Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed January 23, 2025, as Ed Roberts Day. Ed Roberts, often called the “Father of Independent Living,” was a leader in disability rights. After polio left him paralyzed at the age of 14, he fought to attend UC Berkeley, becoming their first student to use a wheelchair, and launching a movement for accessibility and inclusion. He helped create the Center for Independent Living, giving people with disabilities more freedom and support, and creating a model for similar organizations across the country. Later, he led California’s Department of Rehabilitation—the same agency that once said he was “unemployable.”
Ed Roberts and Sascha Bitter.
(Photo courtesy of Sascha Bittner)
Sascha Bittner, Disability Advocate and Master Plan for Developmental Services Workgroup Co-Chair, says Roberts made a lasting impact in her life and the lives of people across the country.
“I was so lucky to have been mentored by Ed Roberts. He believed everyone, including people with disabilities, could do legislative advocacy and was such an incredible ally to our community,” Sascha said.
In honoring Ed Roberts Day, Sascha shared a photo from a 1994 Partners in Policymaking conference in Oakland where Roberts was keynote speaker. The event offered an opportunity for people with developmental disabilities and parents to learn how to become more effective advocates in Partners in Policymaking. His activism laid the foundation for major disability rights legislation, including the Americans with Disabilities Act, ensuring greater access, inclusion, and independence for future generations.
“He emphasized that people with developmental disabilities and their family members have to work together to advance policy that puts people with developmental disabilities in control of their own lives,” Sascha added. “With my work with the Master Plan for Developmental Services, as well as my other extensive disability activism, my goal has been to advocate on many levels for people with developmental disabilities to live the lives of their choosing with the support they need. And I still use him as my guide for my activism.”
