Page Introduction
Welcome to the disABILITY Advocacy exhibit. Here you will find information relating to the history of disability advocacy. This exhibit includes advocacy through the ages, history on family advocates, noted advocated throughout history, as well as the beginnings of self-advocacy.
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disABILITY Advocacy
Speaking Out and Speaking Up
Advocacy for individuals with disabilities has taken many forms over time. At first the idea was to provide shelter from an uncaring world, to provide a place of asylum. When the institutions that had been established to educate and nurture fell short of providing for the basic needs of their charges, changes in the provision of care were advocated by social reformers, politicians, and most importantly parents. A fundamental reason for advocating for people with disabling conditions is they are members of our family. Currently individuals with disabling conditions are banding together to form self- advocacy groups.
Individuals with disabilities have always been part of society
Advocacy through the ages
Parents, siblings, individuals, organizations, educators and public servants have all played a role in advocacy for individuals with disabilities
Parents advocate
People with disabling conditions have been part of our family throughout time
Family members advocate
To find a way to include individuals with disabilities in "normal" life
Siblings advocate
To ensure their brothers or sisters are taken care of as they grow
Individuals advocate
To have the chance to make their needs known and to be heard
Influential Advocates
Dorothea Dix
Dorothea Dix (1802-1887) was an influential and important reformer of the mental illness and prison systems in the United States. Her efforts lead to the establishment of 32 institutions
Influential Advocates
Josephine Shaw Lowell (1843-1905) was the first woman to head the New York State Board of Charities and Corrections (1876). She also worked to establish the Newark Custodial Asylum for Feeble-Minded Women (1878)
Newark State School
House of Refuge
Lowell also played a role in the opening of the first reformatories in New York solely for women, in Hudson, NY (1887), and in Albion, NY(1892)
Influential Advocates
William Pryor Letchworth (1823-1910) an advocate for feeble-minded, epileptic and "the unfortunate classes." Letchworth helped to establish Craig Colony for Epileptics (1896) and Letchworth Village for the Feeble-minded and Epileptics (1909) was named in his honor
Craig Colony for Epileptics
Letchworth advocated for spacious grounds , a home-like environment, adequate medical staff and vocational and educational opportunities for the residents
Letchworth Village
Groups formed to meet needs
The Crippled Children's Guild sought establish a summer home for crippled children, and to provide educational opportunities that would lead to self sufficiency
Advocacy for Services
This card by the National Probation League asks for the support of young children with epilepsy who otherwise might end up housed in jail
Parent Groups
Organizations like the National Association for Retarded Children were the result of the efforts of concerned parents
Social Advocacy
Urging the public to enact legislation
Or Support for Programs and People
The Kennedy Center
The Kennedy Family
The Kennedy's were influential in establishing a broad range of programs that benefited the Mentally Retarded
Public Service Announcements
Mental Retardation Campaign Public Service Announcements by: President Johnson, Roy Rogers, Senator Kennedy, Count Basie and Dr. Benjamin Spock were played over the airways in 1965-66 to encourage the public to accept, employ and educate the mentally retarded
Burton Blatt
Burton Blatt was an educator, author and advocate for reforming the way we care for individuals with intellectual disabilities
Institutionalization
His 1966 book Christmas in Purgatory exposed the horrid conditions in institutions
Bengt Nirje
Nirje (b.1924) defined Normalization as "making available to all mentally retarded people patterns of life and conditions of everyday living which are as close as possible to the regular circumstances and ways of life of society."
Normalization
People live in houses, not institutions'.
Group Homes
Houses that blend in with community neighborhoods for individuals with disabilities
Wolf Wolfensberger
Dr. Wolfensberger's (b.1934) theory is Social Role Valorization- The major goal of SRV is to create or support socially valued roles for people in their society
Having a job
Taking part in the elective process
and expressing opinions
disABILITY Pride
A stigma free example of modern parental advocacy
Involving the Community
Getting the community involved in activities with individuals with disabling conditions remains an important part of disability advocacy
Self Advocacy
Overcoming the attitude that people with disabilities are "broken" or "need to be fixed" remains a major focus of the modern disability advocacy movement