In 1932, Franklin Roosevelt was elected president of the United States and became one of the world's most renowned leaders. Although he never took an unaided step in his 13-year presidency, his wheelchair was kept a secret and the ramping of our nation's capital for his convenience quietly removed following his death. In the third quarter of the century, attitudes began to shift. Some children were integrated into public schools and a few college campuses saw students in wheelchairs taking their rightful place among peers in classrooms, dormitories and student governments. Our language has changed for the better, too.
Pop culture shows our shift in attitudes.
In this decade we have embraced a Miss America who is profoundly deaf and been dedicated fans of a TV show starring a young man with Down's syndrome. A growing number of films and TV shows incorporate major and minor characters with disabilities. Developed by a mother to help integrate her own children into a world where disability is less than embraced, the Everybody Counts program is now used in hundreds of schools throughout Ohio and other states. Progress has been enormous in this century, particularly in the last two decades for the quality of life among people with disabilities. But there's plenty of work to be done in the year 2000.