Disability History special

The History Hour

BBC

History, Society & Culture, Personal Journals

4.4 • 879 Ratings

🗓️ 28 November 2020

⏱️ 50 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

We look back at the fight for disability rights in the UK and India in the 1990s, plus the remarkable life of Helen Keller as told by her great niece, how a Rwandan Paralympic volleyball team made history, and the invention of the iconic disability vehicle, the Invacar. And we speak to Colin Barnes, Emeritus Professor of Disability Studies at Leeds University, about the historic struggle for disabled rights and recognition.

Photo: A disabled woman on her mobility scooter is carried away by four policemen after obstructing the traffic outside the Houses of Parliament. Credit: PA Archive/PA Images

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to the History Hour podcast from the BBC World Service with me Max Pearson,
0:05.2	the past brought to life by people who were there.
0:08.4	This week we're looking at the long struggle for disability rights.
0:12.0	We'll hear of groundbreaking legislation
0:14.0	and campaigners who pushed for change, including in India.
0:18.0	There was not a place which was accessible.
0:19.0	I mean, there was not a place where I could go on my own,
0:21.0	whether it was offices or whether it was a theater or a shopping area.
0:26.0	From America Helen Keller.
0:28.0	She really had a terrific sense of humor and a great enjoyment of life.
0:32.0	She loved good food, she loved to find clothes and she was a card-carrying
0:36.0	socialist. Also, Ruandas, post-genocide Paralympians.
0:40.4	I was very happy even crying. Even if we have lost our legs during the
0:45.4	genocide now we are able, we are capable to do anything. We are able even to
0:49.6	represent our country. And the 1940s car fit for the injured returning war veterans.
0:55.2	Special mechanical features include all manual controls. On the road it does 70 miles
1:00.6	to the gallon with a top speed of around 45 miles an hour.
1:04.4	That's all coming up later in the podcast and we begin in the UK where this month marks 25 years
1:10.0	since the passing of the Disability Discrimination Act in 1995.
1:14.7	That law made it illegal for employers and service providers to discriminate against someone
1:19.6	because of their disability.
1:21.4	Nicky Fox has been hearing from some of the campaigners who pushed for the act, sometimes
	...

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