Center for Disability Rights – CT uses a peer advocacy approach to both individual and systemic advocacy. 

First pioneered at a Camp for Disabled Children called “Camp Jeneed” (“Crip Camp”), and later developed by the Rolling Quads at the University of California at Berkeley, Disabled in Action in NYC, The Atlantis Community in Denver, and later in New Haven, Boston, and Chicago, the peer approach is about people with disabilities who benefit from sharing their experiences encountering and overcoming barriers in their lives.

These pioneers were adamant that it wasn’t their physical, mental or communicative issues that were disabling; but rather, that the real disabling condition was the inaccessible environment in which they lived, worked, and played. They identified physical, communicative, and attitudinal barriers that prevented them from enjoying the same rights and experiences as everyone else.

They were determined to remove these barriers, and they engaged in peer support and advocacy to protest, advocate, and engage in street theater to make public transportation  and public buildings and services accessible to all. They also called a stop to the practice of warehousing people with disabilities in institutions.

In this tradition, at CDR we peer support one another as we challenge barriers to our inclusion. Despite the common misconceptions about our name, we are not a law firm or a legal advocacy group.