Indiana Disability History

Here's the second of our two new videos featuring highlights of multiple interviews over the past two years. For this video we talked to individuals with disabilities in Indiana who, as people of color, experience being doubly minoritized. Interviewees describe lives complicated by their multiple, marginalized identities and the overlapping systems of oppression they navigate.

Complex Identities: Hoosiers with Disabilities from Minoritized Communities

We're proud to announce the release of two new videos featuring highlights of multiple interviews over the past two years! The first video looks at the impact of the COVID-19 public health crisis on Hoosiers with disabilities. Themes include a heightened awareness of health disparities, challenges to mental health such as social isolation and loss, and a stressed system of disability services.

The COVID-19 Pandemic’s Impact on People with Disabilities in Indiana

The Indiana Disability History Project will host a webinar on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with disabilities in Indiana, 11-11:45 am EDT, Wednesday, Sept. 28. The event will highlight themes that emerged in our oral history interviews with people with disabilities and their families, as well as disability professionals and policy makers. Interviewees talked about experiences of health disparities, challenges brought by isolation and loss, and a stressed system of services and supports. During the webinar, two disability advocates will discuss their perspectives on the pandemic experience.

Captioning and ASL interpretation will be provided. To register for this free webinar hosted by the Center for Health Equity at Indiana Institute on Disability and Community , please visit https://go.iu.edu/4zUE.

The project and webinar are supported by funds from the Indiana Governor’s Council for People with Disabilities.

Welcome! You are invited to join a webinar: The COVID-19 Pandemic’s Impact on People with Disabilities in Indiana. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email about joining the webinar. On September 28, the Indiana Disability History Project is hosting a webinar on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on people with disabilities in Indiana. The event will highlight themes that emerged in oral history interviews with people with disabilities and their families, as well as disability....

We are proud to note that Alice Wong grew up in this state.

For 'disabled oracle' Alice Wong, rest is a radical act Disability rights activist Alice Wong's debut memoir is out Tuesday. But don't expect to see her on a book tour, read from her work or sign copies.

We like the fact that Carl Croneberg was not only a pioneer in writing an ASL dictionary and talking about Deaf culture, he also conducted oral history interviews.

Carl Croneberg, Explorer of Deaf Culture, Dies at 92 He helped write the first comprehensive dictionary of American Sign Language and later identified the deaf as a part of society worth examining.

To paraphrase an internet meme, this is the day 25% of Americans got civil rights, and there's not one Hallmark card for the ADA anniversary. (meme credit Access Living) Let's celebrate!

Thirty-two years ago today, President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law, enshrining equal access and non-discrimination.

Visit the link to learn all about the milestones throughout disability rights history: https://www.nod.org/about/nod-history/

It's Disability Pride Month, a celebration that began in 1990, the year the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed. We can feel proud of the involvement of Hoosiers with disabilities in the birth of this historic civil rights legislation. Check out our online exhibit, "Indiana Advocates and the ADA" for the story through video-recorded oral history, photographs, and transcripts.

Indiana Advocates and the ADA · ADA in Indiana “It was quite remarkable. The entire South Lawn was full of folks from all over with disabilities. It was a huge crowd and it was extremely festive.”* In 1990, Greg Fehribach was chairperson of the Indiana Governor’s Planning Council for People with Disabilities. That is his recollection of th...

"Can I see him? That's all I want to do is see him." The doctor told Melody Cooper that her husband's body was shutting down. Like many others whose family members got COVID-19 in the first year of the pandemic, she was told she could not be at his side as he was dying. In this excerpt of an IDHP interview, she describes this painful experience and her successful effort to make a last visit possible.

Melody Cooper - I'm Not Saying Goodbye Through an iPad

On this day in 2019, Governor Holcomb signed legislation recognizing Supported Decision-Making Agreements as a valid way for someone to demonstrate decision-making capacity in Indiana. Jamie Beck was the first person in Indiana to have her guardianship terminated and a Supported Decision-Making agreement put in place. Indiana Disability Rights partnered with film maker Bryan Boyd to document Jamie's journey from living under guardianship to regaining her independence.

Free To Be Freedom: noun – the power or right to act, speak, or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint. The condition or right of being able or allowed to do...

