Disability rights history

A short selection of US milestones, not a complete history. Each one links to a primary or official source. Many more people, protests and laws shaped disability rights.

1. 1972: The independent living movement takes root

   Disabled activists in Berkeley, California, including Ed Roberts, opened the Center for Independent Living. It was run by disabled people and focused on choice and community living. Centers for independent living now operate across the country.

   • ACL: Centers for Independent Living

2. 1973: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act

   Section 504 barred disability discrimination in programs that receive federal money. It was the first major federal civil rights protection of its kind for disabled people.

   • HHS: Section 504 fact sheet

3. 1975: A right to public education

   The Education for All Handicapped Children Act required public schools to provide a free appropriate public education to disabled children. It is now called the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

   • U.S. Department of Education: History of IDEA

4. 1977: The 504 sit-ins

   The regulations needed to enforce Section 504 were delayed for years. Activists occupied federal offices, including a San Francisco sit-in that lasted more than three weeks. The regulations were signed in April 1977.

   • National Park Service: The 504 protest

5. 1990: The Americans with Disabilities Act

   The ADA bans disability discrimination in employment, state and local government, businesses open to the public, transportation, and telecommunications.

   • ADA.gov: Introduction to the ADA

6. 1999: Olmstead v. L.C.

   The Supreme Court held that unjustified segregation of disabled people in institutions can be discrimination under the ADA. The case shapes community living rights today.

   • Oyez: Olmstead v. L.C. (1999)

7. 2006: UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

   The UN adopted the CRPD, an international human rights treaty. The United States signed it in 2009 but has not ratified it, so the treaty is not binding US law.

   • UN Treaty Collection: CRPD status

8. 2008: ADA Amendments Act

   Congress restored a broad meaning of disability under the ADA after court rulings had narrowed it. The focus moved back to whether discrimination happened.

   • EEOC: ADA Amendments Act of 2008

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