What is the Disability Rights Movement?
MA, History (University of Edinburgh)
Date Published: 06.08.2024,
Last Updated: 06.08.2024
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Defining the movement
Speaking at the centennial celebrations for Louis Braille in 1952, the French educator who established the braille system of reading and writing for the visually impaired, American deaf and blind political activist and writer, Helen Keller, spoke about the legacy of braille in her speech “The Life and Legacy of Louis Braille”:
Look at the strong solidarity that is already taking hold among blind people all over the world, and how, thanks to international braille, they have begun to weave words of kinship among themselves and with humanity. This is truly a symbol of all the years in which blind people have broken through the darkness with the inner light of human knowledge. Blind people of the world simply ask that where their abilities have been successfully put to the test, they are given the chance to participate fully in the activities of their sighted counterparts. (Keller, in Great Women's Speeches, 2019)
Anna Russell
Look at the strong solidarity that is already taking hold among blind people all over the world, and how, thanks to international braille, they have begun to weave words of kinship among themselves and with humanity. This is truly a symbol of all the years in which blind people have broken through the darkness with the inner light of human knowledge. Blind people of the world simply ask that where their abilities have been successfully put to the test, they are given the chance to participate fully in the activities of their sighted counterparts. (Keller, in Great Women's Speeches, 2019)
For Keller, braille offered her independence. The braille system gave Keller and people with disabilities the chance to access the same educational resources and literature as other students. Keller is just one of many outspoken disability rights activists who have spoken up for people with disabilities as part of the wider disability rights movement.
The disability rights movement is dedicated to promoting the rights and civil liberties of people with disabilities around the world. The movement supports equal opportunities for people with disabilities as it works to break down barriers that people with disabilities endure on a daily basis, especially in work and public spaces. Disability advocates or activists work together to promote transportation accessibility, equal educational opportunities, independent living accommodations, and equal employment opportunities for people living with disabilities, among other issues.
What is a disability?
Before we go on to explore the movement in further depth, it is important to cover what constitutes a disability. Broadly speaking, a disability is a mental or physical condition which makes day-to-day tasks more challenging, especially due to the lack of inclusive accommodations in that person’s environment. Disabilities fall under a variety of categories, including physical, intellectual/developmental, visual, and mental health.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), most people will experience a disability, whether permanent or temporary, in their lifetime. A person’s environment can significantly affect their disability. For instance, if mobility in a public space is difficult for a person with a disability using a wheelchair, that person may opt to stay inside their home instead of going to a sports game or traveling. The person with a disability is left feeling isolated and disconnected from their community. Their needs and experiences are affected by such factors as their living situation, race, age, sex, gender, and financial situation.
This guide will explore the aims of the disability rights movement, the history behind disability rights in America, models of disability, and disability rights movements today.
Aims of the movement
Disability rights advocates speak out against daily discrimination and abuse facing people with disabilities. Activists denounce neglectful attitudes towards people with disabilities and any violation of their rights, especially by staff or anyone caring for them. These violations might include secluding, threatening, or harassing people with disabilities or failing to provide proper mental health, medical, or personal care to them.
The disability rights movement has been working for decades to reduce the stigma surrounding disabilities. According to James I. Charlton in Nothing About Us Without Us (1998), the latter part of the 20th century was pivotal for the movement:
It was during the early seventies that people with disabilities in the United States and Europe, influenced by and directly involved in antiwar, student, and civil rights movements, began to organize on disability-related issues. Many activists, especially in Europe, Africa, and Latin America, were also influenced by leftist politics. Throughout southern Africa, where the DRM began on that continent, the influence of national liberation movements was important. Many of these people began to make political connections between their own lives and other social conditions and events.
James I. Charlton
It was during the early seventies that people with disabilities in the United States and Europe, influenced by and directly involved in antiwar, student, and civil rights movements, began to organize on disability-related issues. Many activists, especially in Europe, Africa, and Latin America, were also influenced by leftist politics. Throughout southern Africa, where the DRM began on that continent, the influence of national liberation movements was important. Many of these people began to make political connections between their own lives and other social conditions and events.
The disability rights movement’s mantra “Nothing about us without us,” first associated with disability advocacy during the South African disability rights movement in the 1990s, illustrates the idea that a policy should only be decided with the inclusion of those participants impacted by said policy. To this day, disability rights activists continue to embrace dialogue and initiatives that empower those who live with disabilities.