Central State Hospital closed in 1994, but its history is important, as are the people who experienced that history in many different ways. It's important to preserve and share the stories and diverse experiences of people with many links to and relationships with the hospital and to the former hospital grounds- people who sought treatment and healing there or their loved ones who did; people who worked there as doctors, nurses, custodians, cooks, therapists, groundskeepers, volunteers, etc.; and people who lived in the neighborhoods that grew up around the hospital.

If you would like to help us preserve your story and your perspective or if you'd just like to know more about the Voices project, we'd love to hear from you. For more information or to submit your stories, memories, photographs or documents, etc., visit the Voices page on our website or email [email protected].

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe1XzotmJRlxBlggpQbFefpzaNyurcSJ-Um5NvkwWmsfrY_Vw/viewform?usp=sf_link

Local disability history! The Bloomington Council for Community Accessibility has a detailed online historical timeline at https://tinyurl.com/COBCCAtimeline.

cdn.knightlab.com

"Disability is part of every family story." Disability history belongs to all of us.

Opinion | We Should Claim Our Disabled Ancestors With Pride In the past, their stories were often hidden in shame. But we can make our familly histories whole by telling them.

Pandemics disable people — the history lesson that policymakers ignore Influenza, polio and more have shown that infections can change lives even decades later. Why the complacency over possible long-term effects of COVID-19?

Thanks to the The Blind Social Center Gary for sharing this - wow!

TBSC BLACK HISTORY MONTH SALUTE 2019 | Did You Know⁉️
Haben Girma is an American woman born from Eritrean mother and Ethiopian father, a disability rights advocate, and the first deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School

To Haben Girma's grandmother, back in East Africa, it "seemed like magic." Her granddaughter, born deaf and blind, is a graduate of Harvard Law School and works as a civil rights attorney. ... Years before, she had tried to find a school in Eritrea for Girma's older brother, who was also born deaf and blind.
Haben Girma (born July 29, 1988)is an American woman born from Eritrean mother and Ethiopian father, a disability rights advocate, and the first deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School.
Haben Girma
Born
July 29, 1988 (age 30)
Oakland, California, U.S.
Nationality
American
Alma mater
Lewis & Clark College (B.A., 2010)
Harvard Law School (J.D., 2013)
Occupation
Lawyer
Disability rights advocate
President Obama named her a White House Champion of Change. She received the Helen Keller Achievement Award, and a spot on Forbes. Haben Girma was the first deaf-blind student to graduate from Harvard Law School. Today the Eritrean-American fights for better education for deaf-blind people worldwide. ... Growing up in the US school system, she benefited from accessible technology, such as a digital Braille device ...

As founders of the Blind Social Center in Gary, Indiana, Tony and Connie Blair have been working to improve the lives of people with visual impairments since 2014. In a new video interview excerpt, the Blairs share first-hand perspectives about racial disparities that exist in disability services, technology resources, and funding for not-for-profit organizations. They highlight gaps in resources for their city and the state’s Northwest region.

Mr. and Mrs. Blair - Some Get Better Equipment and Services Than Others

In 1950, Dr. Margaret Giannini was hearing from parents who could find no doctor in New York City willing to provide general medical care for their children with disabilities. She founded an institute in East Harlem to serve these patients. It may have been the first of its kind in the U.S. Her many accomplishments include her appointment as the first director of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (now NIDILRR).

Margaret Giannini, Champion of People With Disabilities, Dies at 100 After meeting the parents of children with a range of disabilities, she decided almost on the spot to start a clinic to treat such children exclusively.

We have a new, free educational resource for Direct Support Professionals! Indiana Disability History: The Story of Why Your Job Makes a Difference is a self-paced, online training that introduces the historical experience of Hoosiers with disabilities to DSPs. The 45-minute presentation connects this legacy to the positive impact DSPs can make today. Mobile-friendly and produced with support from the Indiana Governor's Council for People with Disabilities.

Educational Products Why Your Job as a DSP Makes a Difference is a self-paced, online training that provides a brief introduction to the historical experience of Hoosiers with disabilities, connecting this legacy to the work of direct support professionals (DSPs) today. The 45-minute training has three 15-minute section...

Looking for something to do Sunday afternoon?

Polio in Indianapolis, a timeline (VIRTUAL) "Polio in Indianapolis, a timeline" presented jointly by the Indiana Medical History Museum and the Marion County Historical Society

Tune in Wednesday evening for a discussion about how the language of disability has changed since the beginning of the 20th century. Merriam-Webster editor Peter Sokolowski will lead the virtual discussion with author and disability advocate Fred Pelka, activist (and, can we say, Indiana's own) Lawrence Carter-Long, and Laura Rauscher, Director of Disability Services/ADA Coordinator at Smith College.

