Disabled people have always being categorized as "special" and "different". They are constanly marginalized and segregated against, and even though discimination for the disabled is against the law it still happens. People with disabilities and their supporters have fought very hard to make their voices heard and stop the mistreatment. They encounter with so many obstacles everyday, and even though they have fought a lot, very little progress has been made throughout the world, especially in the least developed countries.
People with disabilities require certain accomodations and the benefit to not wait in lines, or whatsoever. It has not been an easy path but thanks to all the voluntary support of so many generous people that have struggled for the rights of these people, today they receive a lot of benefits and the right attention they need. Throughout history, many organizations and groups have united to fight back for the rights of the disabled. In 1983 the ADAPT (American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit ) made a move that changed history forever,thanks to them today people have the access to wheelchairs that are installed on the city buses. Today ADAPT is a national grassroots movement with chapters in thirty states.There's also the Disabled In Action (DIA), founded in 1970 by Judith E. Heumann and several other disabled people which is a civil rights organization, committed to ending discrimination against people with disabilities through litigation and demonstrations.
The methods that the disabled people's organizations and groups have used are mostly protests and peaceful demosntrations. This shows the extraordinary, nice and beutiful persons they are. The organizations have only one goal: fight to eliminate the barriers that prevent people with disabilities from enjoying full equality in the American society. They have struggled a lot to be where they are today but thanks to that today people with disabilities are granted many rights.
Rights of the People with Disabilities
1. The term "disabled person" means any person unable to ensure by himself or herself, wholly or partly, the necessities of a normal individual and/or social life, as a result of deficiency, either congenital or not, in his or her physical or mental capabilities. 2. Disabled persons shall enjoy all the rights set forth in this Declaration. These rights shall be granted to all disabled persons without any exception whatsoever and without distinction or discrimination on the basis of race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinions, national or social origin, state of wealth, birth or any other situation applying either to the disabled person himself or herself or to his or her family.
3. Disabled persons have the inherent right to respect for their human dignity. Disabled persons, whatever the origin, nature and seriousness of their handicaps and disabilities, have the same fundamental rights as their fellow-citizens of the same age, which implies first and foremost the right to enjoy a decent life, as normal and full as possible.
4. Disabled persons have the same civil and political rights as other human beings; paragraph 7 of the Declaration on the Rights of Mentally Retarded Persons applies to any possible limitation or suppression of those rights for mentally disabled persons.
5. Disabled persons are entitled to the measures designed to enable them to become as self-reliant as possible.
6. Disabled persons have the right to medical, psychological and functional treatment, including prosthetic and orthetic appliances, to medical and social rehabilitation, education, vocational training and rehabilitation, aid, counselling, placement services and other services which will enable them to develop their capabilities and skills to the maximum and will hasten the processes of their social integration or reintegration.
7. Disabled persons have the right to economic and social security and to a decent level of living. They have the right, according to their capabilities, to secure and retain employment or to engage in a useful, productive and remunerative occupation and to join trade unions.
8. Disabled persons are entitled to have their special needs taken into consideration at all stages of economic and social planning.
9. Disabled persons have the right to live with their families or with foster parents and to participate in all social, creative or recreational activities. No disabled person shall be subjected, as far as his or her residence is concerned, to differential treatment other than that required by his or her condition or by the improvement which he or she may derive therefrom. If the stay of a disabled person in a specialized establishment is indispensable, the environment and living conditions therein shall be as close as possible to those of the normal life of a person of his or her age.
10. Disabled persons shall be protected against all exploitation, all regulations and all treatment of a discriminatory, abusive or degrading nature.
11. Disabled persons shall be able to avail themselves of qualified legal aid when such aid proves indispensable for the protection of their persons and property. If judicial proceedings are instituted against them, the legal procedure applied shall take their physical and mental condition fully into account.
12. Organizations of disabled persons may be usefully consulted in all matters regarding the rights of disabled persons.
13. Disabled persons, their families and communities shall be fully informed, by all appropriate means, of the rights contained in this Declaration.
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