Fighting ableism
Ableism is the belief that a person with a disability can be “fixed” and that they need to conform to what society deems as “normal.” This belief is inherently prejudicial and discriminatory towards people with disabilities. Disability rights activists seek to raise awareness about ableism and the various barriers confronting those with disabilities. Ableism is often blamed for creating the barriers that people with disabilities are forced to overcome.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are at least seven barriers that people with disabilities face, including but not limited to:
- Attitudinal: People might stereotype a person with a disability, believing that their quality of life is miserable or believing that they are unhygienic or “abnormal.”
- Physical: An example of a physical barrier might be steps or a curb blocking a person with a wheelchair from entering a building or a sidewalk.
- Policy: An example of a policy barrier might be denying a person with a disability the right to access federally funded benefits or services.
- Social: A social barrier might include finding suitable employment or enduring violence at a higher rate than someone without a disability.
- Communication: A communication barrier might be the use of long sentences or words that could be inaccessible to a person with a cognitive disability.
- Programmatic: A programmatic barrier might be a lack of sufficient time set aside for a medical examination by a health professional or a lack of sufficient communication between the health professional and the patient with a disability.
- Transportation: A transportation barrier might be the lack of public transportation or public transportation being located in an inconvenient spot.
These barriers decrease the quality of life of individuals with disabilities and perpetuate discrimination. You can learn more about structural barriers facing marginalized people and people with disabilities in our study guide "What is Structural Inequality?”
Accommodating disabilities
Disability rights activists argue that it is the responsibility of communities to ensure accommodations are readily available in public spaces so that people with disabilities feel comfortable, included, and able to interact with their environment. For instance, adaptive technologies readily available at work or school can help people with disabilities feel independent. According to Jay Dolmage's essay “Disability Rhetoric,” the disability rights movement encourages people to change the way they think about disabilities:
Essential to this movement was the message that disability is beautiful and valuable, that people who experience disability do not want to be cured, do not want to overcome their disabilities, and that they can and will lead very valuable lives in the face of oppression. A key to the movement has been the concept that we live in an ableist society, one in which barriers are created that impede the ability of disabled people to participate, live fully, join the public conversation, and determine their own lives. (2017)
Edited by Lennard J. Davis
Essential to this movement was the message that disability is beautiful and valuable, that people who experience disability do not want to be cured, do not want to overcome their disabilities, and that they can and will lead very valuable lives in the face of oppression. A key to the movement has been the concept that we live in an ableist society, one in which barriers are created that impede the ability of disabled people to participate, live fully, join the public conversation, and determine their own lives. (2017)
Instead of trying to “fix” a disability, the movement encourages people to create a world in which disabilities are accommodated
History of the disability rights movement in America
Starting in the 19th century, disability rights advocates began working towards improving the lives of people with disabilities. As the movement especially took flight in the United States, this section will briefly discuss the chronology of the disability rights movement in America. Beginning with the opening of the first school for the deaf and culminating with the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), this section will also point out important historical events, laws, and amendments in the fight for disability rights.
Educational improvements and mental health advocacy
Social reformers in the 19th century began initiating change concerning how people with disabilities were treated in education and society as a whole. In 1817 in Hartford, Connecticut, the Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb Persons (later renamed The American School for the Deaf) was established. This was the first school of its kind in the United States. Later in 1841, American social reformer Dorothea Dix began focusing her attention on the conditions that people with disabilities faced in public places like jails. In 1864, the National Deaf-Mute College was established in Washington, D.C. Since it started, the college, which later became known as Gallaudet University, is the only university in the United States that specifically caters for educating deaf students.
At the start of the 20th century, disability rights activists not only focused their attention on the deaf and blind but on those with mental health conditions as well. In 1909, Clifford Beers, who wrote A Mind that Found Itself (1908), established The National Committee for Mental Hygiene (later renamed The National Mental Health Association). Beers supported advocacy for mental health research and raising the standards for caring for the mentally ill. He encouraged people to be kind to those with mental illness:
More fundamental, however, than any technical reform, cure, or prevention—indeed, a condition precedent to all these—is a changed spiritual attitude toward the insane. They are still human: they love and hate, and have a sense of humor. The worst are usually responsive to kindness. In not a few cases their gratitude is livelier than that of normal men and women. Any person who has worked among the insane, and done his duty by them, can testify to cases in point; and even casual observers have noted the fact that the insane are oftentimes appreciative. (Beers, 1908, [2017])
Clifford Beers
More fundamental, however, than any technical reform, cure, or prevention—indeed, a condition precedent to all these—is a changed spiritual attitude toward the insane. They are still human: they love and hate, and have a sense of humor. The worst are usually responsive to kindness. In not a few cases their gratitude is livelier than that of normal men and women. Any person who has worked among the insane, and done his duty by them, can testify to cases in point; and even casual observers have noted the fact that the insane are oftentimes appreciative. (Beers, 1908, [2017])
For Beers and other social reformers, people with disabilities deserved not to be treated as “others” but rather as belonging in the same society as those without disabilities.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the March of Dimes
The 1930s saw major improvements for people with disabilities in America. In 1932, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who was disabled after contracting polio in 1921, was elected President of the United States. Under his presidency, in 1935, the Social Security Act was passed, which provided assistance to the elderly, the blind, and children with disabilities. That same year, as the Great Depression loomed, the League of the Physically Handicapped was organized, which protested workplace discrimination and fought for employment rights for people with disabilities. In 1938, the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, which later evolved into the March of Dimes, was founded (a charity originally focused on eradicating polio, but later pivoted to focusing on health threats facing mothers and babies). Disabilities were no longer seen as private issues within the family, but rather as issues which could be supported by wider organizations.
