Burton Blatt Institute Chairman and University Professor Peter Blanck鈥檚 2nd edition of “Disability Law and Policy” was released in honor of the 34th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). “Disability Law and Policy provides an overview of the themes and insights in disability law. It is a compelling compendium of stories about how our legal system has responded to the needs of impacted individuals.
The year 2025 marks the 35th anniversary of the ADA, celebrated on July 26. During the past three decades, disability law and policy have evolved dramatically in the United States and internationally. 鈥淲alls of inaccessibility, exclusion, segregation and discrimination have been torn down, often brick by brick. But the work continues, many times led by advocates who have never known a world without the ADA and are now building on the efforts of those who came before them,鈥� says Blanck, who is also a professor in the College of Law.
Lex Frieden, an internationally distinguished disability rights scholar and advocate and former Chairperson of the U.S. National Council on Disability, writes in the Foreword to Blanck鈥檚 book: 鈥淚n 1967, I survived a head-on car crash. When I woke up, I was paralyzed from the shoulders down. . . . My story is one of many in the modern disability rights movement. In ‘Disability Law and Policy,’ Peter Blanck retells my story, and the personal experiences of many others living with disabilities, in a master tour of the area. Peter is a world-renowned teacher, researcher, lawyer, and advocate. He has been central to the modern sea change in disability civil rights . . . ‘Disability Law and Policy’ should be read by all of us鈥攑eople with the lived experience of disability and their advocates, parents, family members and friends.鈥�
Blanck says that 鈥渁 new generation of people with disabilities, building on the efforts of Lex Frieden and many others, families, friends, advocates,and supporters, is stepping forward. As a guiding beacon, disability law and policy offer hope of a future in which all people, regardless of individual difference, will be welcomed as full and equal members of society.鈥�
“Disability Law and Policy” is published by Foundation Press and is available from .
