Activism

Activism is a term used to characterize the activities of people with disabilities who are engaged in advocacy actions intended to advance their policy agenda at the local, state, or national levels. Activism refers to the active participation of people with disabilities in visible efforts to address the issues that concern them. Activism in the disability community can be distinguished from other forms of advocacy because it includes direct action and confrontational tactics. Conceptually, advocacy goals and strategic tactics can be placed along a continuum ranging from those that emphasize a high degree of confrontation and visibility to those that rely on them minimally. For example, acts of peaceful civil disobedience in which people with disabilities block traffic in a street or the entrance to an inaccessible store involve a high degree of confrontation and visibility. In the middle of the continuum would be less confrontational tactics, such as town meetings or rallies. Tactics such as signing petitions or building coalitions have a low degree of confrontation.

Activists in the disability community often refer to a sense of urgency for increasing the level of [Page 25]confrontation necessary to achieve their goals, as “time to escalate.” Most disabled activists try to use tactics that generate media attention for their cause, which increases public sympathy for their predicament. However, using more confrontational actions also increases the likelihood of police repression and legal action against the group members. These are risks that advocates consider as they engage in the advocacy process.

The history and development of disability services and policies have been significantly marked by the critical role that a number of individual activists have played in promoting change. Of course, the actions of the leaders are almost always accompanied by the actions of many others who remain unknown but whose involvement is critical to the success in achieving a particular aim. The history of activism associated with the advancement of policies and services for individuals with disabilities in the United States can be categorized in two distinct periods.

The first period was led by professionals and other well-intended individuals who took upon themselves the task of starting institutions or services to help individuals with disabilities. Examples of leading activists of this time in history include Thomas Gallaudet, who opened the first American asylum for the education of the deaf in 1918 in Hartford, Connecticut; Francis Fauquier, who opened the first facility for mentally disabled individuals in Virginia in 1773; and Dorothea Dix, who advocated for the creation or expansion of asylum facilities for the mentally disabled from 1840 to 1870. With few exceptions (e.g., Helen Keller, Clifford Beers), individuals with disabilities themselves did not lead the efforts for reform during this period, being considered for the most part incapable of such a task.

The role of individuals with disabilities in charting their own destiny became the most important change during the second period of activism in the United States. Inspired in part by the civil rights movement during this period, individuals with disabilities themselves took the lead in organizing and leading the fight for reform. Examples include Ed Roberts, who was one of the founders of the independent living movement, and Judy Heumann, who founded Disabled in Action in 1970 to address barriers faced by people with disabilities. A vanguard of leaders with disabilities took direct action in several forms at historic moments thereby helping to create, energize, and sustain the disability rights movement. More recently, people with intellectual disabilities established a national organization called Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE) to promote the closure of state-operated mental retardation institutions in the United States.

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