According to Olivier Zunz in Philanthropy in America (2014), the March of Dimes was unique as it reached a mass audience and normalized dialogue surrounding disabilities:
Thus the March of Dimes reinvigorated the techniques of neighborhood canvassing initiated in the fight against tuberculosis before World War I and used extensively thereafter by the Red Cross, the United War Work, and the war chests. With the March of Dimes, grassroots campaigning again connected all (willing) citizens in a great philanthropic chain that linked the White House to modest houses in remote communities and indeed to just about every dwelling and workplace in America.
Olivier Zunz
Thus the March of Dimes reinvigorated the techniques of neighborhood canvassing initiated in the fight against tuberculosis before World War I and used extensively thereafter by the Red Cross, the United War Work, and the war chests. With the March of Dimes, grassroots campaigning again connected all (willing) citizens in a great philanthropic chain that linked the White House to modest houses in remote communities and indeed to just about every dwelling and workplace in America.
The March of Dimes encouraged volunteerism and advocacy in neighborhoods across America, shedding light on the underserved in communities.
Laws and amendments for disability rights
The 1960s proved to be a turning point for the disability rights movement in America. Inspired by feminist groups, the American civil rights movement, and the passing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which made it unlawful to discriminate based on a person’s race, ethnicity, religion, or nationality, disability rights advocates in the 1970s worked to change laws in favor of disabilities. Advocates became even more outspoken as they passed laws and amendments for the benefit of people with disabilities. Activists supporting mental disabilities, physical disabilities, and visual and hearing disabilities, came together to fight against discrimination.
In 1972 in Washington, D.C. disability rights activists protested President Nixon’s veto of what would later become the 1973 Rehabilitation Act. In 1975, the American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities was formed and the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act) was passed, supporting states and communities in meeting the individual needs of children with disabilities and their families and protecting their rights.
Milestones for the rights of people with disabilities were especially seen in the 1980s and 1990s. The United Nations declared 1981 as the International Year of Disabled Persons. In 1989, the decision in Americans Disabled for Accessible Public Transport (ADAPT) v. Skinner helped establish accommodations on public transportation to make transportation more accessible for people with disabilities. The 1990s saw demonstrations held and laws and amendments passed to ensure people with disabilities weren’t discriminated against, especially in public spaces and the workplace. In March 1990, in what would later be called the “Capitol Crawl,” protestors met on the steps of the United States Capitol building to protest the lack of accessible accommodations in public spaces, especially buildings. Some protestors threw aside their wheelchairs and crawled up the steps leading to the Capitol. The crawl made headlines and demonstrated the need for laws to support and protect the rights of people with disabilities:
Protestors dragged themselves up the stairs of the Capitol to bring attention to their daily struggles due to physical barriers and the need for accessibility. The Capitol Crawl became an iconic image of the struggle for accessibility and inclusion. The ADA ultimately passed and became law in July 1990. The ADA and other civil rights legislation have transformed opportunities for inclusion of people with disabilities in communities across the United States and globally. (Mary Ann Devine and Lynn Anderson, "Introduction to Inclusion," Inclusive Leisure, 2022)
Edited by Mary Ann Devine and Lynn Anderson
Protestors dragged themselves up the stairs of the Capitol to bring attention to their daily struggles due to physical barriers and the need for accessibility. The Capitol Crawl became an iconic image of the struggle for accessibility and inclusion. The ADA ultimately passed and became law in July 1990. The ADA and other civil rights legislation have transformed opportunities for inclusion of people with disabilities in communities across the United States and globally. (Mary Ann Devine and Lynn Anderson, "Introduction to Inclusion," Inclusive Leisure, 2022)
Later that same year, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) passed. This was a landmark decision as it prohibited discrimination against people with disabilities on a legal basis. It also mandated that public places and buildings must be accessible for people with disabilities. At the core of the ADA lies the idea that people with disabilities are worthy of respect:
The ADA is grounded in the human rights philosophy. It is based on the position that persons with disabilities have not received the same treatment as others, and that it is the responsibility of the state to affirm or reaffirm those rights through judicial and legislative actions. The humanitarian philosophy also comes through in the ADA because people with disabilities are viewed as having intrinsic worth and dignity. (John T. Pardeck, Social Work After the Americans With Disabilities Act, 1998)
John T. Pardeck
The ADA is grounded in the human rights philosophy. It is based on the position that persons with disabilities have not received the same treatment as others, and that it is the responsibility of the state to affirm or reaffirm those rights through judicial and legislative actions. The humanitarian philosophy also comes through in the ADA because people with disabilities are viewed as having intrinsic worth and dignity. (John T. Pardeck, Social Work After the Americans With Disabilities Act, 1998)
The ADA was later amended in 2008 in the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) which ultimately broadened the definition of what constitutes a “disability.”
