Disability and Health in the Time of Corona
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"Disability is one of the most organic and human experiences on the planet. We are all aging, we are all living in polluted and toxic conditions, and the level of violence currently in the world should be enough for all of us to care more about disability and ableism."
— Mia Mingus
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Disability and Health in the Time of Corona
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Lisa Herron,
Executive Fellow,
Well Being Trust
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I live in a body categorized as “high risk,” but my disability has connected me to others far more than it has isolated me. Like many, I want our society to grapple with questions of accessibility and to discuss the meaningful inclusion of disability perspectives. The struggle for disability rights and justice provides moments of encouragement and the possibility to apply hard-learned lessons to our post-COVID-19 world.
This digest honors the decades of activism of the disability community. It asks what we can learn from this history and present-day disability activism in our COVID-19 recovery, and what it means to apply a disability justice lens to our lives and our work.
July 26th, 2020 marked the 30th Anniversary of the signing of the
Americans with Disabilities Act
. The movement which ultimately led to the Act was grounded in widespread collective action, but one of its origin points was a group of young teens in the 1970s (
Crip Camp
)
. They believed they had the right to be included, to have the opportunity to contribute, and to live self-determined lives. The ADA secured a legal through-line to protect that belief: people with disabilities shall not be denied equal access and full participation in all areas of life. What followed was a re-examination of urban design and the implementation of architectural changes like curb cuts featured in the
99% invisible podcast below.
We can learn from this history
(
The A.D.A. at 30: Beyond the Law’s Promise
)
and model the unrelenting activism of young Judy Huemann, Ed Roberts, and HolLynn D’Lil. Their stories show us that achieving access and inclusion requires constant vigilance and advocacy.
Most importantly, the history of disability activism shows us that resilience relies on mutual aid, interdependence, and support at all scales. Resilience requires the transformation of systems. It requires us to build new structures. And it requires us to listen and respond to new narratives, especially those not typically bolstered by the privilege of overlapping social, racial, and gendered categories.
I hope
this digest provides disability-centered tools, resources, and support to confront Covid-19 and that it encourages more inclusive recovery and resilience strategies.
I hope we
all ask difficult questions about access and inclusion in our personal and professional lives. Finally, I hope my disabled peers, of different bodies, different minds, different experiences, continue to speak truth to power and center our stories as we make our way through this pandemic.
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Deadly Discrimination: The Forgotten Impact of COVID-19 On People With Disabilities
COVID-19 impacts people with disabilities more disproportionately than other disasters, with devastating outcomes. Under “usual“ circumstances, people with disabilities are two to four times more likely to be injured or die in disasters, due to inadequate community-wide planning and access to emergency and disaster assistance. Black, Brown and Indigenous disabled people and others at the intersections of oppression comprise the vast majority of lives lost.
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Photo by Vince Maggiora—San Francisco Chronicle/Polaris
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30 Years After a Landmark Disability Law, the Fight for Access and Equality Continues
The passage of the ADA was decades in the making, built on years of grassroots advocacy, campus activism and the rise of the so-called Independent Living movement, which challenged the idea that disabled people should be relegated to institutions.
In the ’70s, people with disabilities won a major victory when the 1973 Rehabilitation Act banned recipients of federal funds from discriminating on the basis of disability. It took four more years, nationwide protests and a 28-day sit-in–organized in part by Heumann–to implement regulations that truly enforced the law.
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30 Years Later, The American Dream Is Still Not ADA-Compliant
Amid a pivotal election year, it’s more important than ever for our voices to be heard. But the Government Accountability Office reports that around
60% of polling places are not ADA-accessible, and this number hasn’t changed over the last three presidential cycles. The closing of polling places, requirements like voter ID laws, and attacks on voting access are contributing to the growing disenfranchisement of people with disabilities.
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Commemorating 30 Years of the Americans with Disabilities Act at the Ed Roberts Campus in Berkley, California
The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law on July 26, 1990 — here’s how disability rights have changed since then and what work is still left to do. This video highlights key moments in disability history and how laws, policies, and narrative models have played into the disability experience in the United States.
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30 Years after the ADA, It's Time to Imagine a More Accessible Future
As the ADA turns 30 this year, it’s worth considering what has changed and what hasn’t, and the importance of continuing to move towards inclusivity for all disabled people. Activist and
Disability Visibility Project founder Alice Wong contends that the ADA has made concrete changes for disabled people: “The way I work and participate with the world would not be possible without the ADA. Every time I see strollers and carts being pushed at a curb cut, it makes me smile.” But the legislation still has significant flaws and loopholes.
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Photo by George Bush Presidential Library and Museum/NARA
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Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution
On the heels of Woodstock, a group of teen campers are inspired to join the fight for disability civil rights. This spirited look at grassroots activism is executive produced by President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama.
