Independence Day For Americans With Disabilities
By Linton Weeks
On July 4, America will celebrate 239 years of independence.
Later in the month, our country will mark another historic moment: the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a law passed on July 26, 1990, that guarantees certain rights — and increased independence — to our compatriots with physical and intellectual disabilities.
In this era of ramps and lifts and other hallmarks of accessible design, it's sometimes hard to remember that not too long ago inaccessibility was the norm. And barriers abounded.
"At the time of the late 1980s, too many people with disabilities were out of sight and out of the minds of the general public," says Katy Neas of Easter Seals, a century-old, Chicago-based nonprofit organization that helps people with disabilities.
As an outspoken advocate for the ADA, Easter Seals created a series of powerful posters that illustrated the dilemmas — and desires — of disabled Americans and helped the country understand the reasons for, and responsibilities resulting from, the anti-discrimination legislation.
Via the visuals, Neas says, "Easter Seals was working to reposition what it meant to be a person with a disability — what was possible, what was necessary, what barriers existed."...
Get the full story at NPR.
http://www.npr.org/sections/npr-history-dept/2015/06/19/415436391/independence-day-for-americans-with-disabilities
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