Disability rights movement in the 1980s

Social movement to win and protect rights of equal access and equal treatment for people with physical and mental disabilities

The disability rights movement emerged in the United States during the 1970’s, and it gained momentum in the 1980’s, despite federal governmental challenges and setbacks in federal courts.

Disability rights activists had reason to be both optimistic and concerned in the early 1980’s. United Nations resolutions made 1981 the International Year of Disabled Persons and 1982-1993 the Decade of Disabled Persons. The Independent Living Movement took hold globally, and governments in developed and developing countries made progress in their disability policies. Prospects in the United States were less encouraging. President Ronald Reagan’s administration sought to reduce the federal government’s size and spending, which endangered legislative gains disability rights activists had made in the 1970’s. At risk were the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, which banned disability-based discrimination in federally funded institutions and programs, and the 1975 Education for All Handicapped Children Act (later known as Individuals with Disabilities Education Act or IDEA), which required public education to take place in the least restrictive feasible environment.

Responses to Federal Resistance

Organizations such as the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) began working against President Reagan’s policies during his first year in office (1981). Citizens who wrote letters to elected officials to oppose weakening disability rights laws were crucial to the lobbying campaign. Such efforts earned disability rights advocates an advantage by the decade’s midpoint: Vice President George H. W. Bush unexpectedly began to support some of the movement’s demands, and the Reagan administration reduced somewhat its resistance to regulation in the context of disability rights. The Rehabilitation Act and IDEA survived, and several new measures became law, among them the Employment Opportunities for Disabled Americans Act (1986), the Fair Housing Act Amendments (1988), and the Civil Rights Restoration Act (1988).

The judicial system was another key front in the 1980’s disability rights struggle, with federal courts sometimes limiting the scope and application of laws. Activists were disappointed by U.S. Supreme Court decisions regarding IDEA (Hudson Central School District v. Rowley, 1982) and the Rehabilitation Act (Bowen v. American Hospital Association, also known as the “Baby Jane Doe” case, 1986). Results were more favorable in federal appeals and circuit courts, as in ADAPT v. Skinner (1989), which improved public transportation accessibility, and Daniel R. R. v. State Board of Education (1989), which strengthened IDEA.

Prominent Organizations and Leaders

A proliferation of new organizations reflected the movement’s energy and diversity. National Black Deaf Advocates (founded 1980) and the Association of Late Deafened Adults (founded 1987) fortified the deaf and hard-of-hearing communities. The alliance of feminism and disability rights grew stronger with the creation of the Networking Project on Disabled Women and Girls and the Womyn’s Braille Press (both 1980). Concrete Change (founded 1986) worked for accessibility in public housing. American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit (ADAPT, now known as American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today) took radical action throughout the decade, expanding its agenda from public transportation to support for the Americans with Disabilities Act (1990, also known as the ADA).

The movement had multiple leaders rather than a single unifying figure. In 1983, Californians Edward Roberts and Judith Heumann built on their work in the 1970’s by establishing the World Institute on Disability. Washington, D.C., was a major site for activism, with Patrisha Wright of DREDF and Evan Kemp of the Disability Rights Center fighting against the Reagan administration and for the ADA. Another agent of change in Washington was Justin Dart, whose personal experience with polio, financial wealth, and government connections were indispensable to the movement. At Washington’s Gallaudet University, where the curriculum is designed for deaf and hard-of-hearing persons, student leaders organized demonstrations that gave the institution its first deaf president in 1988.

Disability Culture and Disability Studies

Disability rights spokespersons asserted themselves in literature, journalism, performing and visual arts, and academia during the 1980’s. Movement periodicals included The Disability Rag (founded 1980, now titled The Ragged Edge), Deaf Life (founded 1988), and Mouth: The Voice of Disability Rights (founded 1989). San Francisco’s Bay Area, a center for progressive causes, was home to the Wry Crips theater group (founded 1985) and the AXIS Dance Troupe (founded 1987). Influenced by ethnic and women’s studies programs, scholars with disabilities brought their experiences and perspectives into the humanities. Sociologist Irving Zola, a wheelchair user with polio, helped found the Society for Disability Studies in 1982. Contributions from feminist and gay and lesbian scholars were especially helpful in making disability studies a force for intellectual inquiry and social change.

Impact

The 1980’s was a critical decade for the disability rights movement. Working against formidable odds, individually and in groups, activists sustained the progress of the 1970’s and broke ground for greater achievements in the 1990’s. Although alliances with nondisabled citizens from all levels of U.S. society were invaluable, people with disabilities were most interested in setting their own agendas. By learning from and forming coalitions with similar movements for inclusion, participation, justice, and equal opportunity, the disability rights movement brought positive change to all areas of public life in the United States during the 1980’s.

Subsequent Events

Disability rights activism in the 1980’s led to the ADA’s passage in 1990. The ADA had bipartisan support in Congress, and President George H. W. Bush signed the measure into law enthusiastically. Still, many conservative politicians and business interests resented the ADA, and it did not always fare well with the U.S. Supreme Court. The 1990’s saw fewer public demonstrations for disability rights, but legislative and judicial advocacy remained strong, as did disability culture and studies.

Bibliography

Barnartt, Sharon N., and Richard K. Scotch. Disability Protests: Contentious Politics, 1970-1999. Washington, D.C.: Gallaudet University Press, 2001. Explores activism from political science and sociological perspectives.

Fleischer, Doris Zames, and Frieda Zames. The Disability Rights Movement: From Charity to Confrontation. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 2001. Scholarly but accessible history of activism, legislation, and culture.

Mairs, Nancy. Plaintext: Essays. Tucson: University of Arizona Press, 1986. The author writes candidly and passionately about her experiences with multiple sclerosis.

Shapiro, Joseph P. No Pity: People with Disabilities Forging a New Civil Rights Movement . New York: Times Books, 1993. A journalist’s sympathetic and wide-ranging overview of the movement.

Shaw, Barrett, ed. The Ragged Edge: The Disability Experience from the Pages of the First Fifteen Years of “The Disability Rag.” Louisville, Ky.: Advocado Press, 1993. Anthology of journalism and creative writing from a leading disability rights publication.

Zola, Irving K. Missing Pieces: A Chronicle of Living with a Disability. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1982. A disability studies pioneer describes living in a Netherlands community designed for people with disabilities.