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World Institute on Disability Records
BANC MSS 99/148z
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Table of contents
Language of Material:
English
Contributing Institution:
The Bancroft Library
Title: World Institute on Disability records
creator:
World Institute on Disability
Identifier/Call Number: BANC MSS 99/148z
Physical Description:
109 linear feet
(85 cartons, 3 boxes, 1 oversize box, 3 oversize folders)
Date (inclusive): 1983-[ongoing]
Abstract: The records of the World Institute on Disability, 1983-[ongoing], provide a fairly complete picture of its history since its
founding in 1983. The records include founding documents, meeting records, correspondence, reports, research and publications,
grant applications, training materials, and promotional materials.
Physical Location: For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog
Language of Material: English
- The Bancroft Library.
- University of California, Berkeley
- Berkeley, California, 94720-6000
- Phone: (510) 642-6481
- Fax: (510) 642-7589
- Email:bancref@library.berkeley.edu
- URL: http://bancroft.berkeley.edu
- Collection Processed By:
- Susan Storch
- Date Completed:
- July 25, 2003
- Finding Aid written by:
- Susan Storch
Collection is open for research with the exception of cartons 39-85, boxes 1-3, oversize folder 3. These materials are unprocessed.
Researchers interested in these unprocessed materials may submit a
Notice of Interest in Unprocessed Collections form
Copyright has been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must
be submitted in writing to the appropriate curator or the Head of Public Services for forwarding. Permission for publication
is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library as the owner of the physical items and the copyright.
[Identification of item], World Institute on Disability records, BANC MSS 99/148 z, The Bancroft Library, University of California,
Berkeley.
Deborah Kaplan, "Attorney, National Policy Advocate, and Spokesperson for Disability Rights Organizations, 1976-1990s," an
oral history conducted in 1998 by Sharon Bonney, Regional Oral History Office, The Bancroft Library, University of California,
Berkeley, 2000.
Deborah Kaplan Papers, BANC MSS 99/369c, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Edward V. Roberts Papers, BANC MSS 99/34 cz, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley.
Joan Leon, "Administrator at Berkeley's Center for Independent Living and the California Department of Rehabilitation, Cofounder
of the World Institute on Disability," an oral history conducted in 1998 by Susan O'Hara, Regional Oral History Office, The
Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley, 2000.
Judith Heumann Papers, BANC MSS 99/143 z. The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
The World Institute on Disability papers were given to The Bancroft Library by the World Institute on Disability on May 29,
1998. Additions were made on May 7, 2003.
The World Institute on Disability (WID) is a non-profit public policy, research and training center dedicated to independence
for all people with disabilities. WID was founded in 1983 through the efforts of Ed Roberts, Judy Heumann, and Joan Leon,
longtime disability rights activists. Roberts, Heumann and Leon saw a critical need to create awareness and policy change
by producing accurate information about people with disabilities, their capabilities, and their assistance needs. WID is funded
by a combination of government, foundation, corporate grants and contracts, and individual donations.
Roberts, who was quadriplegic and used a respirator from childhood polio, was the first significantly disabled person to
attend the University of California, Berkeley. He and a group of other disabled students helped start the Center for Independent
Living (CIL) in Berkeley. He went on to become Director of the California State Department of Rehabilitation, receiving a
prestigious MacArthur Foundation "genius" award in 1985. He was the first President of WID and served as President until his
death in 1995.
Heumann, a quadriplegic as a result of childhood polio, began her career as an advocate for disability rights when she sued
the New York City Board of Education for the right to teach in a school system that considered her "a fire hazard." She won
the suit and went on to help start New York's Disabled in Action (DIA). In the 1970s she went West to the Center for Independent
Living. In 1993 Heumann left WID to accept an appointment as Assistant Secretary at the Office of Special Education and Research
Services at the United States Department of Education.
Leon joined CIL as a volunteer proposal writer, and eventually became their chief development officer. Her skills at program
design, strategy and fundraising were instrumental in launching WID. She was the organization's Vice President of Operations
and Development for fourteen years.
The Board of Directors and staff, over half of whom are people with disabilities, are respected national leaders in the disability
field as well as in industry, government and social services. As a result, WID has been able to bring a diverse disability
perspective to the policy arena.
The changes in WID's internal organization over the years reflect the grants and programs of the time.
