Book Selections

Based on interviews with almost a hundred activists, this book provides a detailed history of the struggle for disability rights in the United States. It is a complex story of shifts in consciousness and shifts in policy, of changing focuses on particular disabilities such as blindness, deafness, polio, quadriplegia, psychiatric and developmental disabilities, chronic conditions (for example, cancer and heart disease), and AIDS, and of activism and policymaking across disabilities. Referring to the Americans with Disabilities Act as "every American's insurance policy," the authors recount the genesis of this civil rights approach to disability, from the almost forgotten disability activism of the 1930s to the independent living movement of the 1970s to the call for disability pride of the 1990s. Like other civil rights struggles, the disability rights movement took place in the streets and in the courts as activists fought for change in the schools, the workplace, and in the legal system. They continue to fight for effective access to the necessities of everyday life -- to telephones, buses, planes, public buildings, restaurants, and toilets. The history of disability rights mirrors the history of the country. Both World Wars sparked changes in disability policy and changes in medical technology as veterans without without limbs and with other disabilities return home. The empowerment of people with disabilities has become another chapter in the struggles over identity politics that began in the 1960s. Today, with the expanding ability of people with disabilities to enter the workforce, and a growing elderly population increasingly significant at a time when HMOs are trying to contain healthcare expenditures.

Covers the entirety of U.S. disability history, from pre-1492 to the present. Disability is not just the story of someone we love or the story of whom we may become; rather it is undoubtedly the story of our nation. It places the experiences of people with disabilities at the center of the American narrative. In many ways, it's a familiar telling. In other ways, however, it is a radical repositioning of U.S. history. By doing so, the book casts new light on familiar stories, such as slavery and immigration, while breaking ground about the ties between nativism and oralism in the late nineteenth century and the role of ableism in the development of democracy. This work pulls from primary-source documents and social histories to retell American history through the eyes, words, and impressions of the people who lived it. As the author, a historian and disability scholar argues, to understand disability history isn't to narrowly focus on a series of individual triumphs but rather to examine mass movements and pivotal daily events through the lens of varied experiences. Throughout the book, he illustrates how concepts of disability have deeply shaped the American experience from deciding who was allowed to immigrate to establishing labor laws and justifying slavery and gender discrimination. Included are narratives of blinded slaves being thrown overboard and women being involuntarily sterilized, as well as triumphant accounts of disabled miners organizing strikes and disability rights activists picketing Washington. This work fundamentally reinterprets how we view our nation's past: from a stifling master narrative to a shared history that encompasses us all

How should we respond to individuals with disabilities? What does it mean to be disabled, and is a disabled person necessarily less independent and less competent than a person who is not disabled? Is a life with a disability a life worth living? In this compelling book, three experts on disability issues, ethics, and the law address several pressing issues in bioethics, including the prospect of genetic discrimination, heroic treatment of seriously impaired neonates, and whether severely impaired competent individuals should be permitted or assisted to die. Anita Silvers, David Wasserman, and Mary Mahowald bring important philosophical theories to bear on subjects of concern in a wide variety of disciplines dealing with disability, and they do so in the context of the groundbreaking Americans With Disabilities Act. Disability, Difference, Discrimination will be of great interest to the legal, philosophical, and medical communities engaged in ongoing debates about the disabled.

A powerful memoir of one of the most influential disability rights activists in U.S. history and her mission to create a more accessible world for all. From fighting for educational access as a young person, to A Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year for Nonfiction "...an essential and engaging look at recent disability history."-Buzzfeed One of the most influential disability rights activists in US history tells her personal story of fighting for the right to receive an education, have a job, and just be human. A story of fighting to belong in a world that wasn't built for all of us and of one woman's activism-from the streets of Brooklyn and San Francisco to inside the halls of Washington-Being Heumann recounts Judy Heumann's lifelong battle to achieve respect, acceptance, and inclusion in society. Paralyzed from polio at eighteen months, Judy's struggle for equality began early in life. From fighting to attend grade school after being described as a "fire hazard" to later winning a lawsuit against the New York City school system for denying her a teacher's license because of her paralysis, Judy's actions set a precedent that fundamentally improved rights for disabled people. As a young woman, Judy rolled her wheelchair through the doors of the US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in San Francisco as a leader of the Section 504 Sit-In, the longest takeover of a governmental building in US history. Working with a community of over 150 disabled activists and allies, Judy successfully pressured the Carter administration to implement protections for disabled peoples' rights, sparking a national movement and leading to the creation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Candid, intimate, and irreverent, Judy Heumann's memoir about resistance to exclusion invites readers to imagine and make real a world in which we all belong.

