250 to 250: 93. Americans with Disabilities Act, Narrated by Marlene Sallo

Heather Cox Richardson and 250 to 250: Americans with Disabilities Act, Narrated by Marlene Sallo

Disability and civil rights activist Marlene Sallo is the Executive Director of the National Disability Rights Network and former appointee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights under the Obama administration. Sallo explains how activists pushed for the American Disabilities Act, which bars discrimination against people living with physical or mental disabilities. ‪

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is an important U.S. civil rights law.

• The ADA protects people with physical and mental disabilities from discrimination.
• Employers must provide reasonable help so people with disabilities can do their jobs.
• Public places must also be more accessible to people with disabilities.
• Many people with disabilities worked together to support the ADA.

In March 1990, the ADA was still waiting for approval in Congress.

• Disability rights activists held a protest at the U.S. Capitol.
• Some protesters left their wheelchairs, crutches, and other mobility devices behind.
• They climbed or pulled themselves up the Capitol steps.
• This protest became known as the Capitol Crawl.
• The protest showed some of the barriers faced by people with disabilities.
• Congress passed the ADA later that year.
• President George H. W. Bush signed the ADA into law on July 26, 1990.
• The ADA helped give people with disabilities greater access, equal opportunity, and protection under the law.

POP Interview and Civics Quiz: 

• N-400 Part 2:11. Do you have any physical or mental impairment that prevents you from demonstrating your knowledge of the English language or civics requirements for naturalization? 
• N-400 Part 9:33. Are you unable to take the Oath of Allegiance because of a physical or developmental disability or mental impairment?
• USCIS 100:16.  Who makes federal laws?
• USCIS 128:20.  Name one power of the U.S. Congress. *

Family Fun:

• Daniellability: The ADA Explained
• Disability Equality Education: Coloring Books, Pages and Clip Art with Disability Representation
• Disability History Museum: Education (many lesson plans)
• ILRC: Naturalization for Persons with Disabilities | 2026 comment
  
• Longmore Institute: Patient No More virtual exhibit
• NMAH: EveryBody: An Artifact History of Disability in America
• NY Times: ‘Nothing About Us Without Us’: 16 Moments in the Fight for Disability Rights
• NetFlix: Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution | How the ADA Changed the Built World (clip)
• PBS American Experience: Change Not Charity | clip | full playlist (stream or borrow the dvd)
• PBS Learning Media: The Passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act 
• PBS Origins: Do Disabled People Really Have The Same Rights?
• Smithsonian Kaleidoscope: Disability History is a People's History of Collective Strength
• TheCIL: The Center for Independent Living (so many resource!)
• Untold History: Judy Heumann: The Mother of ADA