During the recent coronavirus quarantine, I found out Netflix had a documentary called “Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution” available to subscribers of the streaming service.
The documentary piqued my interest. I had to find out what it was all about. Upon further investigation, I found out this documentary had won the Audience Award for U.S. Documentary at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
Camp Jened, a camp in the Catskills for disabled campers during the 1970’s, is where everything begins. We are introduced to Judy Heumann, who not only leads campers, but organizes them to bring the disability movement to life. Ms. Heumann is a well-respected advocate for people with disabilities even today.
The documentary brought me back to a great childhood memory. It was one summer when I was about 4 years old.  A bunch of friends from school and our parents went to a sleep away camp. This was special because we were a group of kids that used wheelchairs. We had never had this kind of experience before. This was before the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, and as I think about it now, I am amazed that the organizers of the outing were able to find somewhere that could accommodate people in wheelchairs. We had the best time together, playing video games and just being kids. We had our wheelchairs to help us get around and didn’t even give it a second thought.
The documentary talks about struggles the disability community has endured and how the group of campers who kept in touch after camp, were able to make change in their community. They organized peaceful protests to get their message across to lawmakers. The changes they were able to make not only helped them as individuals, but future generations too. The changes implemented because of their efforts opened many doors for disability inclusion in society. It also talks about the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The most interesting part of that segment was learning about the resistance that resulted after the law passed when implementing the changes that were required.
After watching it, I realized it was a good crash course in disability history. For someone who does not know very much about disability history, it gives various snapshots of what it is like to live with a disability in American society. One of the main messages laced throughout the documentary is that people with disabilities are just like anyone else who live with out a disability. That is something that is important for people to understand, even in today’s social climate.
I have said many times before that there is still work to be done toward disability inclusion. This documentary adds a human aspect to people with disabilities that isn’t seen very often.
“Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution” is a step in the right direction for more exposure of disability issues in the media. It also gives people the opportunity to see that people with disabilities lead full lives and are agents of change who can make a positive impact within their communities.
If you have Netflix, it’s a documentary you should definitely check out. I highly recommend it for anyone who is curious or interested in disability history. You don’t want to miss it.