"The first significant book on the history and impact of the ADA--the "eyes on the prize" moment for disability rights The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is the widest-ranging piece of civil rights legislation ever passed in the history of the United States, and it has become the model for most civil rights laws around the world. The untold story behind the act is anything but a dry account of bills and speeches, however. Rather, it's a fascinating story of how a group of leftist Berkeley hippies managed to make an alliance with upper-crust, conservative Republicans to bring about a truly bipartisan bill. In this riveting account, acclaimed disability scholar Lennard J. Davis tells the behind-the-scenes and on-the-ground story of a too-often ignored or forgotten civil rights fight, while illustrating the successes and shortcomings of the ADA in areas ranging from employment, education, and transportation to shifting social attitudes. Published for the twenty-fifth anniversary of the ADA, this book promises to powerfully ignite readers in a discussion of disability rights in America"--;"This book is the first major book to focus exclusively on the history and impact of the ADA which was the widest ranging piece of civil rights legislation in the history of the United States and has become the model for most civil rights laws around the world. Yet the history isn't a dry account of bills and speeches. Rather it tells the fascinating story of how a group of leftist Berkeley hippies managed to make an alliance with upper-crust, conservative Republicans to bring about a truly bi-partisan bill. It covers how major politicians fought in public while staffers hammered out the details amidst public demonstrations by disability activists providing momentum for all. The book provides behind the scenes accounts and never-before published intrigues that led to a successful outcome. In addition, the book will assess the impact and legacy of the ADA through the stories of individuals who have been affected by the legislation"--

Backlash against the ADA : reinterpreting disability rights-book

"In The Wounded Attorney, authors Young and Packman explore how mental health issues appear in the legal profession by examining attorney disbarment records and arguing for a therapeutic approach to attorney discipline that destigmatizes mental health issues"--

"This Commentary provides the first comprehensive legal article-by-article analysis of the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The Convention is the key international human rights instrument exclusively devoted to persons with disabilities and the centerpiece of international efforts to address inequalities and barriers they encounter to the full enjoyment of human rights. The book discusses the Convention's position within existing international human rights law and within the framework of the United Nations measures to protect the rights of people with disabilities. Starting with the background of all the Convention's articles, including the travaux pr��paratoires, this Commentary examines each provision's substance and interpretation, and explores the significance of each right, its legal scope and relationship with other international legal norms and principles. A unique contribution also analyzes the Optional Protocol to the Convention. In addition to enriching academic studies of international human rights law, the book provides insights into the practical operation of the Convention's provisions by assessing the practice of the CRPD Committee, the activities of relevant international and regional human rights bodies in enforcing the rights of persons with disabilities and the contracting parties' implementation practices. Relevant European Court of Human Rights, the Court of Justice of the European Union and, if appropriate, other regional jurisdictions' case law, as well as the jurisprudence of domestic courts, are taken into consideration. Contributions from leading scholars and international experts make this book an indispensable resource for lawyers, academics, students, journalists, international organizations, NGOs and other stakeholders wanting to better understand the rights of people with disabilities. Furthermore, it makes a valuable contribution to appraising the impact of the Convention in the legal orders of contracting parties and to charting the way forward in the protection of the rights of persons with disabilities." --Cover.

Looks at how the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) addresses or fails to address the world of discrimination for 2 groups of individuals with mental disabilities: (1) those who are part of mainstream America--successful actors, politicians, lawyers, and writers who report that other people minimize or refuse to believe their struggles and symptoms; and (2) those who are publicly identified as "mentally ill" by being institutionalized or on public disability benefits who report that they are considered totally incapable of any kind of achievement. The author examines ADA cases in a variety of areas, from private insurance and professional discipline to disability benefits and institutionalization. The common thread underlying discrimination is the failure to recognize that mental disabilities involve a continuing struggle that can--and often does--coexist with achievement and success. This book is a resource for lawyers, people with mental disabilities, therapists, and anyone who seeks to understand the full impact of disability law. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved).

