Disability and Employment Policy: A Conversation with Lex Frieden
Peter Blanck, University Professor and Chairman of the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University and Principal Investigator of the DEP RRTC, hosts Lex Frieden, Professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center & Baylor College of Medicine, who discusses his experiences as a key architect of the independent living movement and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, his life journey as a pioneering disability rights advocate and national thought leader.
Lex highlights the importance of work for people with disabilities and the evolution of disability employment policy: “if we’re not working, then we’re not contributing to the public good. We’re not paying taxes, we are not engaging in the economy to the extent that we can … by working, we are contributing to the product in the workforce, and we’re generating income that we can circulate back through the economy that will benefit the employers.”
Lex notes that “the younger generation is finding that there are still barriers to employment.” But he remains optimistic, confident that young and future advocates will “pick up the torch and move on, as I’m seeing happen.”