning. Moreover, the barriers of access hinder the disabled students
to fully engage themselves in the activities and lessons, as a result of unavailable or inaccessible
facilities, learning and teaching materials, technologies and transportation. Another potential
factor is that principals do not have enough funds to afford additional supports such as
educational assistants, assistive devices, and speech or occupational therapies. Looking at
American legislation such as IDEA that provides for the free appropriate public education in the
least restrictive environment, disabled students are still placed in separate classrooms because of
differences in the application of the legislation. The primary caregivers of disabled children have
to actively press for their needs to be met and receive necessary facilities and amenities.
Therefore, there is still much work to be done at the policy and school district level in addition to
altering the general perception of disability from the viewpoint of a necessarily remediable
weakness in humanity to a mere variation in the human population to be celebrated as part of the
human and civil rights mission of educating all. For disabled students, effective and positive
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learning environments should embrace their talents, accept them, and admit them into classes to
learn together with their peers who are non-disabled but with all the required accompaniments
they need to learn and mix with the other students. It is an ideal that can only be achieved if
educators, administrators, policymakers, disability advocates, families, and students actively
participate in a continuous and sustained manner.
d. Healthcare access and rights
The obstacles to efficient and accessible quality healthcare for people with disabilities are still a
major issue for many in contemporary America, starting from the availability of medical centers
or doctors’ appointments to coverage of required equipment, drugs, or therapies, there are still
significant gaps that hinder health and well-being. One significant concern is that scarce and
fragmented funding comes from both public insurance programs and private insurance for
services and technologies that are important to the disability community. Medicaid is usually the
last resort and the specifics of qualifying depend on the state; many people cannot access
adequate health care, much less afford expensive treatments, devices such as wheelchairs, which
are out of their financial reach and result in debts and, in some cases, even bankruptcy.
Nevertheless, the applicants are also limited by low reimbursement rates, which restrict their
choice of providers, and very long waiting lists for home care services. Medicare has increased
the list of DME it considers reimbursable over time but maintains stringent use requirements and
does not properly address more advanced assistive devices. This has also been evident whereby
private insurers have previously failed to adequately provide for key benefits, or put in place
arbitrary caps or limitations on their policies and/or have outrightly rejected claims regarding
disability. However, attempts at reducing these disparities have not been very successful with the
Best Care Act, making further advancement still unbalanced. Challenges are universal across all
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the disability categories; the physical, the auditory and those with mobility problems, chronic
diseases, and even developmental disorders. COVID pandemic has exposed these longstanding
issues of healthcare access as having deadly ramifications, closing these gaps must be recognized
as an issue of simple rights, and entails numerous, interrelated policies centered around increase
coverage, control costs, healthcare infrastructures, public programs, private plans and so forth. It
is important that one should be able to gain access irrespective of the state of health, the
employment status and other conditions. Inclusive quality and sufficient healthcare services are
critical in order to provide those with disabilities with necessary tools to become active members
of society.
e. Disability representation in media
Although the use of disability in film, television, and other media has been sparse and often
stereotyped in the past. Disabled characters have often been depicted as helpless characters,
motivators of non-disabled characters or as antagonists. The disability community still push for
better representations in the media that are less reductive and more empowering. Social model
framework shifts the notion that the disability originates from the person’s impairment but from
other factors in society. Medical model believes that the impairment or labels and the problems
they present are actually part of the person and need to be ‘cured’ while the social model is
closer to disability justice. The second principle relates to the use of disabled talent; this means
that there should be accurate casting with disabled writers, directors, producers and consultants.
This means representing disabled characters as active and full-bodied characters, not just one-
dimensional or as tropes, and incorporating as many forms of disability as possible.