Since 1984, WID has pioneered research on the use of Personal Assistance Services (PAS). The federally-funded Rehabilitation
Research and Training Center on Personal Assistance Services (RRTC-PAS), funded in 1993, examines how PAS can promote the
economic self-sufficiency, independent living and full integration of people with disabilities into society. The RRTC-PAS
also researches the use of PAS in the workplace, abuse by personal assistance providers and the need for a larger, more qualified,
workforce of personal assistants.
WID's Technology Policy Division pursues a host of strategies aimed at ensuring greater access to telecommunications and
electronic and information technologies for people with disabilities. This division has pioneered the field of technology
policy as applied to independent living, and disability rights. WID participates in policy making at the state and federal
level, advises key industry sectors and educates consumers about the principles and practices of universal design, at the
blue print stage of product development and throughout the product cycle.
The Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Public Policy in Independent Living (RRTC-PPIL) was created in 1989 with
a grant from the National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation and Research (NIDRR). A new grant in 1995 changed the name
to the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Independent Living and Disability Policy (RRTC-ILDP). Both centers studied
and disseminated information about policy issues that have an impact on independent living. The RRTC-PPIL studied personal
assistance services, independent living legislation, leadership and empowerment and community assessment and change. The RRTC-PAS
grew out of the focus of the PPIL on PAS. The RRTC-ILDP had five primary objectives: 1) to demonstrate and facilitate collaborations
between Centers for Independent Living and other community groups in reforming and implementing public policies that respond
to the needs of people with disabilities; 2) to strengthen the ability of CIL's, communities, and vocational rehabilitation
agencies to increase successful employment outcomes for people with disabilities; 3) to identify and develop training and
research strategies that can be used by CIL's and other groups to improve the accessibility of generic and community services
for individuals with significant disabilities; 4) to disseminate the products of its research and analysis in the most appropriate
and accessible media to a wide audience; and 5) to demonstrate and evaluate a research and training process based on the Participatory
Action Research approach, using Independent Living principles.
The HIV/AIDS and Disability Division, 1991-1998, conducted training on reasonable accommodations, vocational rehabilitation,
legal issues, and AIDS education to employers, AIDS service providers and other interested groups. They provided education
regarding HIV/AIDS as a disability and technical assistance with developing policies and procedures on HIV/AIDS.
Judy Heumann was originally the Director of Domestic and International Policy at WID. When she left WID, Domestic Policy
was dispersed among different divisions within WID, and the International Division was created. It serves as a center for
the international exchange of information and expertise on disability and disability policy. WID's international activities
include training, technical assistance, needs assessments, program development and evaluation, legislative and policy development,
exchange programs, research, conferences, materials development, and international resources and referral.
WID's research on Health Policy seeks to expand the accessibility, availability, array and consumer-defined quality of health
and long term services in the United States to optimize the physical, mental and emotional well-being of people with disabilities.
In addition to addressing physical access, Health Access and Long Term Services (HALTS) promotes cultural competency among
health care providers so that patients with disabilities will be better served.
Scope and Content of Collection
The records of the World Institute on Disability, 1983-[ongoing], provide a fairly complete picture of its history since its
founding in 1983. The records include founding documents, meeting records, correspondence, reports, research and publications,
grant applications, training materials, and promotional materials. Notably absent are the papers of the founding president
Edward V. Roberts. Roberts's papers are arranged separately as the Edward V. Roberts Papers (BANC MSS 99/34 cz).
The heart of the collection is in the series that document the research and advocacy functions of WID. WID staff have been
particularly active on a national level in the areas of domestic disability policy, personal assistance services and access
to technology and telecommunications. Many WID staff members have been appointed to presidential task forces and national
committees on a variety of issues including the National Information Infrastructure and President Clinton's Health Care Reform
Task Force. WID staff have been prominently involved in local efforts to improve accessibility of services such as the Alameda
County Transit System and the Bay Area Rapid Transit System (BART), and they have served on numerous local task forces and
advisory boards dealing with issues of importance to disabled persons and of value to society in general.
The collection has been arranged into twelve series: Historical Background, Governance, WID Sponsored Conferences, Projects
and Publications, Aging and Disability Project, HIV/AIDS and Disability Project, Domestic and International Policy, Health
Care Issues, International, Personal Assistance Services, Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Public Policy in
Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Independent Living and Disability Policy, and Technology
Policy.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
People with disabilities.
Disability studies.
People with disabilities--Effect of technological innovations on.
People with disabilities--Government policy--United States.
People with disabilities--Government policy--California.
People with disabilities--Home care.
People with disabilities--Medical care.
People with disabilities--Rehabilitation.
People with disabilities--Research.
Minutes.
World Institute on Disability
World Institute on Disability--Archives.