ABSTRACT
On January 3, 2006, the Washington Post ridiculed United States efforts towards ensuring disability-inclusiveness in its development schemes as an example of foreign aid run amok on senseless expenditures.1 It accused Congress of having parodied “its own mania for control” by mandating that American-financed construction in the developing world comply with United States disability law. The editorial asserted that in consequence of this policy “remote clinics in Afghanistan have wheelchair ramps” despite the fact “that there are no wheelchairs in the vicinity.”2 Putting aside the editorial’s legal, social, and factual inaccuracies,3 it is striking that an otherwise esteemed publication reached such an inapposite conclusion regarding the place of disability in the context of development. Only three months earlier, disdain for disability integration had contributed to many avoidable tragedies in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.4