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Judith Heumann - Defying Obstacles in "Being Heumann" and "Crip Camp" | The Daily Show
“Being Heumann” author Judith Heumann discusses her lifelong advocacy for the rights of people with disabilities as well as the Netflix documentary “Crip Camp.”
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99% Invisible: Curb Cuts
If you live in an American city and you don’t personally use a wheelchair, it’s easy to overlook the small ramp at most intersections, between the sidewalk and the street. Today, these curb cuts are everywhere, but fifty years ago — when an activist named Ed Roberts was young — most urban corners featured a sharp drop-off, making it difficult for him and other wheelchair users to get between blocks without assistance.
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The Takeaway:
In the U.S., People with Disabilities Face Major Challenges to Voting
Access to polling locations is just one of several challenges faced by people with disabilities when it comes to voting. For more on this, The Takeaway spoke to Rebecca Cokley, the director of the Disability Justice Initiative at the Center for American Progress.
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YOU GET PROUD BY PRACTICING
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Alice Wong recites the poem "You Get Proud By Practicing" by Laura Hershey while wearing a Bi-Pap mask for the Disability Visibility Project.
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Photo by Richard Downing/Sins Invalid
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You Get Proud By Practicing
You do not need
a better body, a purer spirit, or a Ph.D.
to be proud.
You do not need
a lot of money, a handsome boyfriend, or a nice car.
You do not need
to be able to walk, or see, or hear,
or use big, complicated words,
or do any of those things that you just can’t do
to be proud. A caseworker
Cannot make you proud,
or a doctor.
You only need more practice.
You get proud
by practicing.
― Laura Hershey,
"You Get Proud By Practicing"
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ADA 30 in Color
#ADA30InColor: a series of original essays on the past, present, and future of disability rights and justice by disabled BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) writers. Published and edited by Alice Wong, Disability Visibility Project. Project Coordinator, Andraéa LaVant. Plain language summaries, Finn Gardiner. Audio narration, Alejandra Ospina.
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'Disabled People Love Clothes Too'
by
Keah Brown
Disabled people, including the fashion plates among us, have always had to make wardrobe hacks to navigate features like zippers, buttons, shoes and irritable fabric tags. Stylish clothing for disabled people goes by many names: Accessible fashion, functional fashion, universal and inclusive fashion. I use accessible and inclusive fashion interchangeably and sometimes together because they best fit what I believe fashion should be after, not just function but style, too.
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After 30 Years, Making Accessibility Information Accessible
360-access.com, debuts fittingly on July 26, the by now well noted 30th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Co-founders Joann Peterson and Madonna Long are turning the concept of crowd-sourcing on its head, instead boldly asking the venues themselves to provide the information for disabled, older and otherwise constrained consumers–such as the presence and quantity of stairs, accessible bathrooms, Braille or online menus, hearing induction loops, sound levels and more.
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7 Incredible Real Stories | Celebrate Disability | Netflix
We’re celebrating the 30th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act with these 7 incredible real stories.
Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution | Now Streaming
Love on the Spectrum | Now Streaming
Father Soldier Son | Now Streaming
The Speed Cubers | July 29
Rising Phoenix | August 26
Deaf U | October 9
Audible | Coming Soon
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UC Berkeley has allocated space for a disability cultural center on campus
UC Berkeley is known as the "birthplace of the disability rights movement"
We did it! After several years of disability community protest, UC Berkeley has allocated space for a disability cultural center on campus. Located in Hearst Field Annex (HFA), the space will open in Fall 2020 pending precautions related to Covid-19. The university officially notified our committee of this historic decision via email on June 18th, 2020 (official announcement by the school forthcoming).
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TOOLS TO BUILD WELL BEING
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Thriving Together: A
Springboard for Equitable Recovery & Resilience in Communities Across America
In eight weeks from May through June 2020, more than 100 people and organizations diverted their daily work to help craft this Springboard for equitable recovery and resilience in communities across America.
We drafted this document for ourselves, and for everyone who wants to help America to emerge from the compounding crises of 2020 with greater resilience, humanity, and direction.
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Health Advocacy Summit
How to Navigate Going Back to College in the Age of COVID-19
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Access Living
COVID-19 Resources for the Disability Community
In light of developments in the outbreak of COVID-19 across the country, Access Living will continue to support our community in a multitude of ways, including creating and maintaining the below list of resources.
Please note: This is a living document. Information will be updated as it changes or becomes available.
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Open Style Lab
Established in 2014, Open Style Lab (OSL) is 501(c)3 organization dedicated to creating functional wearable solutions for people of all abilities without compromising on style. We team designers, engineers, and occupational therapists to conceive and build accessible wearables that address the needs with and for people with disabilities. Our mission is for all people to have access to style, regardless of cognitive & physical ability.
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The Ability Center
7/30 at 10:00 AM ET
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Health & Human Services
7/30 at 12:00 PM ET
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Disability Network
9/16 at 10:00 AM ET
9/29 at 1:00 PM ET
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