Social and radical models of disability
Though there have been a number of models made to understand and educate others on disabilities, including the medical model, charity model, and the rights model, the social model and radical model are the most recent and most inclusive models.
The social model
The social model declares that disability is the oppression people with physical or mental “impairments” face in their daily lives. According to this model, these mental or physical “impairments” might be caused by illnesses, but the concept of disability was constructed by society. According to A. J. Withers in Disability Politics and Theory (2020), the creation of the social model was a pivotal development in the disability rights movement:
The social model was a massively important development as it provided an entirely new way for disabled people to see themselves. It also provided disabled people with a point of commonality. As disability is the oppression that people face, under the social model, there was suddenly a community of disabled people rather than many different communities of people with specific impairments. Disabled people would not only come together when they had a common enemy, like Nixon, they were united together against disability and the social structures that imposed it.
A. J. Withers
The social model was a massively important development as it provided an entirely new way for disabled people to see themselves. It also provided disabled people with a point of commonality. As disability is the oppression that people face, under the social model, there was suddenly a community of disabled people rather than many different communities of people with specific impairments. Disabled people would not only come together when they had a common enemy, like Nixon, they were united together against disability and the social structures that imposed it.
The radical model
Building on the social model of disability, the radical model is the latest model celebrated in the disability rights movement. This model embraces disability diversity and proclaims that the person with a disability is not the problem; social constructs are. The four main concepts in the radical model include the idea that disability is interwoven with other forms of oppression, the idea of “normality” is completely arbitrary, the term disability is often used to marginalize people in the pursuit of power, and accessibility should be approached in a holistic manner (Withers, 2020).
You can learn more about these models of disability and others in our study guide “What is Critical Disability Theory?”
The disability rights movement today
Today, disability rights activists embrace initiatives that celebrate neurodiversity. For instance, the autism rights movement garnered support in the 20th century and continues to make an impact in the 21st century. Running alongside the disability rights movement, the autism rights movement is a social movement that encourages the idea that autism does not need to be cured, but rather accepted and celebrated. The movement promotes awareness and neurodivergent inclusivity, embracing neurotypical people and the diversity they provide to society. According to Allison C. Carey, Pamela Block, and Richard Scotch in Allies and Obstacles (2020) in recent years, autistic youth and adults have formed groups which have been vital for raising awareness about autism as it relates to identity and cross-disability alliances.
As part of the disability rights movement in America, the Autistic Self Advocacy Network (ASAN) was formed in 2006 and groups of activists have met for various conferences including AUTCOM and AUTREAT. These activists have become leaders and have even been appointed to government positions:
This has also allowed the development of shared thinking and identity formation across diverse regional, national, and even international contexts. What does it mean to be an autistic woman, an autistic of color? To be neuroqueer? Concepts such as neurodiversity, neurodivergence, and neuroqueer originated in online blogs and scholarly publications. These concepts attempt to create a cross-disability umbrella of understanding and acceptance that moves beyond autistic to cross-disability alliance and identity. (Carey, Block, and Scotch, 2020)
Allison C. Carey, Pamela Block, and Richard Scotch
This has also allowed the development of shared thinking and identity formation across diverse regional, national, and even international contexts. What does it mean to be an autistic woman, an autistic of color? To be neuroqueer? Concepts such as neurodiversity, neurodivergence, and neuroqueer originated in online blogs and scholarly publications. These concepts attempt to create a cross-disability umbrella of understanding and acceptance that moves beyond autistic to cross-disability alliance and identity. (Carey, Block, and Scotch, 2020)
Disability rights organizations continue to strive for disability acceptance. The Ford Foundation in the United States, for example, strives for inclusion, diversity, and equality as it confronts global ableism in solidarity with the disability rights movement. The organization continues to support disability rights by hosting events and making grantmaking systems accessible.
