Americans with Disabilities Act - 34th Anniversary.

By Meghan Schrader

Meghan Schrader

Meghan is an autistic person who is an instructor at E4 - University of Texas (Austin) and an EPC-USA board member.

It’s disability pride month in the United States, when the disabled community is celebrating the 34th anniversary of the 1990 signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. As with countries around the world, the experience of being a disabled citizen is a mixed bag. As a disabled American, I personally think of America as the equivalent of a dysfunctional family member-like a brother, mother, aunt, cousin, etc. who you know has a drinking problem and has been in and out of rehab, but for whom you have great admiration and hope as well, because they’re your family and you’ve been there to experience their triumphs & good qualities. I think that’s probably the right approach-recognizing the country’s problems but also working with hope to make the country better. 

One example of a recent improvement for disabled people is that Florida just legalized Supported Decision Making, an alternative to guardianship where disabled people retrain the right to make their own decisions, but with a team of support people that the disabled person chooses. Another important change that occurred recently was the updated Section 504 regulations that require that doctors and politicians not make policy or medical decisions based on the dehumanizing premise that disabled people’s lives are not worth saving. Among other improvements to the medical system, this would seem to preclude policies that facilitate disabled people’s suicides or forced DNRs. That’s very important progress.

But, the deep ableism in the world continues to wound, demoralize and oppress people with disabilities. For instance, in addition to California senator Blaspear ‘s failed bill to subject that state’s disabled community to a Canada-like euthanasia law, Democrat governor Gavin Newsom spearheaded Proposition 1, which, instead of funding community mental health treatment, gives the state an inappropriately high level of latitude to institutionalize mentally ill people against their will. The Republican National Convention recently denied the American Association of People with Disabilities request for accommodations at the Republican National Convention. When asked by 90 disability rights organizations to make the recent presidential debate accessible to disabled people and to integrate disability rights issues into the debate questions, CNN merely gave instructions on how to turn on the captions on a TV. That means that issues pertaining to things like better opportunities for students enrolled in Special Education, intersectional disability justice, sub-minimum wages, marriage penalties for SSI recipients, deinstitutionalization, various Supreme Court cases, and life-threatening medical discrimination against disabled people were not addressed by the candidates and were not visible to the greater populace. 

The long-standing pattern of disabled people being invisible to our culture that many people don’t mind if we die was maintained. During the debate the American Association of People with Disabilities posted on X, “Assisted suicide is eugenics, and should never be praised or considered a viable alternative to providing disabled people with comprehensive, high-quality affordable medical care. #CripTheVote.” But, of course the debate did not address that issue, because the ongoing influence of eugenics on our culture means that disabled people are invisible. To many people, disabled people aren’t really a marginalized group, and we aren’t worth including in a vision for America.

Because of this oppression, many disabled people are so demoralized that they have a tough time celebrating disability pride month. Disability justice leader Alice Wong posted on X, 

“This July is the 34th anniversary of the ADA and it is beyond disappointing how little has changed. We still have to fight for the right to be in public spaces and live in the community instead of institutions. I am not in a celebratory mood.” 

Disability rights attorney Gregory Mansfield posted on X, 

“It is infuriating that, 34 years after the passage of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), cities are still developing transition plans to comply with it. It amounts to another generation of exclusion of disabled people.”

Generally, I’m with Alice and Gregory. I haven’t given up hope for our country or the world, but the extreme prejudice that disabled people face is exhausting and pisses me off. As disability rights icon Judy Heumann said in the 1970s, 

“I’m tired of being grateful for accessible toilets.” 

Yes, that. I am tired of disabled people being expected to be grateful for having crappy jobs. I am tired of disabled people having to be grateful for just being in a general education classroom or graduating from high school. I am tired of disability history being invisible. I’m tired of disabled people being the victims of interpersonal violence. I am tired of disabled persons having to justify our existence to bioethicists, to the mainstream media and to legislators worldwide. It makes me mad that in 2024, disability justice advocates are still having to spend our time opposing neo-eugenic ideas from Ancient Rome and the 1930's.

So, I find myself thinking back to my first annual meeting of the Society of Disability Studies in 2011. At the SDS community dance that happens at the end of the conference, the DJ played the song, “We Are Family.” And, as I interacted with so many other people who also had atypical bodies, and were also passionate about disability justice, it really felt true. SDS was one of the first environments where I felt fully accepted as a disabled person. I’ve found a similar environment at my current job, where students and teachers work together to help each other pursue dignity and happiness.

Therefore, as I’ve said in some of my other posts, I think the disabled community needs to embrace a philosophy of “chosen family,” to survive the ignorance that we endure. I think that community with one another, and with people of all abilities, is one of the best ways for disabled people to lead dignified and joyful lives in a society that often makes it hard to experience a sense of pride during disability pride month. And, I believe that people of all backgrounds have the potential to collaborate to improve the social condition of disabled people, on the premise that we are all members of a “human family.”