Today is the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act! This is a time to celebrate what it has accomplished so far, to recognize the contributions and sacrifices that led to its passing, and also to think critically about its limitations and where to go from here. Because that's the thing, it wasn't perfect. It wasn't meant to be exactly, and couldn't really have been and gotten passed successfully. It was, however, the first civil rights based anti-discrimination legislation that recognized disability as a minority that needed reasonable accommodation, equal access and equal opportunity. It was a first step, a work in progress, but also one that needs to work alongside other policies focused on ensuring social, political, and human rights. Further, and most importantly, the ADA needs to evolve over time somehow to reflect the changes in how people are living. Otherwise, it runs the risk of becoming antiquated. In all of the discussion about the UN CRPD people keep saying that America won't need to change anything because it already has the ADA. Actually, we will eventually regardless, and we should if we want to remain relevant and current.

All over the country, people have been celebrating ADA 25 Week. One of the most amazing things has been the ADA Legacy Bus Tour, which has been traveling all over the United States with its mobile disability history museum that features the photographs of social documentarian Tom Olin. A list of some of the ADA events can be found at the ADA Legacy Project's website and began with a reception at the White House, organized by Disability Community Liaison and Associate Director to the Office of Public Engagement, Maria Town. You can watch President Obama's speech below (the video should be captioned). However, it unfortunately does not have Haben Girma's wonderful introduction.  Also Alice Wong, founder of the Disability Visibility Project, joined the reception via a telepresence robot! This resulted in several fun articles, including one on Wired called, "The President is Now Taking Robot Visitors" and made Gizmodo's list of "The 5 Best Times Obama Met with Robots."  Photos of Haben and Alice at the reception can be found below the video. 

In his speech the President acknowledged the work and contributions of several disability rights leaders, including Tia Nelis who has been involved in the People First movement ever since the beginning. She is also the self-advocacy specialist at the Institute on Disability & Human Development at UIC, the current president of Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE), and a good friend. To celebrate ADA 25, the Google Impact Challenge painted portraits of disability leaders on steps all over Washington, DC, including Ed Roberts, Judy Heumann, Justin Dart Jr., Tom Harkin, Kathy Martinez, Patrick Kennedy, Tia Nelis, Claudia Gordon, and Tatyana McFadden. The steps were an interesting choice on Google's part. I believe they had intended it as an homage to the "capitol crawl"; however, I think it would have made more of an "impact" if Google had installed ramps or lifts next to inaccessible stairways and then painted those! Still, its really cool to see and I love that Claudia Gordon's portrait was painted on steps at Gallaudet University. 

You can see Tia's portrait below. It says, "We want the community to see us as friends, co-workers and neighbors instead of clients and patients. And to get rid of all those labels that hurt people." Also, the image below links to the main website where you can watch videos and view the rest of the portraits.

There was also a lot of fantastic discussion about the importance of supporting entrepreneurs with disabilities at the ADA 25 Week events! The topic of not only employment, but specifically entrepreneurship, came up during the panel at the Department of Labor, by Senator Harkin at the Department of Justice panel, and by blogger and entrepreneuse Emily Ladau at the Department of Education panel -- showing just how cross-cutting this issue is! I think its very fitting that at the culmination of ADA 25 Week, the Special Olympics World Games began in Los Angeles with entrepreneur and restaurateur Tim Harris introducing the First Lady, Michelle Obama.

We marched as part of the UIC contingent, which includes the Institute on Disability & Human Development, the Great Lakes ADA Center, the Disability Studies Student Council, and the Chancellor's Committee on the Status of Persons with Disabilities. We also had several students joining us from other organizations and programs at UIC such as Invincible to Invisible: API Pride and folks promoting doctoral student, Kat Perez's, new Disability Rights Blog.