The road to the

Americans with Disabilities Act

collage of black and white photographs from left to right: Judy Heumann, George H.W. Bush, Brad Lomax, Johnnie Lacy, Ed Roberts, and Alan Reich.

Left to right: Judy Heumann, President George H.W. Bush, Brad Lomax, Johnnie Lacy, Ed Roberts, and Alan Reich.

Video with Audio Descriptions
Image Description: President FDR sitting at a desk, looking down and writing on a piece of paper (signing the Social Security Act). 1935: President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act, providing cash benefits, medical and therapeutic services for people with disabilities. Image Description: Poster showing an illustration of several men standing behind a large sign that reads, "DON'T PITY A DISABLED MAN – FIND HIM A JOB". Beneath the sign is the YMCA logo in the bottom left corner of the poster. 1945: The first National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week (later became National Disability Employment Awareness Month). Image Description: President JFK sitting at the Presidential desk signing the Community Mental Health Act. 1963: President John F Kennedy signed the Community Mental Health Act. Image Description: Ed Roberts and the CIL team at the original Center for Independent Living office on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, California. 1972: The Center for Independent Living was founded at Berkley, California and led by disabilities activist Ed Roberts. Image Description: Black and white photograph showing a group of people in wheelchairs. Centered is a man in a wheelchair seen from the back, with a sign attached to the wheelchair that reads "We Shall Overcome". 1973: The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 established equal access for people with disabilities. Image Description: Newspaper clipping with image of President Gerald Ford signing something at the Presidential desk. Above the image is a headline that reads, "President Gerald Ford Signing A New Law". 1975: The Education for Handicapped Children Act of 1975 (later, IDEA guarantees a free, appropriate, public education for all children with disabilities in the least restrictive environment. Image Description: From left: Hale Zukas, Ron Washington, and Judy Heumann respond to a question at a press conference held at the San Francisco airport before protesters leave for Washington. Lynette Taylor provides American Sign Language interpretation. 1977: San Francisco activists held 28-day sit in calling for federal civil rights for people with disabilities. The measure was signed that year. Image Description: Alan Reich speaking in front of the United Nations. To the right of the image is the NOD logo 1982: The National Organization on Disability was founded by Alan Reich to continue the momentum to promote disability inclusion. Image Description: An older woman sitting in a motorized wheelchair is placed at a voting booth. 1984: Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act was passed. Image Description: Above a large crowd of people with their hands raised is a sign that reads "Give Gallaudet a chance to have a deaf president." 1988: Gallaudet University "Deaf President Now!" protest took place in Washington, D.C. Image Description: President George H. W. Bush sitting at a desk, signing the Americans with Disabilities Act. Pictured (left to right): Evan Kemp, Rev Harold Wilke, Pres. Bush, Sandra Parrino, Justin Dart. 1990: President George Herbert Walker Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act.

since the ADA…

Image Description: Screen grab of Senator Paul Wellstone appearing in front of the Senate on CSPAN2 1996: The Mental Health Parity Act banned health plans from imposing unwarranted dollar limits on mental health benefits. Image Description: President Bill Clinton signing legislation at the Presidential desk 1998: President Clinton signed the Internet Accessibility Law, giving people with disabilities access to all electronic and information technology in the federal sector. Image Description: From left: Lois Curtis, Sue Jamieson, and Elaine Wilson 1999: The Supreme Court's Olmstead Decision affirmed the right to live in the community rather than in state-run institutions. Image Description: President George W. Bush, seated, signs S. 3406, the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, in a ceremony in the Oval Office of the White House, Sept. 25, 2008. Standing behind Bush are, from left to right, former President George H.W. Bush; Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Wis.; Cheryl Sensenbrenner; Rep. Steny Hoyer, D-Md.; Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif.; Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y.; Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa; Sen. Mike Enzi, R-Wyo.; Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I.; and U.S. Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey. 2008: The ADA Amendments Act clarified and broadened the term "disability." Image Description: Carol Glazer and various other advocates representing disability organizations sitting around a large conference room table with President Barack Obama and members of his cabinet 2013: After meeting with Carol Glazer and other disability advocates, President Obama signed the Section 503 rule change to the Rehab Act (setting a 7% utilization goal of employees with disabilities for federal contractors).