Disability Rhetoric

The documentary Crip Camp features many disability rights activists who began their experience of being in a disabled community at the summer camp called Camp Jened, in New York. At this camp, people of all disabilities were welcome, and everyone was encouraged to participate in activities like baseball, music, and swimming regardless of their disability because the counselors were happy to provide any aid they wanted or needed. The narrator describes how many of the teenagers who went to camp Jened were incredibly isolated in their lives at home because where they lived didn’t have accessible schooling, nor transportation, and so many were unable to thrive in their communities. A central feature of Camp Jened was the emphasis on hearing everyone’s thoughts in discussions as well as full validation of the members experiences with their disabilities and how the outside world treated them. One of the people who went to the camp, Nancy Rosenblum, had a disability that impacted her speech, and all of the other people took great care to try to understand what she had to say, because no matter what, her voice and presence was valuable to the collective.

Once many of the members grew up and left Camp Jened, they began activist work together in order to create accessibility in the places they lived. One of the most prominent disability rights activists to come out of Camp Jened was Judith Heumann. She fought for “the reframing “disability” as a social and political, rather than simply a medical and rehabilitative, problem; the shift in priorities from correcting individuals to reforming society; the assertion that the necessary means for social participation and integration, whether devices or services or access and accommodations, should be enforceable civil rights rather than dispensations of charity” (Nepveax, 21). Heumann spoke to lawmakers in New York, California, Washington DC, and likely other states advocating for the Disability Integration Act to be enforced to end institutional biases. While working as one of the prominent leaders of the Disability Rights Movement she organized building takeovers and shocking demonstrations. The Activism chapter of Keywords for Disability states that, “Although much social and policy advocacy now takes place online, street protests, disruptive occupations, and performance oriented street-theater remain crucial ways to draw attention to disability issues that might otherwise be rendered invisible” (Nepveax, 24). This statement describes perfectly the methods in which Heumann and other activists garnered media attention and brought awareness to the public.

This documentary was very moving to me because of the strength of the community that was built from a single space focused on access, equality, perseverance, and fun. I laughed along with the Camp Jened members when they had an outbreak of crabs and had to quarantine, and I had tears in my eyes when Judith Heumann bit back her own tears while speaking to lawmakers about the lack of access her and her community dealt with every time they tried to move through the world. I give Crip Camp a 4.5 out of five only because I wish they had gone into the creation and evolution of Camp Jened when it started in 1952 move in depth, because Judith Heumann and many of the other activists that came from the camp attended in the 1970’s after it had been running for nearly two decades. This film should definitely be shown and discussed in high schools, because it is a perfect representation of how small communities can impact the entire country. What started as a fun way for people with like experiences to form friendships and a sense of collective and personal identity, became an organization of intelligent, strong individuals who gained international acclaim for their work.