Book Review: Encyclopedia on the U.S. Disability Rights Movement
By Anthony Tusler ( atusler@pacbell.net)
The ABC/CLIO Companion to The Disability Rights Movement
Fred Pelka 1997
ABC/CLIO,Inc.
422 pages
For the past two years I've used Fred Pelka's encyclopedic book of the Disability Rights Movement as I would any standard reference. If I couldn't remember the date of the 1977 504 demonstrations in San Francisco I would leaf through the listings. If I wanted a precise definition of universal design I would look it up. Sometimes I found exactly what I wanted, other times I wished for more detail.
Then I took up the book to write a review. There is something else here entirely. I was reminded of the times, years ago, when I would get lost in a dictionary or encyclopedia-reading one article that would lead to another and then to yet another. With closer examination I found out what a treat this book is. Consistently, Fred Pelka has interpreted the disability events of the past hundred years through a disability rights perspective. From Mary Switzer and the beginning of the United State's contemporary vocational rehabilitation system through ADAPT's blockades of buildings and buses, Pelka gleans the threads, antecedents, and precursors to an all-too-often unspoken disability rights perspective.
Although disability rights and self-definition are inherent in the current legal, political, and social perspectives on disability, rarely are they articulated as directly and consistently as this.
Two Usual approaches
Simplistically, there are two approaches used by members of the disability community to discuss their issues. One is apologetic, the other outraged. The apology reflects the model of the "good, well-adjusted disabled person" who wants what everyone else wants and does not want to be a bother, nor any trouble, hoping for the beneficence of a just society. (This should not be mistaken for a desire to be cooperative while maintaining a healthy sense of autonomy and awareness of civil rights.) The outrage reflects anger. It outlines and describes the injustices and oppression of people with disabilities in a world that continues to stereotype and marginalize them.
Pelka's approach
I was refreshed and excited to see that Pelka used neither approach. It is as if he has moved beyond them. He has a direct, unequivocal view that a cultural/civil rights perspective is the way to view all disability matters. He does this without apology, without rancor, but with conviction and a consistency of view. He could have easily complained that the system of rehabilitation set-up by Mary Switzer (et al) in the United States in the 1950s is now obsolete and hampers the disability community, but instead he outlines the major strides she made in legislation, programs, and in support of culture (The National Theater of the Deaf). These advances were essential for people with disabilities to move beyond care taking and isolation. We would not have the Americans with Disabilities Act if it were not for the Vocational Rehabilitation Amendments of 1954 and all of the other incremental steps forward.
Historical context
Pelka puts the people and issues into their historical context showing the forces and coalitions that made changes. Adding to the depth of his material are referrals to other entries in the book and to external references that he has used. For anyone wishing to know more about disability history the References are invaluable.
There are surprises galore, too, in this book. Most of the surprises helped me to see how rich and deep disability history is. For instance, I did not know that Jean Stewart edited an issue of the venerable folk magazine, Sing Out in 1981. Twenty years ago the special issue was " . . . on the folk music and culture of people with disabilities . . . ." My interest and heart leapt to see how many years people have been redefining disability.
When I am able to see the slow, steady, inevitable progress that disabled people have made over the past hundred years I am encouraged. Fred Pelka's perspective and the contents of his book provide irrefutable evidence of progress.
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