By Madeline Ruebush
Humans have existed with disabilities in society since the advent of human society. Whether born with a disabling condition, or acquired from an illness or injury, disabilities have always been interwoven into the human way of life. But for centuries in the United States, people with disabilities have had to fight to be able to rightly participate in society.
“[My parents] learned that because I used a wheelchair, none of the high schools in New York City, in the entire city, were wheelchair accessible. So my parents banded together with other parents. They went to the board of education and they demanded that the board of ed make some of the high schools accessible. And they did.” said Judy Heumann in a TED talk in 2018. Known as “the mother” of the Disability Rights Movement, Heumann laid the groundwork for the rules and regulations that protect people with disabilities today. She became the first wheelchair user to teach in the state of New York despite being rejected for her inability to walk. She also led the infamous 1977 Section 504 Sit-In, which, with her continual activism, led to the formation of the ADA.
The fight for the right for people with disabilities to exist in society is unique in that anybody can become disabled at any time–and most will. A broken bone can disable you temporarily. An illness can damage your body forever. And old age will make everyone need disability assistance. Everyone can and will become disabled at some point. The fight for disability rights is the fight for everyone.
Before the Disability Rights Movement, those with disabilities in the US had a very bleak outlook on how they were able to interact with society, or weren’t able to. In the mid 1800s to the mid 1900s, cities passed “ugly laws” that made it illegal for anyone who looked “unseemly” to be seen out in public. This included those who were dirty, injured, and ill, banning people with disabilities from being in public. Anybody who fit into the description could be arrested, jailed, and sent to sanitariums or alms houses where they were mistreated.
People with disabilities are human and have the right to participate in society just as anyone else. We create the way our world works, so we have control over how we make infrastructure to include or bar people.
Accessibility helps everyone, and it doesn’t just help people with disabilities. Wheelchair friendly infrastructure makes spaces accessible for strollers or cart. Creating clear pathways of travel defined by 3D bumps creates less confusion for everyone, including those with impaired vision. Elevators and escalators are welcome sights when one is tired or carrying something heavy. These designs are for everyone. This idea has a name: universal design.
The Centre for Excellence in Universal Design (CEUD) defines universal design as "the design and composition of an environment so that it can be accessed, understood and used to the greatest extent possible by all people regardless of their age, size, ability or disability."
So why fight for accessibility? Why should you care? Well ignoring the fact that accessibility for people with disabilities benefits everyone, and that everyone will experience disability at some point, people with disabilities are humans and deserve to participate in society just as every other human.
In her book, Being Heumann: An Unrepentant Memoir of a Disability Rights Activist, Heuffman writes,"I recognize now that exclusion, especially at the level and frequency at which I experienced it, is traumatic. ”
You should care because it is human to care. You should care because no one deserves to be ousted from society simply because their body works differently. Just like race or sexuality, people do not choose to be disabled; they have no control over how they are able to interact with the world, but the world can choose how it interacts with disabilities.
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