The Changing Language of Disability From Generation to Generation: The Changing Language of Disability Wednesday, Nov. 10 at 7 p.m. on Zoom Free and open to the public Register “Becoming

Three out of four of Marty Stone's family have high-risk conditions. In this interview excerpt, she talks about the issue of people entering the household to provide services, supporting her 16-year-old son with multiple disabilities' online education, and surviving a year where they "basically went into seclusion." Thank you for the interview, Marty.

Marty Stone - Protecting Family During the Pandemic

Judy Heumann, a woman of spectacular accomplishment, on the disability rights movement.

A Brief But Spectacular take on the disability rights movement Since childhood, Judy Heumann has faced ableism — institutionally, socially, and personally. New York’s public school system prevented her from enrolling, and she was often bullied or excluded by her own peers. After a lifetime of activism, she is finally seeing a shift in how people with disabi...

Kylee Hope was Director of Indiana's Division of Disability and Rehabilitative Services during the first 18 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this excerpt from our interview, she discusses the agency’s response to the public health crisis, as well as some of the critical issues faced by people with disabilities.

Kylee Hope - The Pandemic's Impact on People with Disabilities

🚨Missing Marker Alert🚨

Have you seen this Indiana state historical marker in the last 4 months? If so, we want to hear from you!

We recently received word that the Central State Hospital marker, located near 202 Steeples Blvd. in Indianapolis, has been missing since late spring / early summer this year. If you have any information about this marker, please contact us at 317-232-2535 or the Indiana Medical History Museum at 317-635-7329.

Why a State Institution Closed: “You cannot walk onto a unit and see visible injuries on 12 of 14 people that weren't there the week before and not suspect something is terribly wrong." In this new IDHP video, a former state and federal official share observations about the circumstances preceding the closure of Muscatatuck State Developmental Center.

Neglect in the Institutions

Roland Johnson, advocate for people with intellectual disabilities and institutional survivor died 8/29/94.

Overlooked No More: Roland Johnson, Who Fought to Shut Down Institutions for the Disabled (Published 2020) He survived 13 years of neglect and abuse, including sexual assault, at the notorious Pennhurst State School and Hospital outside Philadelphia before emerging as a champion for the disabled.

19th century Indiana disability history, captured with pencil and paper by an early Indianapolis settler. (Terminology about people with disabilities here is 19th century too.)

In a new digital series from PBS, musician and disability inclusion advocate Lachi explores the cultural contributions of people with disabilities and how they transformed America. The pilot episode investigates the life and accomplishments of Deaf stunt legend and speed racer Kitty O'Neil. It includes open and closed captioning, onscreen American Sign Language interpretation, and audio description.

Renegades Pilot: Kitty O'Neil | American Masters | PBS In this new digital series, Musician and disability inclusion advocate Lachi explores the cultural contributions of people with disabilities and how they transformed America. Help us shape the series by taking this survey after you watch: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6D55SZ2 Kitty O’Neil (1946-2...

"I was one of the very few people of color in the inner layers of helping to draft the ADA, implement it, enforce it from all different perspectives." One year ago this month, Deidre Davis Butler died. She was a federal official, attorney, disability rights expert, and advocate.

Deidre Davis Butler, Who Fought for Disability Rights, Dies at 64 A wheelchair user herself, she helped draft a landmark law and held government posts championing people with disabilities, especially those of color.

Progress! https://www.businessinsider.com/actors-filmmakers-talk-improving-disability-inclusion-in-tv-film-2021-6?

People with disabilities are nearly invisible in TV and film. Industry insiders point to authentic portrayals of disabled characters as models for inclusion. Data shows people with disabilities are one of the most underrepresented groups on screen, despite progress in authentic portrayals of disability.

Happy Birthday to Helen Keller, born June 27, 1880. Did you know she spoke at North Side High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana in 1949? Today, the League credits her speech as a "kick-start" to the founding of Fort Wayne's League for the Blind & Disabled.

Newspaper article entitled "Helen Keller to Aid County Blind," about her visit to Fort Wayne, IN. The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) removes barriers, creates solutions, and expands possibilities so people with vision loss can achieve their full potential. As a national nonprofit with offices in five US cities, AFB is a leader in expanding possibilities for the more than 20 million Amer...