{"id":1908,"date":"2022-01-23T05:00:05","date_gmt":"2022-01-23T05:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ivcil.com\/?p=1908"},"modified":"2022-07-06T20:21:07","modified_gmt":"2022-07-06T20:21:07","slug":"ed-roberts-day-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ivcil.com\/ed-roberts-day-2022\/","title":{"rendered":"Ed Roberts Day 2022: Honoring the Father of the Independent Living Movement"},"content":{"rendered":"

On January 23rd,\u00a0 we celebrate Ed Roberts Day to honor the man often called the father of the Independent Living movement. Ed Roberts was a charismatic leader who championed people with disabilities rights.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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\u201cThe disability community as a whole takes this day to remember a man who was a catalyst for disability rights, access, and equality. Because of the work he did, inclusion is prioritized, access is a requirement, and people with disabilities are developing stronger and louder voices every day.<\/em> \u201c – Access Living\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

About Ed Roberts:\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Ed Roberts was a pioneer in disability rights. He was the first student with significant disabilities to attend the University of California, Berkeley, and graduated with a Master’s Degree in Political Science. He was a founder of the University’s Physically Disabled Students Program, which became the model for the first Center for Independent Living and over 400 other independent living centers across the country. As the first California State Director of Rehabilitation with a disability; Ed Roberts personified the Independent Living Movement.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

At the age of 14, Ed Roberts contracted Polio, along with his parents and siblings. Ed was left with significant respiratory, muscle, and limb weakness and atrophy. As a result, he slept in an iron lung (a breathing machine used prior to the development of our modern ventilators) and developed breathing techniques in order to function independently of his iron lung during the day.<\/span><\/p>\n

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