US Disability: 1950-1960

Key Events regarding Disability in the US: 1950 to 1960:

1950: Mary Switzer was appointed the Director of the U.S. Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, where she emphasized Independent Living as a quality of life issue.

1950: Social Security Amendments established a Federal-State Program to aid permanently and totally Disabled persons in America.

1953: The President's Committee on National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week became the President's Committee on Employment of the Physically Handicapped, a permanent organization reporting to the President and Congress.

1954: Public Law 565 amended the Vocational Rehabilitation Act; specifically, it increased the 50–50 matched funding from the Federal Government to 3 Federal Dollars for every 2 State Dollars, and expanded services to those with Intellectual Disabilities.

1954: Mary Switzer, Director of the U.S. Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, authorized funds for more than 100 University-based Rehabilitation-Related Programs.

1954: The Social Security Act of 1935 was amended by PL 83-761 to include a Freeze Provision for workers who were forced by Disability to leave the workforce. This protected their benefits by freezing their Retirement Benefits at their Pre-Disability Level.

1956: The Social Security Amendments of 1956 created the Social Security Disability (SSDI) Program for Disabled workers aged 50 to 64 in America.

1956: The Alaska Mental Health Enabling Act of 1956 (Public Law 84-830) was an Act of Congress passed to improve Mental Health Care in the United States Territory of Alaska. The Act succeeded in its initial aim of establishing a Mental Health Care System for Alaska, funded by income from lands allocated to a Mental Health Trust.

1958: The Social Security Amendments of 1958 extended Social Security Disability Benefits to Dependents of Disabled Workers in America.

1958: PL 85-905, which authorized loan services for Captioned Films for the Deaf, became :aw in the U.S.

1958: PL 85-926, which provided Federal support for training Teachers for Children with Intellectual Disability, became law in the U.S.

1958: The Rehabilitation Gazette (formerly known as the Toomeyville Gazette), edited by Gini Laurie, was founded. It was an American grassroots Publication which became an early voice for Disability Rights, Independent Living, and Cross-Disability organizing. It featured articles by writers with Disabilities.