Disability Rhetoric

“Disability history is inextricably entangled with all other topics of history.” – Susan burch and Kim E. Nielson.

What is the story behind the Americans with Disabilities Act? Very few people, I would say not many Americans, actually know how this act of legislation actually took place. This is disappointing, since the ADA is probably the greatest piece of American legislation ever passed since the civil rights movement. Now, offering a new narrative to the public is the 2020 film, “Crip Camp”, describing the lives and political activism of a group of disabled people who where influential in passing the ADA in 1990.

The film begins with the young disabled meeting each other at Camp Jened, the titular Crip Camp, one of the few camps at the time specifically designed for those with disabilities. The camp was started in 1971, and was influential in the formation of the early disability civil rights groups, fostering an independent spirit among the campers, encouraging them to be expressive, sexual, creative and happy and to seek a better life for themselves. The first half of the film describes the individual experiences of these campers, in particular, Judith “Judy” Heumann, Larry Allison, James LeBrecht, Denise Sherer Jacobson, and Stephen Hofmann, all of which offer their first hand accounts of the events that happen.

The second half of the film focuses on the civil rights groups and activities that these individuals became a part of as adults. Judy Heumann in particular became a pillar in the disability community, having helped found Disabled in Action and the Center for Independent Living. She was influential in spearheading some of the major disability protests about the implementation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation act of 1973, organizing the sit in protest that took place between April 5 to May 4, 1977 at the San Francisco office of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. After that protest, she and the organizations she helped start continued to advocate for the rights of those with disabilities, and she became influential in the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990.

The film concludes by showing the remaining campers of Camp Jened meeting together at where it once stood, the camp having been closed since 2009. It’s a poignant and heartening ending to a film which documents the journey of a generation of disabled people. Such narratives are important, considering how history tends to remember the disabled, or rather not think of them, or worse- think of them as a nuisance and a pain. The film briefly covers this as it discusses this aspect of disability history when describing Willowbrook, an institution on Staten Island where many of New York’s disabled lived, and was notorious for being poorly staffed with a lack of food and supplies necessary for the care of the disabled – in one word, Hell. Campers from Willowbrook where said to have been practically stuffing their mouths with food because in Willowbrook they had been starving. Many of these disabled people who were institutionalized at Willowbrook would have no way to speak out about their situation or how difficult, dangerous, and horrible their lives where in such situations. It is important than to recognize when such people can speak out and tell their stories. Examples of this include the residents of the New York State Lunatic Asylum, who managed to speak about their experiences by making a monthly journal of poetry, editorials, essays, plays and art, in which they can talk about their lives, thoughts, and dreams. Such a tangible record of the lives of the disabled is rare, and we should appreciate the opportunities we have to enjoy them.

Already we are seeing the brave group from Camp Jened slowly vanish into obscurity, as many are dead or dying, and soon all we will have left of them are their stories. “We are all stories in the end.” As the 11th Doctor once told us. And we must remember; we must bear witness to those who have come before us, so that those who come after will have a brighter future. The work of these amazing people has given us all a brighter future and we must not squander it.

“Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” -Ephesians 5:15