Outside of the US, disability rights activists continue to raise awareness about disabilities. For instance, in the UK, the organization Disability Rights UK works with other public entities, businesses, and even the government to support national and local changes regarding benefits, work opportunities, accessibility, and social opportunities for those living with disabilities. In February 2024, the UK government even laid out a Disability Action Plan to make the UK the most accessible location in the world for those with disabilities to live and work in. The plan includes making playgrounds more accessible for children and implementing strategies to support people with disabilities running for office.
Disability rights advocates encourage active participation, supporting people with disabilities in speaking out about their own experiences and resisting what society deems as “normal.” Deborah Marks in Disability (2014) believes that as people become more self-aware in the 21st century, the stigma surrounding disabilities will hopefully be reduced:
The rise of disabled people’s increasingly assertive consciousness and activism is, of course, one element in the emergence of an increasingly complex and self-aware Western culture that is likely to dominate the thinking and attitudes of the twenty-first century. A growing pluralism – in terms of ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation – will form the context in which the debate about the ‘normal’ and the ‘abnormal’, the ‘whole’ and the ‘impaired’, the ‘abled and the ‘disabled’ will take place.
Deborah Marks
The rise of disabled people’s increasingly assertive consciousness and activism is, of course, one element in the emergence of an increasingly complex and self-aware Western culture that is likely to dominate the thinking and attitudes of the twenty-first century. A growing pluralism – in terms of ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation – will form the context in which the debate about the ‘normal’ and the ‘abnormal’, the ‘whole’ and the ‘impaired’, the ‘abled and the ‘disabled’ will take place.
As the disability rights movement continues, advocates hope that with more education and awareness of the realities of what it means to be disabled, society will adopt inclusive accommodations for a variety of disabilities.
Further reading on Perlego
Rethinking Disability (2019) by Jan W. Valle and David J. Connor
Disability Studies and the Inclusive Classroom (2017) by Susan Baglieri
Ableism: The Causes and Consequences of Disability Prejudice (2019) by Michelle R. Nario-Redmond
Disability Studies (2016) by Dan Goodley
Black Disability Politics (2022) by Sami Schalk
Disability Representation in Film, TV, and Print Media (2021) by Michael S. Jeffress
Colonising Disability (2022) by Esme Cleall
Disability Worlds (2024) by Faye Ginsburg and Rayna Rapp
What is the disability rights movement in simple terms?
What is a disability?
What is an example of a barrier facing people with disabilities?
What is an important moment in the disability rights movement?
What is currently happening in the movement?
Bibliography
Beers, C. (2017) A Mind that Found Itself. Jovian Press. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/2731005
Carey, A., Block, P. and Scotch, R. (2020) Allies and Obstacles: Disability Activism and Parents of Children with Disabilities. Temple University Press. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/2040082
Charlton, J. (1998) Nothing About Us Without Us: Disability Oppression and Empowerment. University of California Press. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/552260
CDC (2024) Common Barriers to Participation Experienced by People with Disabilities. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/disability-barriers.html
Davis, L. J. (2017) Beginning with Disability: A Primer. Routledge. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/2193159
“Disability” (2013) World Health Organization.
Devine, M. A. and Anderson, L. (2022) Inclusive Leisure: A Strengths-Based Approach. Human Kinetics. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/4370833
Marks, D. (2014) Disability: Controversial Debates and Psychosocial Perspectives. Routledge. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/1597477
Pardeck, J. (1998) Social Work After the Americans With Disabilities Act: New Challenges and Opportunities for Social Service Professionals. Praeger. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/4174167
Pfeifer, W. (2022) From “Nothing About Us Without Us” to “Nothing Without Us.” National Democratic Institute. Available at:
Russell, A. (2019) Great Women’s Speeches: Speeches by great women to empower and inspire. White Lion Publishing. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/2067221
Withers, A. J. (2020) Disability Politics and Theory. Fernwood Publishing. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/3534563
World Health Organization (2023) Disability. Available at:
Zunz, O. (2014) Philanthropy in America: A History. Princeton University Press. Available at: https://www.perlego.com/book/736020
MA, History (University of Edinburgh)
Hannah Hamill has a PGDE in Secondary Education (History) from the University of Glasgow and a Master’s degree in History from the University of Edinburgh. She also received a Bachelor’s degree in English from Belmont University. Her research interests include The Troubles in Northern Ireland, Medieval Britain, the American Civil War, and immigration to the southern United States. Her dissertation examined loyalist and republican women’s involvement during The Troubles.