Welcome
The Missouri Model Spinal Cord Injury System would like to welcome you to your Personal Assistance Services (PAS) program. To highlight the importance of this program we would like to take the time to share with you some history behind the personal assistance services program, the impact it has made on the lives of individuals with disabilities, and the significance it will make in yours.
History
Changes in attitudes and legislation over the past several decades have made a huge impact on combating discrimination and on fostering the current independent living view and philosophy. These changes have played an important role in the lives of individuals with disabilities.
The World War II era played an important role in developing the independent living philosophy. Paralyzed Veterans of America came into existence right after World War II, giving voice to a group of individuals with disabilities, and providing an arena for their voices and concerns to be heard.
The polio epidemic in the 1950’s also resulted in new ways for people with disabilities to communicate with one another, planting early seeds for the later independent living movement. Gini Laurie’s Rehabilitation Gazette provided a forum for different people with polio from around the country to communicate with each other.
One of those individuals with polio was Ed Roberts. Ed Roberts is known as the “father of independence,” a well-earned, well-deserved title. Roberts contracted polio at the age of 14, and experienced discrimination first-hand when he was later denied access to the University of California at Berkeley. He viewed discrimination as dehumanizing and became determined to combat it. In a quest to give individuals with disabilities control over their own lives, Roberts and several others, including John Hessler, became civil rights activists. Roberts and this group of individuals challenged the university’s denial of his enrollment and won in 1962. This was a major step forward for individuals with disabilities. Roberts and his peers also instituted a “Disabled Students” program on the Berkeley campus – the first of its kind.
The independent living movement took another step forward in Berkeley in 1971. At that time, Roberts and Hessler were living in a medical facility while attending school. They felt that this wasn’t the appropriate place for them to live and wanted instead to live within the community while attending school. As a result, Roberts and an organized group of individuals with disabilities petitioned for and received funding for a new project. In 1972, the Berkeley Center for Independent Living (CIL) was started. It was the first consumer-controlled Center for Independent Living. There are now more than 400 centers in the nation, which contain many of the same elements as that first Berkeley Center. Roberts continued to fight for independence and civil rights for individuals with disabilities throughout his life.
In 1973 the Rehabilitation Act was passed, which prohibits discrimination in federal programs and services (and all other programs or services that receive federal funding). Section 504 of this Rehabilitation Act was, in the 1970’s, considered our civil rights legislation. Although it lacked the enforcement of later legislation, it still offered new ways of thinking and hope for the removal of barriers to independence.
When the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law on July 26, 1990, it helped tear down many more walls of discrimination on the basis of disability. This law was enacted to remove barriers to employment, transportation, telecommunications, public accommodations, and – most important – the right to live in the least restrictive environment possible. Justin Dart played a major role in the development of this legislation. With much drive and resolve, he organized and led other individuals with disabilities on a seven-year quest to get this legislation introduced and passed into law. Dart was known as the “father of the ADA,” and never gave up in the fight for equality and justice. One of Dart’s most famous quotes was: “fight for your rights as if your life depended on it, because it does.” Dart died in June of 2002 but his flame and inspiration will live on through the ADA.
For more information on the Americans with Disabilities Act, please contact your local center for independent living or the wide array of information on the Internet regarding the history of the Americans with Disabilities Act.