Google Honors Disability Activist Ed Roberts’ 78th Birthday

On January 23rd 2017 the Google logo was replace for the day with a Google Doodle in honor of Ed Roberts’ 78th birthday. Ed Roberts was a disability rights activist sometimes called the father of the “Independent Living” movement. Roberts became ill with polio when he was fourteen and this resulted in him being paralyzed from the waste down, needing an iron lung to sleep and often needing to rest multiple times a day. Roberts was the first student with severe disabilities to attend the University of California, Berkley. Roberts paved the way for individuals with severe disabilities to be treated as equals. The Google Doodle featured him in his wheelchair, lecturing in a classroom.