Breaking Down Barriers: The Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 and Its Significance to the Disability Community

Hello again, yes it’s me your friendly neighborhood super advocate. A warm welcome to all of my new readers who are checking out the blog for the first time. I want to welcome you to a friendly, engaging, informative, and sometimes funny look at anything and everything that has to do with disabilities and the disability community. To all my returning readers, welcome back. No matter which group you fall into, you’ve stumbled upon the Voiceless Minority on a very special day. Yes, it has finally happened after a decade of writing this blog - today marks the 100th post for the Voiceless Minority. I could not have done it without you. I started this blog as an outlet for my anger and the hurt I was feeling after being denied the opportunity to follow what I truly believed at the time was my passion. When I started this blog, I thought I wanted to be a high school history teacher and teach theater after school. I apparently didn’t know myself as well as I thought. They say that “things happen for a reason” or as I like to call it listening to God and actually paying attention to what He is saying by applying it to your life.

Since this post celebrates an important milestone in my advocacy, I felt that it would be fitting to write a post about a specific movement within disability history that recently celebrated its own 55th anniversary. Now that we’ve celebrated the success of The Voiceless Minority, it is time to get back to what this blog is all about, disability advocacy and the disability community as a whole. On August 12th we celebrated the Architectural Barriers Act and its impact on the disability community.  Even though it was passed 55 years ago it still has a great amount of impact on the lives of people with disabilities today. I hope you enjoy the rest of the blog. 

In 1968, amidst the civil rights movement and a wave of legislative changes, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Architectural Barriers Act (ABA) into law. This groundbreaking legislation was a pivotal moment in the history of disability rights in the United States. The ABA aimed to eliminate physical barriers that hindered access for individuals with disabilities in federally funded buildings and facilities, setting the stage for more inclusive and accessible spaces. In this blog post, we will delve into the significance of the Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 for the disability community and its lasting impact on the built environment.

Before the ABA, people with disabilities faced numerous challenges when trying to access public buildings, transportation, and facilities. Rampant architectural barriers such as stairs without ramps or elevators, narrow doorways, and inaccessible restrooms limited their mobility and independence. These barriers perpetuated discrimination and exclusion, making it difficult for individuals with disabilities to participate fully in public life.

Key Provisions of the ABA

The Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 addressed these issues head-on by requiring that all federally funded buildings and facilities be designed, constructed, and altered to be accessible To people with disabilities. Here are some of the key provisions that make the ABA an important piece of legislation:

1. Definition of Covered Buildings: The ABA applies to buildings and facilities designed, constructed, altered, or leased with federal funds. This includes a wide range of structures, from government offices and post offices to national parks and military bases.

2. Accessibility Standards: The ABA established specific accessibility standards and guidelines, ensuring that facilities would be designed to accommodate people with various types of disabilities. These standards laid the foundation for subsequent accessibility regulations, such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990.

3. Enforcement Mechanisms: The ABA empowered the U.S. Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (often referred to as the "Access Board") to develop and maintain accessibility standards. Federal agencies were responsible for enforcing these standards and ensuring compliance in their projects.

Impact on the Disability Community

The Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 had a profound and lasting impact on the disability community for several reasons:

1. Increased Accessibility: The ABA led to the removal of many physical barriers in federally funded buildings, making them more accessible to people with disabilities. This change greatly improved the quality of life for individuals who previously faced significant limitations in their daily activities.

2. Trailblazing Legislation: The ABA set a precedent for disability rights legislation in the United States. It paved the way for subsequent laws like the ADA, which extended accessibility requirements to the private sector, further enhancing the rights and opportunities of individuals with disabilities.

3. Promotion of Inclusivity: By requiring accessible design in federally funded facilities, the ABA promoted a culture of inclusivity and equality. It sent a powerful message that all citizens, regardless of their abilities, have the right to access and participate in public life.

4. Advocacy and Awareness: The ABA spurred advocacy efforts within the disability community and raised awareness about the importance of accessible design. This activism contributed to the passage of subsequent legislation and the ongoing work to ensure equal access for all.

The Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 stands as a crucial milestone in the history of disability rights and accessibility in the United States. By addressing the physical barriers that hindered access to federally funded buildings and facilities, this legislation laid the foundation for a more inclusive society. It empowered the disability community, promoted equal rights, and set the stage for further advancements in accessibility. As we reflect on the legacy of the ABA, it is clear that its importance to the disability community cannot be overstated, and its impact continues to be felt today as we strive for a more inclusive and accessible future for all.

If you enjoyed this blog, please leave a comment either on this post or on our social media. Even if you don’t accept or agree with all the information presented above, we hope you keep coming back to continue to learn about the disability community. 

Till tomorrow, 

Jay

Remembering Judy Heumann: How Her Life and Legacy Transformed the Disability Community into What It Is Today.

Disability pioneer Judy Heumann passed away this past weekend. Since my blog focuses on disability related issues I would be doing you my readers a great disservice if I did not write a piece on the late Judy Heumann, without whom this blog may not even exist. 

Judith ”Judy” Heumann was born on December 18th 1947 in Philadelphia and raised in Brooklyn. She contracted Polio at the age of two. Fortunately for her, her parents did not subscribe to the popular theory on people with disabilities at the time. When the doctors suggested she be institutionalized because there was “no way she will ever walk” her parents chose not to listen. 

Miss Heumann began her advocacy work in the 70’s when she fought the New York board of education over the right to teach in a classroom. She would eventually win the battle and become the first teacher with a disability in New York. Her advocacy efforts would soon reach far beyond New York. 

In 1975 Ed Roberts asked Judy to move to California and join in the Center for Independent Living Movement. Miss Heumann and Mr. Roberts would eventually transform what they had built in California into a national movement. Although there is no denying that Judy Heumann’s influence on the Center for Independent Living Movement is tremendous, she would go on to make an even more significant impact on the lives of people with disabilities. She would eventually go on to help shape the land mark legislation that would become The Americans with Disabilities Act. (1990) This law is the basis for the rights and freedoms that people with disabilities have today. 

As a result of her work on the ADA she would go on to serve in the Clinton administration from 1993 to 2001. She served as the assistant advisor in the office of Special Education and Rehabilitation, from there she would go on to play a role in the international disability rights movement and she would continue advocating until her untimely death. 

Although Judy Heumann’s accomplishments are great and would look awesome on anyone’s resume her legacy stretches far beyond just those accomplishments. She has had a great impact on me personally. It is because I learned about Judy’s advocacy efforts from an early age that I am the person I am today. Like Judy’s family, my parents never let me use my disability as a crutch or an excuse. When I was growing up, I had chores to do and they expected me to contribute like everyone else. I also can relate to Miss Heumann’s story because I too had dreams of being a teacher, but unlike Miss Heumann I let society’s perception of what people with disabilities are capable of influence my decision to stop my journey to become a teacher. However, they say things happen for a reason. Although I am not your typical “teacher” through my advocacy work I have found that there is more than one way to teach and not all teaching is done in a classroom. Life has a way of randomly presenting us with teachable moments. 

In closing, Judy Heumann will always be remembered for being a staunch disability advocate and she will always be known as the “mother of the disability rights movement.” As advocates, we have a responsibility to carry on the work of those who came before us. The fight for disability rights is not just about people with disabilities but it is also about the need for greater change within society for all. 

Until next time, 

Jay

Moving Along

            It’s funny what you find on the Internet. It’s been a while since I’ve written anything because I’ve been busy reading and writing a book, but today I came across something noteworthy. As many of you know, I recently graduated with my masters who have followed this blog. You may not know that I have been planning to move from my Pennsylvania home to a home in Florida.

            The home is currently being built, so as far as a physical structure, I will have an accessible place to live, but moving is never simple when you are non-disabled, much less when you are disabled. Because I require so much physical care, I use at home health services to provide that care. I use these services to avoid going into a group home or a nursing home. These services fall under what is known as home and community-based services.

            As of today, there are no uniformed national standards for home and community-based care services. Each state can set its criteria as to how to dispense these services. Why is this a problem, one might ask? Under the current system, the way services are proportioned only accounts for disabled individuals who want to stay near their hometown or area they live in currently. There is a significant gap between uses if you are a disabled individual moving from place to area. This can present a problem because it does not view disabled individuals as people, but rather as fixed pieces on a chessboard that stands still. Disabled people have just as much desire to grow and explore the world as everyone else. However, there is hope on the horizon.

