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DISABILITY IN THE SOCIAL CONTEXT
CHANGING THE EQUATION DOMESTICALLY AND INTERNATIONALLY FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES STORY BY JAN TEGLER
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or Americans with disabilities, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) represents more than recognition of a population underrepresented and underserved by existing law or a prohibition against discrimination. Over the course of 25 years, the landmark legislation has changed expectations and attitudes inside and outside the disability community, and beyond American borders. What’s different? The ADA affirmed that Americans with disabilities deserve the same treatment as Americans who have no disabilities. More than cementing the conviction that individuals with disabilities should benefit from the same access and opportunities other Americans take for granted, it has also helped to make citizens with disabilities and disability itself more familiar to all, says Catherine Kudlick, professor of history and director of the Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability at San Francisco State University. “It changed the equation from being accommodation for individuals out of generosity to a situation where everyone could have access whether or not we
know they need it. It became a rights-based issue, and that affects your social attitude. If you think access is your right versus a handout, you’re going to approach everything differently. “Non-disabled people see more disabled people on a regular basis because they now have improved access,” Kudlick said. “When people are more in your space and you’re encountering them more, they’re less mysterious, weird, or scary. There’s the possibility to interact with people you might never have interacted with before. That’s not as true in all areas of the country, but it is improved.” The Social Aspect of Disability The manner in which American society views people with disabilities and the way people with disabilities see themselves has been positively influenced by the ADA. Today, people are acknowledging that there is a “social aspect of disability,” Kudlick said. Previously, disability was seen only as a medical condition. “You were someone that had something unfortunate happen to you,” she explained. “You were an individual and you were dealing
with a pathology and you went to medical professionals and tried to get them to fix it to overcome it. Now, people are saying that it’s about social context, about the built environment, understanding prejudice, attitudes, and ideas as much as it is about the actual person and what’s ‘wrong’ with them. That’s the sea change in thinking. It’s fundamental and allencompassing.” Kudlick speaks with authority, having specialized in the history of medicine and disability issues, and having been born with cataracts that have affected her vision throughout her life. She notes that portrayals of people with disabilities in the media, particularly on film and in television, are beginning to change for the better, but adds that for every positive depiction, there are multiple examples that “set you back a hundred years.” Kudlick likens the evolution of disability rights under the ADA to the transition phase the women’s rights movement went through 40 years ago. Resistance to change in attitudes about people with disabilities, she argues, is, in part, due to the money riding on the older views of people with disabilities.
