Opinion: Words Matter. We Should Stop Using 'Rehabilitation' When Discussing Disabilities
Paul Aronsohn, New Jersey's Statewide Ombudsman for Individuals with Intellectual or Developmental disabilities and Their Families, recently published the following editorial on the USA TODAY Network:
"With October being National Disability Employment Awareness Month, now is a good time to start a national conversation regarding the concept of “rehabilitation” in the context of disability employment services.
Rehabilitation has long played a central role in the disability rights movement — one that stretches back more than a century and was originally focused on American veterans returning from war in Europe. Indeed, it was in 1918 that Congress adopted the Soldiers Rehabilitation Act, which provided federal assistance to help ensure honorably discharged veterans could be employed in civilian jobs. This was soon followed by the 1920 Civilian Vocational Rehabilitation Act, which extended employment-related support to non-veterans with disabilities.
The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was another critical milestone in the disability rights journey. The law sought to build on the work done over the preceding half-century by prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities in federal jobs or in organizations that receive federal funding.
...Taken together, it has been a good, largely constructive history. Many people with disabilities have been well served by it all. However, it is now time to take this important, century-long effort to the next level by actually phasing out the concept of rehabilitation as an approach to disability employment practices — changing the nomenclature to better align with an evolving, more enlightened view of people with disabilities."
To read Paul's full article, click here.
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