            In an article found in Disability Scoop, Michelle Diamante outlines possible hope for people who use community-based services. She details what is currently know about the impossible senate bill from an Iowa Senator to improve community-based services. While the article does not include many details about the account, Diamante does quote the senators senior aide as saying “(Harkin) is currently looking at developing legislation that would enhance community access, inclusion, and support to ensure that all individuals with disabilities can receive home and community-based services and supports in their towns, cities, and neighborhoods throughout America.” All of this came about as a result of a report/study by the senator’s office, in which Senator Harkin found” Chairman Harkin’s 2013 investigative report‎ showed that the integration mandate of the ADA, reinforced by the Supreme Court Olmstead ruling, still is not being met across the United States”. To better understand this quote, let us look further at the Olmstead ruling of 1999.

            To begin with, the Olmstead case had to do with two women in Georgia. They were voluntarily committed to a psychiatric wing of a hospital. The women had both mental and developmental disabilities. After their initial psychiatric treatment was complete, it was determined that they should be moved to a community-based program, rather than be confined to a nursing home or institution. Unfortunately for them, both remained in the hospital for several years until they filed suit under the ADA in 1999 for release from the hospital.

            This case was critical because it determined, where appropriate, community-based services should be sought over institutionally based services for people with disabilities. The senators’ proposed bill may provide hope for increased funding and fewer gaps in care for people with disabilities, but only time will tell.

 

http://www.disabilityscoop.com/2014/05/19/senator-strengthen-disability/19374/

http://www.ada.gov/olmstead/olmstead_about.htm

The Acceptance Problem: It’s Yours, Not Mine

Okay, so usually I don’t write two in a day, but something has been on my mind lately, and the blog I posted earlier wasn’t an original piece of writing. Instead, it was forwarding an inspirational story. So here’s my daily food for thought.
       I warn you that this blog may unsettle some, and it may make you uncomfortable. The un-comfortableness will come from the overuse of swear words or a sexual conversation. It might come from looking at “ourselves” (society in general) in the near. Some of you may not like what you see if you are honest with yourself. 
       I am two and a half weeks away from finishing my Master’s Degree at my school in  Northwestern, Pennsylvania. As I complete this round of my academic work, I am forced to reflect. For the last nineteen years of my life, give or take a semester or two, I have been on the “right path.” We all are required in the end states to enroll in 12 years of compulsory education. After that, different paths can emerge depending on the individual. My approach has been full of curves and wrong turns and such.
       Now some of you may say, “But you’ve told us before you have two Bachelor’s degrees and just said you’re getting your Master’s Degree! What more could you want?” And to be honest, I reflected on this question for several weeks now. I even talked to varying sources, and many of them have told me this, “You are at crisscross roads in your life because you didn’t accept your disability sooner and set your expectations reasonably.” To them, I say it is not that I have the acceptance problem. It is you. “You,” in this case, being social. Even my parents and my shrink (who I occasionally go to) maintain my sanity have remarked that perhaps a little bit of my problem is accepting my disability. 
       Is my problem accepting my disability, or instead is it accepting what society thinks I should be? Limited to or capable of because of my disability. I believe it is the latter, and I will say this straight out. You’re damn, right! I don’t accept limitations put on me by anyone except myself. If that means I have an acceptance problem, then I guess I do. 
       Last Christmas, I asked for a book on the history of the disability rights movement entitled “What We Have Done: An Oral History of the Disability Rights Movement.” I have not been able to steadily read that book due to my Master’s Program requirements, but tonight when I read Chapter 3: Discrimination, I realized not much has changed from the ’50s to today. Some of you may say, but we have the ADA! Society is much more accepting of disability! To that, I must sarcastically laugh. Yes, the ADA has removed the barriers physically to many of the obstacles that face the disabled community. What it has not done is to remove the societal stigmas that come with disability. For example, there was a story in the third chapter of the book about Johnnie Lacy, a disabled individual who wanted to be a teacher, very much like myself. Lacy was systemically persuaded not to be by the same institution, allowing her to take special education classes. When I read this story, I couldn’t help by seeing myself.         
       Yes, I will have three degrees in about two-and-a-half weeks. Still, the route a lot of my college education (especially recently), I have been persuaded or “recommended” not to pursue the paths I follow. The problem is that we fight, and we fight for so long because we know we’re capable of doing whatever we put our minds to. Still, eventually, it’s not necessarily that we give up, but we come to a realization when the whole institutional system is against you. And you have no allies except the people that know you personally; there’s not much you can do. Even though my parents and counselors (and even friends) believe that I am perfectly capable of teaching, they do not have any power when it comes to educational institutions.
       Eventually, I just gave in, so I will walk away with a degree that I will not be able to use. Because yet again, this happened. When I expressed this sediment to this and others around me, they remarked that I haven’t accepted my disability and need to be more realistic about my expectations. To them—in this format, I say you might be wrong. Screw that. I am not bitter and am perfectly aware of my limitations. What I do not accept is the lack of opportunity in the greatest country in the world. We have the Americans with Disabilities Act, that “gold standard of disability law,” but it hasn’t done jack shit when it comes to disability and equality. Just because we can get into a building doesn’t mean society wants us there, and that is the next struggle that the disability rights movement will have to undertake. 
       Finally, someone liked the comparison, but as I dive deeper into the disability rights movement and find my voice, I can’t help but compare our struggles to African Americans in the ’60s. They were discriminated against because of some God-given skin pigment, and people like me, whether wheelchair-bound or disabled in some other way. I am discriminated against because society has such a screwed up perception. Not because we are flawed but because the company itself is flawed. It may take to the end of my life and beyond to fix that problem. Right here and now, I dedicate myself to making life better for further generations of disabled Americans and disabled individuals around the world. 