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The recent ones include CODA, Special, documentaries, disabled influencers, and many more,
but still, the representation is a rarity. In the 2020 review of disability tropes in films is that the
characters are usually white male who is defined by a condition, this research was aimed to
establish a perception of how TV character disabilities are presented and found that these
characters are grossly underrepresented for physical and cognitive conditions than the real-world
figures. Perpetuates beliefs disabilities rare. Malicious patriarchal images remain a part of
culture, in opposition to various powerful and supporting champions in the world. Hashtags
created to draw awareness to ableist language, framing inspiration porn and savior narratives.
While some creators try to keep the radar and be accountable for their work, others use disability
when it is fitting to show struggles and then cast it aside. Disabled community can be
summarized by the phrase ‘Nothing about us without us,’ in references to decisions,
opportunities, or stories. Minority problems persist like the washrooms, ramps, elevators, doors,
etc. Disabled talent may not reveal their condition out of shame. Internal policy, laws and
allyship gaining formation but not as quickly as desired. Cultural representation must depict
populations in a reasonable manner. Progress slow but calls for a change remained on going.
5. FUTURE OF DISABILITY RIGHTS
Since the resurgence of the disability rights movement, substantial advancements have been
achieved over the past decades; from deinstitutionalization to legislation that bans discrimination
against people with disabilities. Despite current challenges that hinder its implementation, there
are prospects for using technology and the principles of universal design for increasing
availability, participation and independence in the future, new prostheses and exoskeleton
systems can control mechanical movements and improve the patient’s quality of life. AI can also
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be used in the improvement of communication devices as evident from the current technological
advancement. Spaces and structures with compliance to universal design principles to allow
utility to all people. However, some issues still linger and they include subminimum wages for
the disabled workers, restraint and seclusion in schools, lack of enforcement of ADA standards,
high incidences of abuse and victimization, and other forms of discrimination arising from
racism, sexism, homophobia among disabled people of color women and the LGBTQ
community respectively. Reducing cultural or attitudinal barriers and stigma remains relevant
hence should be continued. They are more youthful, and racially/ethnically diverse and
champion for the Disability Justice and Disability Pride agendas. They shun the medical-model
perspective in favor of identity politics, organizing, and intersectional consciousness. Policy
initiatives do not only refer to anti-discrimination laws but also to the development of support
structures and cultures which will enable the disabled to participate appropriately and have an
independent decision-making process. Disability as social justice is the concept that the future of
disability rights should primarily be compliant and inclusive. In contrast to diversity and
interdependence being only considered and incorporated into policies, programs, technologies
and spaces as insertions after the fact, they must in fact be the core of the structures. Disability
justice offers an understanding of legal and political inclusion beyond rights as a tactic toward
full citizenship, but as the creation of a world in which all disabled or vulnerable bodies and
minds may flourish, this future will only be possible through organizing communities and
eliminating cultures that promote such behaviors. The disability community must organize and
mobilize in a variety of ways, center the experiences of marginalized disability communities and
promote social change toward the collective goal of dismantling oppression and creating an
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inclusive society that realizes the potential of the Disability Rights Framework in the 21st
century and beyond.
a. Emerging technologies and accessibility
The use of new technologies is especially promising in enhancing the experience of people with
disabilities and making their participation more possible yet the same technology can be
exclusionary. AI, VR, robots and autonomous vehicles, as examples of today’s emerging
technologies, have the potential to alter environments and tasks to support people with physical,
sensory, neurological, intellectual or other impairments. Smart helpers using natural language
processing allow individuals to control gadgets and appliances with voice for those with
impaired fine motor skills. Virtual reality produces accessible environments with navigation
options beneficial for patients with perceptual or mobility loss. Endoskeletons and brain-machine
interfaces enhance physical abilities that are impaired by injury or genetics. Certain operations
are done with implantable devices to replace certain abilities, for instance, sight or hearing that
cannot be provided outside the body. Intelligent things in the Internet of Things environments
capable of predicting the need embedded in digitally connected objects eliminate barriers to
access from the architectural structure or communication from a distance. Automation of hand
tasks permits wider involvement of various kinds of skills. But such advancements threaten to
create a new form of oligarchy where progress is pursued but is not guided to ensure that certain
segments of the population are not left behind. Fast-moving technology and product-release
strategies that are guided by profit imperatives may leave out sensitive groups. In its current
flawed definition, design thinking puts a priority on able-bodied male views and can easily
reproduce these biases in the solutions it creates with the unfortunate exclusion of diversity in the
development teams. Tools built on dataset that did not include disability will always be wanting
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in inclusiveness. When governments choose to adopt technical standards on their own, they
might act as barriers to change and leave designers and developments that do not put
accessibility at the forefront. Disabled groups want to be the ones to decide on the applicability
of technology in expanding rights and authority instead of being subjected to the so-called ‘help’
that is not emancipative at all. Substantial engagement guarantees that technologies overlay
suitably to user circumstances in all abilities. The intentional universal design philosophy
prevents the developers from coming up with specialized peripherals that contribute to a further
stratification based on ability. Technological change can potentially expand the scope of
emancipation considerably but deliberate effort is necessary to avoid undesirable social
repercussions.
