ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the development of disability rights within the framework of the chronology of the laws that have expanded the rights of people with disabilities since the early 1900s. The most comprehensive law addressing the rights of people with disabilities is the Americans with Disabilities Act. The chapter provides a description of the major federal laws that provide and support civil rights for persons with disabilities. The National Rehabilitation Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in federal programs, programs receiving federal assistance, federal employment, and in the employment practices of federal contractors. The Social Security Act provides insurance and permanent public assistance to people who are elderly or blind and children with disabilities, but not to people with other disabilities. Proposed and pending legislation focuses primarily on technical issues and access for people with disabilities to the web-based information and services of states and local governments.