In the late-19th and early-20th centuries, municipal laws targeting 'unsightly beggars' sprang up in cities across America. This book uncovers the murky history behind the laws, situating the varied legislation in its historical context and exploring the details of the laws.

"The book is about NON-custodial suicide, i.e., people within the criminal justice system committing suicide, including defendants and lawyers"--

"The book is about the law, history, public policy, administrative agency processes, and empirical and American labor market realities, around the elusive Social Security Act disability programs' requirements for determining when persons can make adjustments to jobs which exist in significant numbers in the economy"-- Provided by publisher.

Sexuality, Disability, and the Law approaches issues of sexual autonomy and disability from multiple perspectives, including constitutional law, international human rights, therapeutic jurisprudence, history, cognitive psychology, dignity studies, and theories and findings on gender constructs and societal norms. Perlin and Lynch determine that if our society continues to assert that persons with mental disabilities possess a primitive morality, we allow ourselves to censor their feelings and their actions. By denying their ability and desires to show love and affection, we justify this disparate treatment. Our reliance on stereotypes has warped our attitudes and our policies, and has allowed us to avoid important issues of humanity and of dignity that should be at the basis of any policies that affect this population.

"On the surface, America's commitment to equal opportunity in the workplace has never been clearer. Virtually every company has antidiscrimination policies in place, and there are laws designed to protect these rights across a range of marginalized groups. But, as Ellen Berrey, Robert L. Nelson, and Laura Beth Nielsen compellingly show, this progressive vision of the law falls far short in practice. When aggrieved individuals turn to the law, the adversarial character of litigation imposes considerable personal and financial costs that make plaintiffs feel like they've lost regardless of the outcome of the case. Employer defendants also are dissatisfied with the system, often feeling "held up" by what they see as frivolous cases. And even when the case is resolved in the plaintiff's favor, the conditions that gave rise to the lawsuit rarely change. In fact, the contemporary approach to workplace discrimination law perversely comes to reinforce the very hierarchies that antidiscrimination laws were created to redress. Based on rich interviews with plaintiffs, attorneys, and representatives of defendants and an original national dataset on case outcomes, Rights on Trial reveals the fundamental flaws of workplace discrimination law and offers practical recommendations for how we might better respond to persistent patterns of discrimination." -- Publisher's website

"This book is meant to cover the complete anatomy of a criminal case, from the initial encounter with law enforcement, through the bond hearing, through the use of experts, through plea bargaining or dismissal, through resolution, including a sentencing hearing to prison or probation"--

Cultural Writing. "Our wrists hurt from typing on our too flat keyboards. We put the TV on 'mute' when it gets to noisy in the bar, and follow the action with the captions. We duck into the `handicap stall' at the airport because it's big enough to accommodate us--and our rollbag and our computer bag. Still, we say, the disabled are ruining things for society. They want special keyboards at work to help them type. They want accessible restrooms everywhere. They want more captioning on television. They're always wanting special accommodations"--from MAKE THEM GO AWAY. "This book from long-time disability social issues reporter Mary Johnson is indispensable. It's the genuine article--Johnson was there"--Marta Russell.

"A valuable library resource for employers, educators, & even the most sophisticated practitioner dealing with the rights of Americans with disabilities." says Robert Silverstein, Esq., Staff Director of the Senate Subcommittee on Disability Policy, who also reports that authors Tucker & Goldstein have "done an outstanding job examining this complex area of federal authority & have produced a treatise that is thoroughly researched, well annotated, & exhaustively analyzed." The book provides an analysis of laws enacted by Congress to eliminate the major types of discrimination confronted by Americans with disabilities who seek to participate in the mainstream of society. Topics covered include employment, education, public accommodations, housing, transportation, access to services, the elimination of architectural barriers, & disabled newborns. "This book has it all" - David M. Capozzi, Project ACTION. Familiarity with the primary issues, laws & cases dealing with those topics will introduce - & sensitize - the reader to the depth of the discrimination faced by Americans with disabilities, & to the scope of awareness & effort required to alleviate that discrimination. While analyzing these laws, the authors often leave you pondering the justice of certain decisions, the ambiguity of existing law, the necessity for further legislation, & the dilemmas of reality.

