In order to begin a discussion about adults with disabilities in American society today, we must first briefly establish what happened yesterday. Thus we will begin with a brief examination of the history of the disabled.

Starting with the early humans of Neolithic times there has always been a fear among society of the disabled. In Neolithic times the notion of the disabled being possessed by spirits is first discussed, and is a view still in use by some societies today. The Spartans abandoned their fellow humans, to die, who had disabilities. For the ancient Greeks people with disabilities were viewed as standing in the way of a perfect world (Plato). Moving further along the path of civilization we come to the Roman Empire. Roam made what could be called a first attempt by giving assistance to adults with disabilities (as long as they would not protest); the Romans still left children to die if they were in someway disabled. Religious beliefs now come into play with the emergence of Judeo-Christian beliefs. A person with a disability was now looked on as being a sign of god's displeasure, a sign of parent's sin, and there was also the ever-present belief that the person was possessed. The focus then for the Judeo-Christian period was a need for redemption. (Makelprang and Salsgiver, 1996)

Moving along we come to the 17^th and 18^th century Europe. Some progress is made with the passage of the Elizabethan Poor laws (1601) which dealt with caring for deserving needy people (blind, "crippled", orphaned, exc.) in the emerging industrial society. With the emergence of the enlightenment movement disability became seen as a biological inadequacy. The focus thus was to correct the particular inadequacy by institutionalizing the individual till they performed in an acceptable manner. With the introduction of the study of Eugenics the enthusiasm for assisting the disabled declined. People with disabilities were viewed as having nothing to offer society. Society's fear of propagation prevented the marriage of or reproduction between people with disabilities. This lead to an increase in institutionalization and isolation in conditions which were subhuman. In America this practice was not always the case. One of the signers of the Declaration of Independence had Cerebral Palsy and Governor Morris from New York who helped draft the Constitution was an amputee. Therefor, in the early years of our history, it can be assumed, people who had physical disabilities could blend in well in their communities. (Makelprang and Salsgiver; Shapiro: 57)

In the first part of the twentieth century there were not many gains made for persons with disabilities. In the United States parents were encouraged to institutionalize and/or hide their disabled children. President Franklin D. Roosevelt was forced to hide his disability because of society's attitudes. World War One and World War Two brought little if any change. The change the wars did bring was superficial at that. (Makelprang and Salsgiver)

In the 1960's a civil rights movement emerged which continues today. It is commonly known as the disability rights movement. The goal of this movement is to achieve equality though the use of mechanical aids. The disabilities rights movement (DRM) has plenty of criticism among people inside the disability community. One problem with the DRM, claim some critics, is that it uses media techniques to raise awareness of disability. Another problem with the DRM the critics argue is that the DRM is forcing ideas upon others with disabilities who perhaps don't always chose to use all of the aids advocated by the DRM. It is one thing to mandate cub-cuts, but it is not appropriate for the movement to say that everyone with a physical disability needs a lever type door handle. (Glastris: 2; Shapiro: 57)

Emerging along side the disability rights movement is the independent living movement (IL). Proponents of independent living see the disabled person as active and responsible. Difference is seen as not caused by biology but by sociology, legal, physical and attitudinal barriers. Today there is a network of Independent Living Centers through out the country. Many IL employees have disabilities. Independent Living Centers help the physically disabled obtain the information and resources needed for independent living. Booth the independent living movement and the disability rights movement got their start in California. (Makelprang and Salsgiver; Shapiro: 57)

Today persons with physical disabilities are having a more "normal" life although there are still many barriers. America is a leader in accommodating the disabled but stigma still exists. In 1990 the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed, this legislation was a major step in the plight of disabled citizens. In the late 1980's and early 1990's companies such as Toy's "R" Us, JC Penney's, McDonald's, started using people with disabilities in their advertising campaigns. Today when one opens up the J.C. Penney Catalog you can look through it and find models of all ages and backgrounds that have disabilities. The fight is not yet over for Americans with disabilities but they are gaining more rights every day. This paper will therefor examine challenges faced by disabled adults in the United States today. Specifically it will focus on society form the standpoint of having a life long disability instead of those that are acquired in adulthood. Persons with acquired disability have special issues that are sometimes quite different than the issues faced by people with disabilities that were present in childhood.

