"Crip Camp" and the Disability Rights Movement

“Nothing about us, without us.”

"The 30 anniversary of the signing of the American with Disabilities Act was a few days ago, July 26th, 2020. The ADA was signed July 26, 1990. The ADA put simply is a federal law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. The ADA includes those with physical and mental disabilities. It requires reasonable accommodations be provided to those employees with disabilities as well as accessibility to public places. The ADA is often referred to as “ The Emancipation of the Disabled.”

Crip Camp is a documentary film about Camp Jened, a camp where non disabled and disabled people came together in a care free environment. The film shows the perspectives of people with lived disabled experiences. “Crip Camp” also shows disability history in the way our disability ancestors fought for disability rights like they did for civil rights. Many people with and without disabilities are unaware of disability history. People with disabilities are often discriminated against, unable to access public places, and isolated from others. This happened both in history and now.

"Ugly Laws" and State Institutions 
Many cities passed "ugly laws" which made it illegal for any person diseased, mutilated , or disfigured were not allowed to show themselves in the public view. Many people with disabilities were institutionalized because their family was embarrassed of them and/or couldn't take care of them. These institutions were state run, had large barbed wire fences, and were forgotten about in society. 

Passage of the Civil Rights Act 
The passage of the civil rights act laid the groundwork for disability rights legislation. 

Center for Independence Living 
The first Center for Independent Living is formed in Berkley, California in 1972. It is the first center to be recognized for independent living. 

Passage of the Rehabilitation Act 
In 1973, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was passed. The law states, “No otherwise qualified handicapped individual in the United States, shall solely by reason of his handicap, be subject to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.” This law was intended to prohibit discrimination in federally funded programs and services. 
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Passage of Education for All Handicapped Act 
In 1975, the passage of the Education for All Handicapped Act permitted disabled children to be integrated into the public school environment. This act was later renamed into Individuals with Disabilities Act or IDEA. In the same year, the supreme court ruled  that people could not be held against their will, or placed in a psychiatric hospital institution, unless they are proven to be a threat to themselves or to others. In the court case named O’Connor v. Donaldson. 

Section 504 Sit-ins
In 1977, protesters and disability activists in ten cities demonstrations and occupants of the federal department of Health Education and Welfare or HEW to force the Carter Administration to issue regulations to implement Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The longest demonstration was held in San Francisco, California it lasted a month long. On April 28, 1977, HEW secretary Joseph Califano signed the regulation. 
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Passage of the Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act 
In 1980, congress passes the civil rights of Institutionalized Persons Act which allows the justice department to file suit if a person institutionalized rights were violated. ​

People with disabilities climbing up the Capitol steps.

Crip Crawl
The Capitol Crawl or Crip Crawl was a protest of more than 1,000 disabled people who crawled up the Capitol steps. Jennifer Keelan, an eight year old with cerebral palsy said " I'll take all night if I have to." The Capital Crawl gained much attention and political pressure. This lead Congress passed the ADA within four months and George H.W. Bush signed the ADA into law July 26, 1990. 

​Why is it important to know disability history? 
I think it's important to raise awareness around these events in history because not many people with or without disabilities have knowledge of what happened. Also, if we as people with disabilities don't understand our history we are bound to repeat it. 
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Now and Moving Forward

• The United States still houses people with disabilities in institutions like nursing homes, group homes, and prisons. These places have been deeply impacted due to COVID and is a way to still warehouse people with disabilities.
• The United States needs to ratify the international treaty of the convention for people with disabilities also known as CRPD. The National Council on Disability states, “[t]he CRPD is a vital framework for creating legislation and policies around the works that embraces the rights and dignity of all people with disabilities.” 
• Kids with disabilities are still discriminated against and segregated from other students. If you go into any middle school or high school, you are likely to find students with disabilities being taught in a separate classroom away from students their own age. This sets students up to have difficulties with neurotypical children. Schools are good at early intervention for kids with disabilities. Schools lack preparing students with disabilities, especially those in the mainstream preparing them for going to college and obtaining a job.
• Obtaining serves such as Medicaid and Social Security Income should be easier to obtain. People with disabilities are on waiting lists for a long time to obtain these services. People with disabilities have to fight the system if they are denied. People with disabilities may have to hire advocates or lawyers to help them fight the system.
• Please go out and vote for people in power who support issues that are important to you. The Arc put out a resource for people with disabilities to educate them on the election. This resource can be found here: http://thearc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/06/Policy_Issues_Fact_Sheet_ENGLISH.pdf

​I strongly encourage anyone who is interested in this topic to go watch Crip Camp on Netflix. It is well worth the time you put in to watch it. The video below covers much of the history discussed in this blog. This documentary was created by a student in high school and has won awards.

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Sources:
https://sailhelps.org/a-brief-timeline-of-the-history-of-disabilities-the-shameful-treatment-of-people-with-disabilities/
​https://harkininstitute.drake.edu/resources/
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/24/movies/crip-camp-review.html
https://www.disabilityrightspa.org/newsroom/advocacy-matters-convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities/#:~:text=The%20disability%20advocacy%20community%20refers%20to%20the%20international,are%20non-discrimination%2C%20inclusion%20in%20society%2C%20equality%2C%20and%20access.
https://ncd.gov/policy/crpd

This blog is also posted on Photography through Autism Blog.

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Written by Emily Wachter

Emily Wachter is the owner and entrepreneur of Photography through Autism. She is a lifelong writer and photographer with a passion for disability rights, social justice, and psychology. She is a college student at Carroll Community College with dreams of being a healthcare social worker. Emily has spoken on a number of disability panels on living with autism and experiences of bullying. She is involved with a number of disability groups in Maryland, including YoungLife Capernaum, Disability Express Group, and Special Olympics. In her free time, she likes spending time with family and friends, coloring, and shopping.