When I started practicing Disability Rights in 1998, one of my first clients was Edward Resnick. Edward was a renowned attorney who contracted polio in 1954, and was an attorney and became a quadriplegic. Following passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990, he had the hope that his community would quickly comply with the law so he, and his wife Phyllis, could be fully integrated in the community. Despite letters and pleading, it didn’t happen.
After eight years of asking, Edward and Phyllis founded Access Now, Inc., found attorneys willing to learn, and compelled compliance with this civil rights law. Edward passed away several years ago, and Phyllis recently passed the torch to a new group of disability rights activists with David New as the president. We all stand on the shoulders of the great people who come before us, and because of what Edward and Phyllis had accomplished, Miami has become a more inclusive community.
Disability Independence Group Blog 