b. Intersectionality in disability advocacy
As the disability rights advocacy continues into the future, there is one major element that cannot
be overlooked and that is the intersectionality aspect of the disability in regarding to the other
social categories like race, gender identity, sexual orientation, economic status, and citizenship.
Intersectionality posits people as individuals who do not have identities confined into ‘boxes,’
but individuals with multiple, interdependent facets to them, acknowledging that oppression does
not act in isolation but in conjunction with other forms. Disabled people and disability
movements pay limited attention to disability and give limited attention to how racism, poverty,
etc. affects the lives of disabled people with such backgrounds. Thus, it is imperative for the
disability rights movement to adopt an intersectional approach moving forward and include the
most oppressed groups within the disability community in their struggles, decision-making, and
policy agendas if such struggles are to be liberatory. Otherwise, the movement risks repeating the
same exclusionary domination of the previous years that dominated the lives of disabled people,
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white, heterosexual, and cisgender. When it comes to intersectionality, centering it is not just
about integrating diversity within the campaigns or the organizational missions but also about
changing the paradigms and possibilities with regard to all the oppressive structures and how
they exist and operate separately but are also interdependent. This entails for the people with
these specific, isolated forms of oppression to acknowledge their privilege, use that power to
improve the lives of others and cross over their specific issue areas and join forces with other
people of color, queer people, women etc., and work under the leadership of people with
compound oppression. Only through these systematic, purposeful attempts to grapple with the
systems and social structures that perpetuate marginalization within and across difference can
disability justice truly flourish in the future where it leaves no one behind.
c. Global disability rights initiatives
In order to pursue and protect the rights of people with disabilities, the disability rights
movement must continue on the national and international level, international collaboration
advances innovation through sharing knowledge, demonstrating equality of opportunity, and
using soft and hard power. There is growing emphasis on the rights of disabled people, and such
global organizations as the World Health Organization and the United Nations have adopted
standards and guidelines for member nations.
Discrimination and violation of disabled people’s rights are dealt with by several agencies of the
United Nations. The CRPD is the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities signed
in 2006 that defines civil, cultural, political, social and economic rights of disabled persons. A
total of, 182 countries signed the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, with the
responsibility to facilitate, support, and guarantee the rights of this population. The monitoring
committee of the Convention looks at the reports of countries and proposes recommendations to
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be made on their behalf. Other parts of the United Nations, such as the World Health
Organization and UNICEF, working through research, data collection, policy advice to
governments, and disability programs, funding. Other regional formations in Africa, the
Americas, Arab states and Europe similarly enacted conventions/ charters on disability.
The goal of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals is to ensure the sustainable development of
all countries without interfering with the rights of persons with disabilities, although the latter are
also identified as a vulnerable population to be addressed. This includes urging member states to
broken down data on the different categories of disability and engage with disabled persons
organizations in the process of implementation and evaluation. Independence and integration are
highlighted as the key concepts in order to facilitate the idea that every person with a disability
has a right to get an education, have a job, and be a member of society.
