Ed Roberts Day: The Story That Changed What Independence Means

In the 1960s, independence was measured by what your body could do on its own. If you couldn’t walk without assistance, breathe without a machine, or care for yourself without help, the world assumed your future had already been decided. Institutions were common. Expectations were low. Choices were rare. 

Then came Ed Roberts. 

After contracting polio as a teenager, Ed used a wheelchair and relied on an iron lung to breathe. By most standards of the time, independence wasn’t something people thought he could ever have. But Ed didn’t accept the definition the world handed him. 

He believed independence wasn’t about physical ability. It was about control over your own life. 

When Ed was accepted to the University of California, Berkeley, the campus wasn’t accessible. There were stairs without ramps, buildings without elevators, and housing that simply didn’t exist for students like him. Administrators didn’t know where to put him, so they housed him in the campus hospital. 

Most people would have seen that as the end of the story. Ed saw it as the beginning. 

From that hospital room, Ed built community. Other disabled students began to gather, sharing stories of barriers they faced and solutions they imagined. Together, they questioned a system that assumed dependence was inevitable. 

What they were really asking was simple: Why shouldn’t we get to decide how we live? 

Ed knew something the rest of the world was still learning: needing assistance did not, and should not, cancel out independence. Hiring attendants, using adaptive equipment, and receiving community support were not signs of failure, but tools of freedom. Ed’s vision mirrors a belief Boundless carries forward: that every person deserves to belong in their community - fully, confidently, and without barriers.

With other disabled activists, Ed helped form the Rolling Quads, a group that pushed for curb cuts, accessible transportation, housing, and personal attendant services. These services were the difference between staying home and showing up in the world. 

Out of that work came something revolutionary: the first Center for Independent Living. 

It wasn’t run by doctors or institutions. It wasn’t built around fixing people. It was led by people with disabilities themselves, offering peer support, advocacy, and resources that allowed individuals to live in their own homes and communities. 

That model spread- first across the country, then around the world, and changed what independence looked like for generations to come. 

Ed Roberts didn’t stop at organizing. He brought independent living into government, becoming Director of the California Department of Rehabilitation. His influence can still be seen today in curb cuts at street corners, accessible public transportation, community-based services, and disability-led advocacy organizations. These everyday features exist because people like Ed refused to accept exclusion as normal. 

But perhaps his most lasting contribution was a mindset shift: people with disabilities are experts in their own lives. 

Ed Roberts Day, January 23rd, is not just about remembering history. It’s about remembering what’s possible. 

Independent living is not about doing everything alone. It’s about having the right to choose where you live, who supports you, how you participate in your community, and what your future looks like. Ed Roberts showed the world that independence begins with dignity, and grows when people are trusted to lead their own lives. 

His story reminds us that when society removes barriers instead of people, independence becomes something everyone can reach. At Boundless, we continue this work by ensuring people with complex needs have the support, respect, and opportunities they deserve — not to limit them, but to help them realize their boundless potential.