On this week’s episode of PWS United, we celebrate the 35th Anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA has been monumental in protecting individuals with disabilities from anti-discrimination legislation and ensuring the legal rights of individuals with disabilities to live, work, and receive services in our society. In our discussion of the ADA, we dip briefly into the history of the modern disability rights movement that led up to the signing of the ADA, from the League for the Physically Handicapped in 1936, to Judy Heumann and the 20 day protest in 1977 that led to the late enactment of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, to the inspiring Capital Crawl of 1990 just months before President Bush signed the ADA. We invited Dorothea Lantz, PWSA’s Director of Community Engagement and mom to Hunter (8, living with PWS) on to the podcast to help us better understand how HR1 may affect Medicaid, the importance of getting involved in advocacy on a state level, and to encourage our community to join in our latest advocacy efforts. Share your Medicaid story: Help Expand Disability Services for PWS – Share Your Story - Prader-Willi Syndrome Association | USA Advocacy email: advocacy@pwsausa.org Medicaid-Fact-Sheet-1.pdf PWSA \ USA’s Advocacy webpage: Advocacy & Awareness - Prader-Willi Syndrome Association | USA Introduction to the Americans with Disabilities Act | ADA.gov 2024 PWSA | USA D.C. Fly-In Documentary - YouTube The Road to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) - Prader-Willi Syndrome Association | USA League of the Physically Handicapped (U.S. National Park Service) Judy Heumann (U.S. National Park Service) When the 'Capitol Crawl' Dramatized the Need for Americans with Disabilities Act | HISTORY