Crip Camp

A good documentary covering the rise of the disability rights movement and how many of them came from this empowering summer camp

A socially essential, eye-opening, time capsule documentary with an effective affection of typically empathizing with the subject matter on different comfort levels to further realize their truly equal strengths as a heartening example of unity collectively marching towards a brighter future. (B+)

I'm really glad they made this documentary, you don't really hear about this subject matter or see it much in movies or shows. Jened was basically a hippie camp where everyone was accepted. And I love how raunchy and unrestrained a lot of the humor was back then, it's not how it is nowadays where most things can be offensive. You could actually learn to laugh at yourself and laugh at the world instead of being afraid of it. That footage of Willowbrook Institute was shocking. It was like something out of a horror movie. The conditions that those kids were living in was both heartbreaking, terrifying and sad. A really insightful and eye-opening documentary on the history of Camp Jened and the struggles but also great achievements and accomplishments of the disabled community. It shed some light on the disabled civil rights movement that was never talked about, I didn't even know that happened. It's also really inspiring seeing the change that Judy and all the disabled community behind her were able to establish for disabled people all around the world. They basically changed history.

I love real stories about real people in wheelchairs. We're not going away!

Was a cool Watch. Love historical true stories and the Humor to it was fun!

Summary: Camp Jened was more than just a summer camp. Here, teens with disabilities, exhausted from living in the margins, could finally be their true selves. As campers grew, so did their friendships and their activism. Takeaways: From Camp Jened to Washington D.C., Judy Heumann and others became civil rights advocates for people with disabilities. When U.S. leaders refused to sign Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (one of the first federal civil rights laws to ensure certain rights and accessibility for people with disabilities) the longest sit-in demonstration was born.

Incredible. Makes you feel like you're one of those people just taking up space in this world.

Powerful to watch. Very humbling to see the struggle these people faced to create a better future.

This was the best documentary of the year! I learned so much and have such a new respect for their achievements!

From the title, you would not know that the Camp story is the lead into the larger (and longer) story of the fight for the civil rights of the disabled. (In which several of the campers became pivotal figures.) Having worked in Easter Seal and private camps for the disabled in my youth, similarly situated in rural New Jersey, the camp scenes were bittersweet reminders of the people we lived and worked with and the often incandescent optimism they radiated under heartbreaking circumstances. I also worked for a short time in state run 'hospital' for the disabled, a less uplifting experience. The continuing story of rights for the disabled reminds us of the way things used to be in the (not so) "good old days", how far we have come as a society, and how far there is still left to go.