Disability History Week

1960

First Paralympics Games held in Rome, Italy. They were officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee.

1961

Dr. Robert Guthrie's PKU (phenylketonuria) newborn screening test is ready to be implemented. PKU is a heredity disease that causes severe brain damage and leads to mental retardation. The test, a simplified version of prior tests, requires only a prick of a newborns blood placed on filter paper. A trial of the test is implemented on almost 3,000 residents of the Newark State Institution near Rochester, New York.

1962

The University of California at Berkeley admitted its first significantly disabled student, Edward Roberts. Roberts went on to become a leader and educator in the disability rights movement. In 1970, Roberts founded the Physically Disabled Students Program at Berkeley.

1963

A new polio vaccine was developed by Dr. Albert Sabin. His form of the vaccine was taken orally instead of the earlier syringe method.

John Hessler, Ed Roberts and others form the Rolling Quads at U of C Berkeley advocating for access on the campus and surrounding community.

The Mental Retardation Facilities and Community Health Center Construction Act was passed. John F. Kennedy signed the bill into law on October 31, 1963.

President Kennedy addresses Congress for the reduction of the number of persons confined to residential institutions. He asks that ways be found to reintegrate those released back into the community. This may be considered the start to deinstitutionalization that was popular in the 1970's.

1964

Civil Rights Act is passed outlawing discrimination based on race. Framework for disability rights legislation.

1965

Medicare and Medicaid are established under the Social Security Amendments. Medicaid established health insurance for Americans considered disabled.

Autism Society of America formed by parents of autistic children to advocate for services.

Senator Robert F. Kennedy visits Willowbrook State School and labeled the deplorable conditions a "snake pit." His visit lead to several published articles on the problems at the school in the Staten Island Advance. Seven years later Geraldo Rivera televised the dilapidated school.