The Rehabilitation Act and NIDILRR: Research and Innovation for Community Living

September 26 marks 53 years since the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 became law. In it, Congress said something important: disability is just a normal part of being human. It doesn't take away a person's right to live independently, make their own choices, contribute to society, have a meaningful career, and be fully included in American life.

For the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), the Rehabilitation Act is more than an important part of our nation's history. It is the statutory foundation for our work - it shapes our mission, research investments, and responsibility to people with disabilities.

A New Commitment to Research

The Rehabilitation Act advanced civil rights protections for people with disabilities, but it also established a federal commitment to research, knowledge, innovation, and continuous improvement. In 1978, amendments to the Rehabilitation Act established the National Institute on Handicapped Research, which ultimately became NIDILRR.

Today, operating under Title II of the Rehabilitation Act, our mission is to discover and promote ways to help people with disabilities participate as they choose to in their communities. We also work to help society provide full opportunities and accommodations for people with disabilities.

Our research spans community living and participation, employment, health, rehabilitation engineering and assistive technology, disability statistics, knowledge translation, and research capacity building. NIDILRR engages early and often. We help identify important questions and design studies; we develop technologies and interpret findings.

We also translate knowledge and put evidence into practice. NIDILRR research focuses on outcomes that matter in everyday life. We measure our impact by what happens after the research is completed:

• Does the knowledge improve practice?
• Does it help remove barriers?
• Does it strengthen services and systems?
• Does it increase independence, opportunity, participation, health and wellness, or employment for people with disabilities?

Research With, Not About

The updated Rehabilitation Act also gave NIDILRR the important job of coordinating disability research. Through the Interagency Committee on Disability Research, NIDILRR works with federal partners to share critical information, identify research gaps, strengthen coordination, and improve efficiency and collaboration across federal disability research.

That coordination is even more critical as disability collides with rapidly evolving areas like emerging technologies, healthcare, employment, transportation, and caregiving. No single agency or research discipline can fully address these issues. The next wave of disability research will need government, universities, industry, health and rehab systems, community organizations, and disability networks all working together.

Most important of all, people with disabilities must be part of that work. An enduring principle of the disability rights movement is captured in the phrase, "Nothing About Us Without Us." That principle belongs in research as well as in policy and practice.

People with disabilities and their families bring practical knowledge that only comes from lived experience. Caregivers, researchers, service providers, employers, and community organizations have unique perspectives about where problems persist, barriers remain, and where research can actually make a difference.

The Rehabilitation Act gave NIDILRR its foundation, and that vision gives our research its purpose. On this 53rd anniversary, NIDILRR honors the advocates, researchers, policymakers, professionals, families, organizations, and people with disabilities who have carried that vision forward.

Dr. Kristi Hill is Acting Director of the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR)