#ADA30

The signing of ADA 30 years ago is perhaps the most meaningful moment for people with disabilities across the United States as it provided a fundamental framework and legal recourse for disability rights to be categorized as civil rights. However, the ADA was a culmination of many decades of advocacy, protests, and community collaboration. What is the local legacy of disability empowerment and inclusion in Massachusetts?

Without organizations like Easterseals Massachusetts, the language and principles of the ADA might not have existed. All week long we are sharing a short video series chronicling the evolution of what equal opportunities mean for disability services. Join us in this celebration of not just 30 years, but 75 years of shared access and inclusion.

Part 1-Birth and Growth of Contract Therapy

In the 1950s, most Easterseals services (PT, OT and Speech) were provided at three rehabilitation centers in Boston, Worcester and Springfield.

In 1961, our board decided to divest itself of these centers and begin providing therapy in community-based settings. They saw bringing therapy to places it hadn’t been before was addressing an unmet need. Our first contracts were with community hospitals. Back then, therapy was mostly available only in rehab facilities in larger cities. We then began to add contracts with home health agencies and nursing homes.

When children with disabilities obtained the right to go to public schools in the 1970s, Easterseals began contract therapy with schools. Our first big contract was with the Boston Public School (where we are still). School-based therapy led to a major ramping up of not just our therapy program, but of other services as well. #ADA30 #ThankfulforADA #thankstotheADA