CAC Corner: A Disability-Related Resource List

Gordon Richins

09/21/2015

Justin Dart: "Father" of the ADA. "The ADA is a landmark commandment of fundamental human morality. It is the world's first declaration of equality for people with disabilities by any nation. It will proclaim to America and to the rest of the world that people with disabilities are fully human."

By Gordon Richins, CPD Consumer Advocate

In the old paradigm of disability, individuals with disabilities were thought to be broken and need to be fixed by the medical field.

In the new paradigm of disability, individuals with disabilities are not broken, it is the systems and the environments that are broken and need to be fixed so individuals with disabilities can be included in all aspects of life.

Here are some resources and web sites that may be helpful to individuals with disabilities and their families.

Names to know

Justin Dart was one of the key disability leaders, considered father of the Americans with Disability Act, winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom (the highest USA civilian award). Justin Dart was also a very strong supporter and advocate for the Independent Living Movement.

http://www.independentliving.org/column/stone200102.html

http://www.thecccoalition.org/justin-dart-jr-on-disability-employment-empowerment-and-productivity/

Ed Roberts is one of the most important pioneers of the disability rights movement. Besides his advocacy for educational rights, Roberts was a founder of the Independent Living (IL) movement and director of Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) in California.

http://www.ed.gov/blog/2014/03/celebrating-a-disability-rights-pioneer/

Independent Living

National Council on Independent Living

APRIL: Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living

ILRU: Independent Living Research Utilization founded in 1977, has a long history of providing research, education and consultation in the areas of independent living, the Americans with Disabilities Act, home and community-based services and health issues for people with disabilities.

RapidCourses is a free, self-paced learning option, fully accessible (508 compliant) and available 24/7, allowing you to "Learn at the Speed of YOU!" This web-based, user-friendly curriculum is easy to navigate and is designed to provide essential, fundamental knowledge of the independent living field.

http://independentlivingideal.blogspot.com/p/principles-of-independent-living.html