The Independent Living Philosophy led to a new social paradigm:
People with disabilities are the experts on their own needs
People with disabilities have crucial and valuable perspectives to contribute to society
People with disabilities deserve equal opportunities to decide how to live, work, and take part in their communities.
Beginning in the 1970s with the Urban Mass Transit Act, people with
disabilities have been continuously fighting for basic civil rights. The
most comprehensive protection is the 1990 Americans with Disabilities
Act.
The IL Movement continues to evolve and devolve. Many large and small battles have been won, but even today, disability rights are under attack by those who believe in smaller government and by those who just don’t think that people with disabilities have value. Advocates at all levels, local and global, continue to fight for basic civil rights.
The Alabama legislature declared them “a menace to the happiness…of the community.” A Texas law mandated segregation to relieve society ...
Leaders in the IL Movement
The history of the independent living movement is not complete without mentioning the people who made substantial contributions to the movement and to the rights and empowerment of people with disabilities.
Massachusetts’ most stalwart disability rights advocate Paul W. Spooner died unexpectedly on October 8th, after a brief hospital stay. His life partner, Winifred McGraw, was by his side. He was ...
From the New York Sun. August 29, 2007 by Stephen Miller Frank Bowe, who died August 21 at 60, led a 10-city protest in 1977 that focused attention on the ...
As a nationally and internationally acclaimed leader in the disability rights movement, Marca Bristo led the campaign to promote the United States ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights ...
Appointed by Secretary Bigby in August 2007, Charles Carr was the Commissioner of the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC) until 2015. He has dedicated his career as an advocate of advancing ...
Tim Cook was the first lawyer for ADAPT. Below, Eric Von Schetterling pays tribute to Tim Cook in his description of an important court case about transportation rights. In addition ...
Few people in the disability rights movement understand the power, importance, and nature of grassroots organizing as well as Justin Dart. For over two decades he has been an advocate ...
Fred Fay became a role model and activist after he fell from a trapeze at the age of 16 and injured his spinal cord. He worked hard to become independent, ...
After contracting polio at the age of 18 months, in 1949, Judy Heumann faced numerous obstacles in gaining a decent education. Barred from the public school because she used a ...
Harriet McBryde Johnson was born in 1957 in eastern North Carolina and lived most of her life in Charleston, South Carolina. She passed away in 2008.She attended self-contained special-education classes ...
Evan Kemp was a key link for the disability community to George Bush and his administration during the 1980s and the ADA deliberations. During the 1970s, as a Washington attorney, ...
Paul Longmore passed away on August 9, 2010 at the age of 64. He was a leading disability scholar and activist. Valerie J. Nelson of the LA Times writes "Unable ...
Ed Roberts, a Berkeley quadriplegic who began the disability rights movement 40 years ago, now has his own California day. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill in July, 2010, creating ...
Liz Savage and Pat Wright are considered the "mothers of the ADA." They led the consumer fight for the passage of the ADA. Ms. Savage is an Attorney-Advisor in the ...
Max Starkloff passed away December 27, 2010. Amy Leavitt wrote an obituary about Max for the Riverfront Times honoring his life and achievements. He will be greatly missed, especially by ...
Dimenet has a memorial page for Roland Sykes with images, quotes, writings and testimonials. We've included a couple of items from the people he touched. You can read more at ...
Pat Wright's leadership during the ADA's passage eventually earned her the nickname "The General." She was one of a handful of leading strategizers based in Washington, DC, and worked especially ...
Videos
The Next Eight Hours (2019 video)
This video by Julie Ross explains why Independent Living is so important. The video is about Texas, but many other states have similar problems with incentives for institutions instead of incentives for home and community based care.
Video History – It’s Our Story
It’s Our Story is a national initiative to make disability history national and accessible. They have conducted over 1,000 video interviews with disability leaders across the nation. It’s Our Story.
Paul Spooner, Executive Director at MetroWest Center for Independent Living, helped create 15 videos about the IL Movement and its significance. View Paul’s videos at YouTube.