"This new, completely revised edition of Legal Rights: The Guide for Deaf and Hard of Hearing People meticulously describes the federal and state statutes that prohibit discrimination against deaf and hard of hearing people. Written in easy-to-understand language, the sixth edition explains critically important legislation such as the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It also includes the recent amendments to these laws -- the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) and new regulations to its Title II concerning public entities and Title III pertaining to public accommodations and commercial facilities; and the reauthorization of IDEA, which expanded the No Child Left Behind Act requirement of highly qualified teachers to include all students with disabilities. This updated edition of Legal Rights tracks the trend of passing a Deaf and Hard of Hearing Children's Bill of Rights in a growing number of state legislatures. It delineates new federal legislation such as the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act, which ensures that deaf and hard of hearing people have access to the newest communications technology. Legal Rights also provides vital information on health care and social services, fair housing regulations, employment, and the use of interpreters in the legal system, securing its position as the most comprehensive source of legal information for deaf and hard of hearing people now available." -- Back cover

Refugees living with disabilities are often forgotten or invisible during acute crises of human displacement. This groundbreaking work examines the experiences of persons with disabilities who have crossed borders in search of protection from disasters or conflict, and analyses the existing legal frameworks for their protection. The authors deftly explore the intersection between one of the oldest international human rights treaties, the 1951 Refugee Convention, with one of the newest, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Drawing on pioneering fieldwork in six countries - Malaysia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Uganda, Jordan and Turkey - this book examines how the CRPD is, or should be, changing the way that governments and aid agencies engage with and accommodate refugees with disabilities. Its timeliness is underscored by the adoption in 2016 of the UN Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action at the World Humanitarian Summit. Engaging and thought-provoking, this book will captivate any scholar studying international law, development, disability rights and refugee and forced migration studies. It is also an imperative resource for practitioners and policymakers in the humanitarian and development sector, as well as international human rights organisations--

This inspiring book contains letters of encouragement and advice from lawyers with disabilities to law students and new lawyers with disabilities. The writers share their perspectives on work and disability, based on their own experiences of success and setbacks.

This publication is a valuable resource for lawyers who are counseling clients who are considering the purchase of individual or group disability coverage, as it discusses all the many definitions of disability. It explains the types of coverage and the related terminology, as well as how to achieve full protection.

Richard A. Courtney is a Certified Elder Law Attorney through the National Elder Law Foundation who also practices in areas including special needs planning, trusts and trust administration, and nursing home and disability rights. He has been named in Best Lawyers in America in Elder Law and Trusts & Estates since 2013. He is also a Fellow of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. Four decades ago, Courtney was thrust into the arena of special needs law on a personal basis as a parent of a child with disabilities. Since that time, he has gained substantial experience, personally and professionally, with the legal issues involved, such as Medicaid, SSI, housing, asset protection, special needs estate planning, and incapacity planning. This book gives general practitioners and less experienced special needs attorneys the background and basic information on these and other issues, as well as the planning techniques and legal strategies needed to counsel and assist clients with special needs. Book jacket.

The passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990 was hailed as revolutionary legislation, but in the ensuing years restrictive Supreme Court decisions have prompted accusations that the Court has betrayed the disability rights movement. The ADA can lay claim to notable successes, yet people with disabilities continue to be unemployed at extremely high rates. In this timely book, Samuel R. Bagenstos examines the history of the movement and discusses the various, often-conflicting projects of diverse participants. He argues that while the courts deserve some criticism, some may also be fairly aimed at the choices made by prominent disability rights activists as they crafted and argued for the ADA. The author concludes with an assessment of the limits of antidiscrimination law in integrating and empowering people with disabilities, and he suggests new policy directions to make these goals a reality.