CRPD Hearing: Round 1 Aftermath

 Today was the first of two hearings on the Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities conducted by the United States Foreign Relations Committee. The hearing went for approximately two and a half hours. Both sides of the issue were equally given time to present their argument. Senator Robert Menendez of New Jersey did a fine job proceeding over the hearings.
       My the previous blog laid out my position on the treaty as well as the position of approximately twenty-six prominent disabled organizations in the U.S. As I sat and watched the hearings that were broadcast life on C-Span something struck me. Regardless of where one falls in regards to the treaty, the disabled community can only see the hearings as a positive. Not since 1990 has the disabled community’s needs been put front and center. Twenty + years ago this quiet segment of society was given a voice and a great voice that allowed such platforms like this blog to exist.
       Amongst all the debates over how the U.S. was going to be affected by the treaty I kept hearing one theme. The U.S. and the ADA are the gold standards in disability rights. For the first time in a long time, American was acknowledging the positive impact we had made on the world. We might disagree on such issues as how big government should be or even what roles government should play in our lives, but for this one day, we were able to put aside differences and civilly debate an issue. On both sides of the issue, there were bipartisan contingencies. Democrats and Republicans were supporting the treaty as well as forcing their opinion against it. Between all the battling, over whether a United States individual’s right to be homeschooled would be affected I heard one important thing. No one out loud said it but it was still there. The importance of disability and individuals with disabilities, which was not recognized 20 years ago, was again at the forefront of the American political arena today.
       I could get into all the arguments that took place over adding or subtracting political Ruts that would protect America’s laws, but that is not the point of this blog entry.  Although this blog entry is going to be fairly short compared to the other postings I simply wanted to write to express my great thanks to the Foreign Relations Committee for even discussing disability rights on a major stage. I hope that they do pass the treaty because I am a firm believer that the billion people with disabilities worldwide deserve at least the same quality of life that their able-bodied counterparts get, in whichever country they live in.  I understand both sides, but as these supporters said while the hearings closed, “America is a great and powerful nation. We are the best example of disability rights out there. This would be a great way to extend our leadership without negative influence on the international community.” Whether you agree with my opinion or not, one cannot disagree with the point that today and the hearings next week are the beginnings of what can be a great time for disability rights in America and the world.

P.S.: For those who missed the hearings today you can view an archived video session on C-Span’s website or on the Foreign Relations Committee website. You can also keep in mind that the second round of hearings will occur next Tuesday. For those who are not familiar with the Political process these hearings do not signify the United States’ ratification of the treaty rather they are just the first procedural step required to eventually bring the issue of treaty ratification to the floor.