“FREEDOM.” That’s how Bernard Carabello describes the impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on his life. He knows a thing or two about freedom; at the age of 21, he was liberated from Willowbrook, the infamous institution on Staten Island for people with developmental disabilities. He had entered Willowbrook at age three.
But after leaving Willowbrook, life wasn’t easy. “Before the ADA passed, New York was a tough place for people with disabilities,” Carabello said. “It was hard to get around, and there was not that much accessibility in the city. If you used a wheelchair or a scooter, you were often stuck. If there’s no curb cuts, no elevators, how the hell do you get around? Go to work? Have a social life? Be part of your community? People with developmental disabilities were coming out of institutions, but there were no guarantees, and even if you got out and you couldn’t travel anywhere, or employers could discriminate against you, what was the point? People with disabilities had fought many battles for themselves about where they lived and services and supports they received, but being part of public life was an ongoing, daily battle for many of us.”
Carabello persisted, trying to make a better life for people with developmental disabilities. He worked as an ombudsman for New York State, and founded the Self-Advocacy Association of New York State, an organization by and for people with developmental disabilities. “When I left Willowbrook, I wanted to live independently, and I wanted to have jobs, and to succeed, and to be the founder of things,” he shared. “I knew that people with disabilities needed to see someone like themselves succeeding and living their life instead of being locked up in an institution.”
Carabello recognizes the tremendous role that the ADA has played in his life and in the lives of millions of other people with disabilities in America. “Today, I can go anywhere I want and know that I’m not going to be stuck, that I don’t have to wait for someone else to come and help me. To know that we can live our lives, on our own terms, that we can succeed and feel free without depending on some able-bodied person to come help us out, is something we wouldn’t have without the ADA.”
Now, at 75 years old, Carabello is enjoying his retirement. But he knows that the fight goes on. “I am not out there as much as I used to be because people with disabilities need a new generation of leaders, and we have to give other people the opportunity to lead,” he said. “The ADA is not the end for people with disabilities, we are always going to need to fight for ourselves and the things we want and need.”
Read all 35 stories of the New York-based leaders profiled in our ADA 35 edition.