1960
The
first Paralympic Games, under the auspices of the International Paralympic
Committee (IPC) are held in Rome, Italy.
Congress passes the Social Security Amendments of 1960, eliminating
the restriction that disabled workers receiving Social Security Disability
Insurance benefits being aged 50 or older.
1961
The
American Council of the Blind is formally organized.
President Kennedy appoints a special President's Panel on Mental Retardation,
to investigate the status of people with mental and develop programs and reforms
for its improvement.
The American National Standard Institute, Inc.
(ANSI) publishes American Standard Specifications for Making Buildings
Accessible to, and Usable by, the Physically Handicapped.
This landmark document becomes the basis for all subsequent architectural
access codes.
1962
The
President's Committee on Employment of the Physically Handicapped is renamed
the President's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped, reflecting its
increased interest in employment issues affecting people with cognitive disabilities
and mental illness.
Edward V. Roberts becomes the first severely disabled student at the
University of California at Berkeley.
1963
President
Kennedy, in an address to Congress, calls for a reduction, "over a number
of years and by hundreds of thousands, (in the number) of persons confined"
to residential institutions, and he asks that methods be found "to retain
in and return to the community the mentally ill and mentally retarded, and
there to restore and revitalize their lives through better health programs
and strengthened educational and rehabilitation services."
Though not labeled such at the time, this is a call for deinstitutionalization
and increased community services.
Congress passes the Mental Retardation Facilities and Community Health
Centers Construction Act, authorizing federal grants for the construction
of public and private nonprofit community mental health centers.
South Carolina passes the first statewide architectural access code.
John Hessler joins Ed Roberts at the University of California at Berkeley,
other disabled students follow. Together they
form the Rolling Quads to advocate for greater access on campus and in the
surrounding community.
1964
The
Civil Rights Act is passed, outlawing discrimination on the basis of race
in public accommodations and employment, as well as in federally assisted
programs. It will become a model for subsequent
disability rights legislation.
Robert H. Weitbrecht invents the "acoustic coupler," forerunner of
the telephone modem, enabling teletypewriter messages to be sent via standard
telephone lines. This invention makes possible
the widespread use of teletypewriters for the deaf (TDD's now called TTY's),
offering deaf and hard-of-hearing people access to the telephone system.
1965
Medicare
and Medicaid are established through passage of the Social Security Amendments
of 1965. These programs provide federally subsidized
health care to disabled and elderly Americans covered by the Social Security
program. The amendments also change the definition
of disability under the Social Security Disability Insurance program, from
"of long continued and indefinite duration" to "expected to last for not less
than 12 months."
Vocational Rehabilitation Amendments of 1965 are passed, authorizing
federal governments for the construction of rehabilitation centers, expanding
existing vocational rehabilitation programs, and creating the National Commission
on Architectural Barriers to Rehabilitation of the Handicapped.
William C. Stokoe, Carl Croneberg, and Dorothy Casterline publish A
Dictionary of American Sign Language on Linguistic Principles, establishing
the legitimacy of American Sign Language and beginning the move away from
oralism.
The Autism Society of America is founded by parents of children with
autism in response to the lack of services, discrimination against children
with autism, and the prevailing view of medical "experts" that autism is a
result of poor parenting, as opposed to neurological disability.
Congress establishes the National Technical Institute for the Deaf
at the Rochester Institute of Technology in Rochester, New York.
1966
Frederick
C. Schreiber becomes the executive secretary of the National Association of
the Deaf.
President Johnson establishes the President's Committee on Mental
Retardation.
Christmas in Purgatory by Burton Blatt and Fred Kaplan, is published,
documenting the appalling conditions at state institutions for people with
developmental disabilities.
1967
The
National Theatre of the Deaf is founded with a grant from the federal Office
of Vocational Rehabilitation.
1968
The
Architectural Barriers Act is passed, mandating that federally constructed
buildings and facilities be accessible to people with physical disabilities.
This act is generally considered to be the first ever-federal disability
rights legislation.
1969
Niels
Erk Bank-Mikkelsen from Denmark and Bengt Nirje from Sweden introduce the
concept of normalization to an American audience at a conference sponsored
by the President's Committee on Mental Retardation, helping to provide the
conceptual framework for deinstitutionalization. Their
remarks, and those of others, are published in Changing Patterns in Services
for the Mentally Retarded.
Silent News is founded by Julius and Harriet Wiggins as a newspaper
for deaf people.
