Celebrate National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month with New Programming
March is National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, a time to recognize the contributions of people with developmental disabilities. We’re excited to be premiering American Experience: Change Not Charity – The Americans with Disabilities Act on Tuesday, March 25, at 9pm and our new film, Jeffrey’s Journey, on Thursday, March 27, at 8pm. You can catch these on CET, the PBS App or the station live streams.
You can also explore some amazing disabilities-focused programming on the PBS App and on PBS LearningMedia as part of Move to Include. Move to Include is a national public media initiative that seeks to elevate the voices and experiences of people with disabilities and promote their inclusion. You can learn more at https://movetoinclude.us/.
Learn more about Change Not Charity: The Americans with Disabilities Act and Jeffrey’s Journey below:
American Experience: Change, Not Charity – The Americans With Disabilities Act
Premieres Tuesday, March 25, at 9pm on CET
On March 12, 1990, over 700 people marched from the White House to the Capitol. Known as “The Capitol Crawl,” activists — most in wheelchairs — dropped to the ground at the base of the Capitol steps and dragged themselves to the top. Part of a movement that began in the 1970s, this protest was the act that finally prompted Congress to pass the legislation on July 26, 1990.
The American with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law nearly 35 years ago, but only after the decades-long push for equality and accessibility. Narrated by Peter Dinklage, Change Not Charity tells the dramatic and emotional story of the people who literally put their bodies on the line to achieve their goal and change the lives of all Americans.
The film brings one of the greatest civil rights movements in American history to life through the voices of key participants and witnesses, from ordinary people living with disabilities to civil rights attorneys and state representatives. Activists, advocates and allies, they made their voices heard and Congress responded.
“I’m grateful for the ADA,” activist Anita Cameron said in the film, according to the American Experience press release. “I pushed for it. I fought for it. I went to jail for it. But the ADA is the floor — it’s not the ceiling.”
The documentary premieres Tuesday, March 25, at 9pm on CET, the PBS App and the station live streams. Watch a preview: https://watch.cetconnect.org/video/trailer-change-not-charity-the-americans-with-disabilities-act/.
Jeffrey’s Journey
Premieres Thursday, March 27, at 8pm on CET
When you’re faced with an incurable, debilitating and progressive disease, you have a choice to make. How do you live your life? Ieffrey’s Journey reveals one man’s answer. When Jeffrey McElfresh was a child, those questions weren’t a consideration. But throughout his life, something changed. His feet and hands were gradually losing function.
At age 41 he finally learned the name of his malady: Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. This extraordinarily rare peripheral neuropathy disrupts signals from the brain, causing muscles in the feet and hands to atrophy. Today Jeffrey’s disability is apparent, but he’s adapted and built a life rich with meaning as an adventure cyclist. He’s found that when he’s on a bicycle, he’s in his element.
In this locally-produced documentary, we follow Jeffrey over the course of ten days as he cycles along the Ohio River, from Pittsburgh to Cincinnati. As he follows the river through old steel towns, beautiful valleys and forgotten burgs, Jeffrey discovers a lot about the land he’s riding through and even more about himself.
The documentary premieres Tuesday, March 25, at 9pm on CET, the PBS App and the station live streams. Watch a preview: https://watch.cetconnect.org/video/jeffreys-journey-preview-jarymg/.
