Over time, many people with disabilities, including MS, faced discrimination in society, including in education and work. This sparked the disability movement that dates back to the mid-1800s and continues to change today. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay In the United States, politicians, activists, and awareness groups like The Nation MS Society have supported the disability movement. They imitated the way Americans fought for their rights, notably in the women's suffrage movement and the civil rights movement. To understand the disability movement, one must first understand the correct definition of disability. Most people have a poor understanding of what disability means, based on what they have been exposed to in life; an example would be a classmate in a wheelchair. A disability can be based on a person's mental or psychological state and their physical state. Additionally, disabilities can be visible, such as some cases of multiple sclerosis, or invisible, such as diabetes. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 states in Section 504 that a disabled person is defined as "individuals who have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities." Major life activities include caring for oneself, walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, breathing, working, performing manual tasks, and learning. The Americans with Disabilities Acts, enacted in 1990, state that a person may have a disability if he or she has a disability that prevents him or her physically or mentally from performing major life activities, if that disability(ies) ) is documented or known to have one or more disabilities. “He/she suffers from a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, has a history of such an impairment, or is considered to have such an impairment.” These definitions help society understand what it means to have a disability and why the disability movement began. The debate over disability rights began in the 1860s. The idea that "people with disabilities are incapable of thinking, learning, and succeeding in life" diminished when Abraham Lincoln became president. Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., a school for deaf students, received funding through a bill passed by President Abraham Lincoln. This bill helped pave the way for the rights of people with disabilities. Abraham Lincoln's open-mindedness to the rights of people with disabilities would later spark changes in favor of civil rights, gender equality, and the rights of people with disabilities. Change became a national demand in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Americans wanted change toward equality regardless of race and gender. Faced with the eruption of civil disobedience, nonviolent protests, sit-ins, boycotts, and violence over racial inequality and civil rights, President John F. Kennedy asserted that he would support and would push civil rights legislation for all Americans. It wasn't until July 2, 1964, when Lyndon Johnson was president, that the Civil Rights Act was passed. Shortly after, Title IX was passed in 1972. The law states that "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from the.