Disability Rights for All

Disability Rights for All

By Ellen Birkett Morris

According to the Council for Disability Awareness, over 37 million Americans are classified as disabled; about 12% of the total population. Disability touches people of every age. Just over 1 in 4 of today's 20-year-olds will become disabled before they retire.Having a president who chooses to mock a disabled reporter rather than address the importance of disability rights means we have to fight that much harder to support the rights of the disabled, whether we are in those ranks today or in the future.  

                                                                                                                                                          
There are a number of groups, both national and regional, offering advocacy, education, resources, legal advice, technical assistance and training.

Here are a sampling of these groups:

Kentucky Protection and Advocacy, an independent state agency, protects and promotes the rights of Kentuckians with disabilities through information and referral, technical assistance, education and training, and legal advocacy. Resources include assistive technology, education, employment, mental health and transition services.

The Arc of Kentucky holds a vision of a positive future for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities; a future of communities with services and supports that will promote lives of value for Kentuckians with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

They run Advocates In Action, an innovative self-determination leadership academy designed to train individuals with disabilities; family members, siblings of family members with disabilities; or professionals working with people with disabilities.

Advocates In Action provides state-of the-art knowledge about issues relating to developmental disabilities and builds the competencies necessary for Advocates in Action participants to become advocates who can effectively influence public policy.

Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund is a national law and policy center dedicated to protecting and advancing the civil rights of people with disabilities through legislation, litigation, advocacy, technical assistance, and education and training of attorneys, advocates, persons with disabilities, and parents of children with disabilities. Their site includes references to their large library of information.

ADAPT is a national grass-roots community that organizes disability rights activists to engage in nonviolent direct action, including civil disobedience, to assure the civil and human rights of people with disabilities to live in freedom.

The National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) works to improve the lives of people with disabilities by guarding against abuse; advocating for basic rights; and ensuring accountability in health care, education, employment, housing, transportation, and within the juvenile and criminal justice systems.

The American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) works to improve the lives of people with disabilities by acting as a convener, connector, and catalyst for change, increasing the political and economic power of people with disabilities.