Laurent Clerc and Thomas H. Gallaudet founded The American School for the Deaf (previously “Connecticut Asylum for the Education and Instruction of Deaf and Dumb* Persons”) in Hartford, Connecticut. This was the first permanent school for children with disabilities anywhere in the Western Hemisphere, marking the beginning of efforts in America to educate people with disabilities.

Louis Braille invented the raised point alphabet used today. His method was not popularized until it was taught at the St. Louis School for the Blind in 1860.

The U.S. Congress authorized the Columbia Institution for the Deaf and Dumb* and Blind to grant college degrees. It was the first college in the world established for people with disabilities.

President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act, a federal-state program to aid blind individuals and children with disabilities. In 1950, the program was modified to include individuals with permanent and total disabilities.

The Association for Retarded* Citizens (ARC) was founded by parents of children with intellectual disabilities. The organization, now renamed The Arc, continues to protect and support the rights and inclusion of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in their community.

The Supreme Court ruled to abolish school segregation, giving public schools permission to educate children with significant intellectual disabilities.

President John F. Kennedy signed the Community Mental Health Act into law, deinstitutionalizing mental health facilities and shifting towards community-based care.

Title XIX of the Social Security Act established Medicaid, providing federally subsidized healthcare to certain Americans with disabilities and families with low incomes.

Disability demonstrators led by Judy Heumann took over the Health Education and Welfare (HEW) office in San Francisco, CA to protest the U.S. Secretary of HEW’s refusal to implement Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This federal law would be the first to recognize disability as a civil rights category. It was the longest sit-in of a federal office by protesters in U.S. history, with demonstrators occupying the office for 26 days upon which the secretary relents and signs the regulations into effect.

President George H.W. Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law, prohibiting the discrimination of people with disabilities in all areas of public life.

In Olmstead v. L.C. and E.W., the Supreme Court ruled that individuals with disabilities must be provided with services in the most integrated setting. This reinforced the right of people with disabilities to live in the community.

A coalition of disability rights advocates and organizations held the first Disability Pride Parade to “promote the belief in society that disability is a natural and beautiful part of life.” There were nearly 2,000 attendees, four times the number of people than organizers expected.

The Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act (ADAAA) was enacted to reinstate a broader scope of protection under the ADA that made it easier for individuals with disabilities to obtain protection.

President Barack Obama enacted Rosa’s Law, which replaced the term “mental retardation*” with the term “intellectual disability.” The law is named after 9-year-old Rosa Marcellino, a young advocate with Down syndrome.

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) was signed to strengthen and improve the United States’ public workforce system and help get Americans with significant barriers to employment into high-quality jobs and careers.