Advancements are also achieved by major global disability rights events which take place from
time to time. Commitments were made by the governments and non-state actors during the
Global Disability Summit that took place in 2018 regarding the issues affecting persons with
disability. Such occasions as the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3
each year, offer a platform for awareness. Moving forward, there is a need to unfold persistent
and collective processes for the implementation of global commitments into national legislations,
policies, projects and actions that transform rights into realities.
d. Neurodiversity movement
The neurodiversity movement, which views the conditions such as autism, ADHD and dyslexia
as merely the variations in the human brain rather than something pathological which must be
treated, will likely remain as one of the most vital forces in the future development of the
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disability rights movement. This movement entails the campaign for society to shift from an
ideology of seeking to change and correct individuals with neurological disorders and differences
but instead embrace difference and work towards creating environments that people with
neurological differences can thrive in. If the neurodiversity perspective gains more acceptance, it
may start questioning the very concept of disability and promote it as just another aspect of
human diversity which should be accepted by society, the way people with different skin color or
different sexual preferences.
Most importantly, the neurodiversity paradigm is very similar to the social model of disability
rather than to the medical model. The medical model of disability is the belief that disability is a
problem located in the disabled individual – something that is wrong with him/her that has to be
fixed. Unlike the medical one, the social model does not define disability as an impairment but as
a consequence of society – stigma, isolation, lack of adjustments that would allow disabled
individuals to be integrated. Critics of neurodiversity have noted that the everyday problems
Autistic people experience in such spheres as communication or managing their own senses stem
not from their Autism per se, but from the lack of understanding and accommodation that society
and institutions provide for them. Ensuring that society moderates its rigidity to accommodate
such people would be important in enabling those with neurological disorders to excel.
As the Neurodiversity movement continues to evolve over the next few years, we may observe
an inclusion of neurodiversity in legal reforms in the area of disability rights, and this may
include non-discrimination of persons with a neurological condition from those with a physical
one. When the stakes are lowered, possible demands for reasonable accommodation at the
workplace or in education may increase. The prejudice against disabled people may reduce over
time as a society adjusts to their presence. It can be expected that more such spaces will open
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that show appreciation and acceptance of neurodiversity and serve as sources of support and
positive examples. In other words, it would be possible to change the perspective on disability
rights in the future, considering neurological disorders as a part of human variation rather than
the pathology that needs to be cured.
e. Disability justice framework
Disability justice framework emerged as a resistance to the dominant forms of discussion of
disability rights. It leans more towards a collective right or a shared right as opposed to having
ownership over an individual right or legal claim. Whereas the ADA was spearheaded and
advanced by white disable individuals who are physically impaired and items such as physical
barriers or anti-discrimination legislation, a framework of disability justice considers how
ableism manifests itself in contexts of disabled people of color, queer and trans disabled,
disabled immigrants and so on. It places cross-movement solidarity within the framework,
connecting disability oppression to the experiences of people under white supremacy and other
interlocking structures.
The activism for disability rights as embraced by the disability justice framework of the future
would note how the oppressors disable the oppressed through the denial of such fundamental
components as rights. The framework also moves away from the medical model toward the
social model of disability where these are viewed as limitations created by unfair distribution of
assets, societal barriers, and prejudices instead of the person. It likewise questions the
segregation of disabled people from the so-called non-disabled, stating that disability is not black
and white, and ableism renders it as such. Instead, it looks for a culture that embraces Disability
rather than one that provokes fear and rejection of the Disabled.
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Unlike the shortcomings and negative effects of the policies, laws, and institutions approach to
rights and liberties, the disability justice framework involves the establishment of a compounded
matrix of care and support systems in interdependent communities. The awareness is about
emancipation, not assimilation. In the future, this framework imagines disabled people leading
social justice and climate justice movements; the priorities of which are environmental
preservation and living sustainably, cooperation over hierarchy, collaboration and nurturing over
rivalry and self-reliance.