"In Land Use Law and Disability, Robin Paul Malloy argues that our communities need better planning to be safely and easily navigated by people with mobility impairment and to facilitate intergenerational aging in place. To achieve this, communities will need to think of mobility impairment and inclusive design as land use and planning issues, in addition to understanding them as matters of civil and constitutional rights. Although much has been written about the rights of people with disabilities, little has been said about the interplay between disability and land use regulation. This book undertakes to explain mobility impairment, as one type of disability, in terms of planning and zoning. The goal is to advance our understanding of disability in terms of planning and zoning to facilitate cooperative engagement between disability rights advocates and land use professionals. This in turn should lead to improved community planning for accessibility and aging in place"--

"This book provides an overview of disability exceptions to copyright infringement and the international legal framework for disability rights and exceptions. The focus is on those exceptions as they apply to visual art, while the book presents a comprehensive study of copyright's disability exceptions per se, and the international human rights law framework in which they are situated."--

The book examines the basis of discrimination against people with disabilities, including the history of such discrimination and a review of studies that explore why people engage in this sort of discrimination. It examines the federal laws that culminated in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The book describes the ADA's definition of disability, how it has been interpreted and studied, and then reviews the three major titles of the ADA, including a review of the remedies available for various ADA claims and the procedures required to pursue them.

In this book, the author reveals a pattern of prejudice against mentally disabled individuals that keeps them from receiving equal treatment under the law. Sanism, like racism, is a prejudice against a minority population. This mostly hidden prejudice against mentally ill people has pervaded Western culture throughout history, and the author documents how sanism continues to affect our culture and legal system. Under the pretext of "improving" society, a judge, lawyer, or fact-finder may ignore faulty evidence. This testimonial dishonesty is often based on the false belief that the mentally disabled are not responsible or intelligent enough to deserve the full rights of citizenship. The author argues that these are sanist decisions and explores the roots and results of these decisions. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved).

"The incredible life story of Haben Girma, the first Deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School, and her amazing journey from isolation to the world stage." -- From Amazon.com summary.;Girma grew up with her family in the Eritrean city of Asmara during Eritrea's thirty-year war with Ethiopia. Defining her disability as an opportunity for innovation, she learned non-visual techniques for everything from dancing salsa to handling an electric saw. She developed a text-to-braille communication system that created a new way to connect with people. Pioneering her way through obstacles, Girma graduated from Harvard Law, and now uses her talents to advocate for people with disabilities. This is a testament to her determination to find the keys to connection. -- adapted from jacket

Now that curb cuts, braille elevator buttons, and closed caption television are commonplace, many people assume that disabled people are now full participants in American society. This book tells a rather different story. It tells how America's disabled mobilized to effect sweeping changes in public policy, not once but twice, and it suggests that the struggle is not yet over. The first edition of From Good Will to Civil Rights traced the changes in federal disability policy, focusing on the development and implementation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Richard K. Scotch's extensive interviews with policymakers, leaders of the disability rights movement, and other advocates, supplemented the sketchy official history of the legislation with the detailed, behind-the-scenes story, illuminating the role of the disability rights movement in shaping Section 504. Charting the shifts in policy and activist agendas through the 1990's, this new edition surveys the effects and disappointments associated with the Americans with Disabilities Act, passed in 1990, in the context of the continuing movement to secure civil rights for disabled people.

"Disabling Barriers analyzes issues relating to disability at different moments in Canadian and American history. In this volume, legal scholars, historians, and disability-rights activists demonstrate that disabled people can change their social status by transforming the political and legal discourse surrounding disablement. Traditionally, disabled people were regarded as objects of pity and condescension. The rise of the social model of disablement--which identifies barriers, rather than physiological impairments, as the main problem facing people with disabilities--has resulted in a dramatic reconfiguration of how we regard political and legal structures affecting people with disabilities. Employing tools from the fields of law and history, this volume explores how disabled people have been portrayed and treated in a variety of contexts, including within the labour market, the workers' compensation system, the immigration process, and the legal system (both as litigants and as lawyers). This original contribution deepens our knowledge of the role of people with disabilities within social movements in disability history. The contributors encourage us to rethink our understanding of both the systemic barriers disabled people face and the capacity of disabled people to effect positive societal change."--