Not only is the image of the person with a disability changing as noted above, but also the language used to describe disability is changing. Proper language no longer includes words such as "afflicted" which promote the ideas of victimization and the helplessness of an individual with a disability. Also out are the more recent terms such as "physically challenged" and (to a lesser degree) "visually impaired". The reason for the abandonment of "challenged" is that anyone can be physically challenged depending on what they are attempting to do at a certain time. Therefore it has not been efficient to use such terms that can have such a broad interpretation. The term "challenged" could be said to have the same problem as the term "African Americans". Booth can have two (or more) different meanings. This is one of many similarities between the "Black" Americans continuing struggle for equality, and Disabled America's fight for equality. (Shapiro: 32-35)

An interesting note on disability terminology is that the word "crippled" (which still to many persons with a disability is the equivalent to the "N word" to blacks) is gaining popularity among some people with disabilities for use inside the disabled community. This word though is often transformed into a type of disability "slang word" which include the words "cripp", and "gimp". "Crippled" is definitely not safe for use by the general public to describe the physically disabled because such a large number of the disabled still consider it to be like the "N word". The safest bet for the general public at the present time is to use the word disabled when describing this category. The word disabled is the most popular among the community and is often transformed into disabled/(ity) or disabled/(ity) to emphasize an individuals capacity to be an active member of society regardless of physical condition. (Shapiro: 32-35)

Perhaps the most essential item in obtaining an equal status with non-disabled people is the issue of employment. There are some 43 million persons with disabilities, which makes them by far the single largest minority, even outnumbering African-Americans [Blacks] who number some 30 million. It is estimated that two thirds of persons with disabilities of working age are unemployed (Freking, 1992). Many of these people want to work but have either encountered discrimination or may lack the necessary transportation to get to work. Many non-disabled persons in America still think that the disabled should somehow be taken care of and that they are not able to hold jobs. The truth is that many Americans with physical disabilities want very much to work and have as "normal" a life at possible.

A second base factor to note is the education of people with physical disabilities. Many times a physical disability can impede on a person's ability to perform in school. Schools often don't have the money to make it possible for students with physical disabilities successful. Further more special education teachers are primarily trained to deal with the needs of learning and mentally disabled individuals. This lack of education about physical disabilities and the effects and needs thereof of special education teachers, leads to further discrimination towards those with physical disabilities. Often times because of the physically disabled person's ability to be independent in a school setting the needs of the disability will be ignored. On the other side of the coin if the person is severely physically disabled they will often be placed in a self-contained

classroom, even if they don't really belong there. This is because it is not economical for the school system to spend the large sums needed to let these students be mainstreamed in a regular classroom. Technically this is not legal but it is what often ends up happening in smaller school districts. This is especially common when school systems aren't county based or are in rural settings because there is not a large enough pool of taxpayer money.

Many family members and government agencies tend to treat the physically disabled as if they were babies and so in large part this community is oppressed. The physical condition of a person is likely to have implications for the behavior of health care providers, employers and others in one's community. Often times, physically disabled adults will hear the word "can't" defined by an outsider (in this case anyone with out a disability) such as a family member or councilor and the definition of what the person "can't" do is totally wrong. Physically disabled persons know their limits; however, many are in fact told what their limits are by the able-bodied majority. Much as the Anglo race thought it knew what was best for the Black race, so the non-disabled think they know what is best for the disabled. Although not enslaved, as black Americans were, persons with disability are thought of (like blacks were and unfortunately in some instances still are) as lesser persons which is not the case. Going farther social norms, standards, and

expectations lead to the creation of negative views of the disabled. Such social norms are society's current obsession with obtaining a perfect body and our ever-present quest for the fountain of youth. Because people with disability are thought to be more unable and less beautiful than "normal" people, the two ideas described above often lead to prejudice, and/or discrimination. In almost all cases when a person has physical disability alone, they can be fully integrated with society (Hart 1995; Livenh: 341-342; Freking 1992).

The oppression described above is still very much alive. Let the reader take this hypothetical situation for example. Jody Bay a 25-year-old. She has Associates in Psychology and Bachelors in Education. She is currently working on a Masters. She also works part time in the campus bookstore. Since Jody's parents live close to the University of Dallas she lives at home. On the surfs her parent's say it is to save money, after all Jody can't drive, needs assistance with activities of daily living; to accommodate all of this it would take a lot of money to let Jody live on her own. Delving deeper into our hypothetical situation we come to realize however that Jody's parents say that she "can't" live on her own because they think the means by which she would live would not be good enough for her. Father more they think that when it comes to situations like this one, Jody is not capable of seeing what is "in her best interest". They think Jody would never be able to

live on her own, after all who would take care of her. The truth is that Jody is twenty-five and can take care of herself. While she may require some one to come in periodically to help her out, it is entirely possible for Jody to live on her own. The only thing stopping this young woman is that her parents view disability from the traditional viewpoint. This story is told again and again by disabled people in both sexes and differing economic status. As long as caregivers continue to view the disabled as helpless they will never be able to be truly independent as we saw happen in the above example.

As we see from the introduction people with physical disabilities have come along way in the history of mankind. With the introduction of the disability rights movement in the 1960's and of legislation such as the ADA (1990) adults who have disabilities are indeed having more opportunities to demonstrate their abilities. While many remain unemployed because of lack of resources the will is there if somebody can come up with a way. The disabled are part of our society today, this is clearly illustrated by their inclusion in advertising campaigns. While a strong stigma still exists for this largest of minorities, it is clear that people with disabilities have much to contribute to our societies way of life. Attitudes will continue to gradually change about people with disabilities as they have about Blacks. Change dose take a long time and until that change comes people with disabilities will continue their struggle.