"...in the past, people with disabilities were considered to be less than human, incapable and a burden on society. "
Arlene Mayerson, Personal Interview - February 22, 2013
Arlene Mayerson, Personal Interview - February 22, 2013
Prior Perceptions
Initially, society perceived the disabled as unsightly and banned them from public view. The American Eugenics Movement (1927-1974) sought to end the “disease” by sterilizing the disabled. Gradually, society began to pity the disabled, treating them with charity, and finally, attempting to cure them.
"We were living under substandard conditions."
It's Our Story - Larry Ruiz, Disability Rights Activist - July, 2010
It's Our Story - Larry Ruiz, Disability Rights Activist - July, 2010
Disabled Are Ugly
 Chicago passed the Ugly Laws in 1881. |
"[The Ugly Laws were] passed because of people's anxiety and fear of disabled people and disgust of disabled people, and fear of being disabled themselves."
Susan Schweik, Author of "Ugly Laws", Personal Interview - March 12, 2013 |
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Disabled Are Diseased
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"[It is] better for all the world, if, instead of waiting to execute degenerate offspring for crime, or to let them starve for their imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind.”
Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes - May 2, 1927 |
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Disabled To Be Cured
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"You are not considered to be a whole person; however, once you are in this standing position-that is normality."
Judith Heumann, Disability Rights Activist - 1980 |
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"He [Franklin D. Roosevelt] never wanted Americans to get the impression that he was helpless, so it was important to him to at least seem as if he could walk." Amy Berish, Employee at Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library - 2009 |
