Who Are the Heroes? A History of the Disability Rights Movement (MCLE)

About the Program

In celebration of the 32nd anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, this presentation explores the key moments and personalities of the disability rights movement over the past one hundred years. Participants will learn about our heroes who, through their courage and conviction, fought for equality and laid the foundation of the four "pillars" of the ADA, full participation, independent living, equality of opportunity, and economic self-sufficiency.

The author and historian David McCullough once wrote “how can we know who we are and where we are going if we don’t know anything about where we have come from and what we have been through, the courage shown, the costs paid, to be where we are?” This presentation traces where we have come from in the struggle for equality and full participation.

The Americans with Disabilities Act was the emancipation proclamation for people with disabilities. But the ADA can only ensure facility access, effective communication, and legal protections. It is only by our continued struggle and commitment that we can ensure the achievement of full equality.

About the Speaker

This handicap event program will be presented by Barry A. Whaley, Co-Principal Investigator and Project Director of the Southeast ADA Center, a project of the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University. The Southeast ADA Center, based in Lexington, Kentucky, is one of 10 regional centers in the ADA National Network, to provide information, training, and guidance on the Americans with Disabilities Act. Barry is Principal Co-Collaborator with the University of Leeds (UK) Inclusive Public Spaces project, Co-Collaborator with the University of Queensland (AU) Gender, Equity, Disability, and Social Inclusion Mainstreaming Short Course, and Principal Investigator of the Mid-Atlantic Youth and Self-Advocacy project.

MCLE: One Hour of General Participatory MCLE Credit

Registrants will receive an email confirmation with the link for joining the Zoom disability event webinar.

You can also get your disabled parking permit online today!