Introduction: A Pathetic Event The problem is that the story is too simple, I think. I have learned that in real life, there are more twists and turns. The black is not entirely black, and the white turns out to be a different color entirely. There are never only two choices. I am trying to find a new story, but I am finding it hard. It takes too long to explain it all, and I keep on losing the thread. I am sure it would be easier if I just told the old story. Many people still like it, certainly. But how can I tell a story if I am not certain it is true? Of course, this is not a true story either. But that’s different. - Tom Shakespeare On March 12, 1990, nearly 1,000 disabled individuals converged on Capitol Hill to protest delays in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The legislation had passed the Senate in September 1989 but remained stalled in the House despite widespread bipartisan support. At the end of the demonstration, around sixty protestors affiliated with American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit (a militant, direct action group better known as ADAPT) got out of their wheelchairs and attempted to climb the steps of the Capitol. Photographs from the on Jennifer Keelan, an eight-year-old with “crawl-up” mostly focus cerebral palsy who crawled to the top of the stairs on her elbows and knees. This was not had been arrested a year prior while attending a similar ADAPT Keelan’s first protest. She protest in Montreal. The photograph of Keelan reaching the top of the stairs was, according to from the ADA fight to register in Joseph Shapiro, “the one…image public memory.” While the crawl-up did succeed in attracting the attention of the media—which until then had provided scant coverage of the passage of the ADA—many within the disability rights community were critical of of what were perceived to be demeaning and ADAPT’s employment stereotypical images of disabled individuals. The a prominent disability rights Disability Rag, why a movement intent on showing that disabled publication, commented: “One might question people are adults, not children, would make their central media image a child.” Why, they
Introduction: A Pathetic Event The problem is that the story is too simple, I think. I have learned that in real life, there are more twists and turns. The black is not entirely black, and the white turns out to be a different color entirely. There are never only two choices. I am trying to find a new story, but I am finding it hard. It takes too long to explain it all, and I keep on losing the thread. I am sure it would be easier if I just told the old story. Many people still like it, certainly. But how can I tell a story if I am not certain it is true? Of course, this is not a true story either. But that’s different. - Tom Shakespeare On March 12, 1990, nearly 1,000 disabled individuals converged on Capitol Hill to protest delays in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The legislation had passed the Senate in September 1989 but remained stalled in the House despite widespread bipartisan support. At the end of the demonstration, around sixty protestors affiliated with American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit (a militant, direct action group better known as ADAPT) got out of their wheelchairs and attempted to climb the steps of the Capitol. Photographs from the “crawl-up” mostly focus on Jennifer Keelan, an eight-year-old with cerebral palsy who crawled to the top of the stairs on her elbows and knees. This was not Keelan’s first protest. She had been arrested a year prior while attending a similar ADAPT protest in Montreal. The photograph of Keelan reaching the top of the stairs was, according to Joseph Shapiro, “the one…image from the ADA fight to register in public memory.” While the crawl-up did succeed in attracting the attention of the media—which until then had provided scant coverage of the passage of the ADA—many within the disability rights community were critical of ADAPT’s employment of what were perceived to be demeaning and stereotypical images of disabled individuals. The Disability Rag, a prominent disability rights publication, commented: “One might question why a movement intent on showing that disabled people are adults, not children, would make their central media image a child.” Why, they
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