Post Date: Feb 1, 2026
New Let’s Get To Work Podcast with Guest Lex Frieden
Disability and Employment Policy: A Conversation with Lex Frieden
Lex Frieden, the inaugural episode of the DEP RRTC, Let’s Get to Work, discusses his life journey as a pioneering disability rights advocate and national thought leader.
On Saturday night, November 20, 1967, Lex was injured in a car accident and doctors said he’d never walk again. Although Lex recalls, “That did not really have an impact on me at the time,” he soon discovered, “there were barriers literally everywhere . . .. There were steps everywhere, and no accommodations whatsoever.”
That realization launched a lifetime of national leadership and disability advocacy.
Peter Blanck, University Professor and Chairman of the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University, and Principal Investigator of the DEP RRTC, hosts Lex, who discusses his experiences as a key architect of the independent living movement and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Lex highlights the importance of work for people with disabilities and the evolution of disability employment policy: “if we’re not working, then we’re not contributing to the public good. We’re not paying taxes, we are not engaging in the economy to the extent that we can … by working, we are contributing to the product in the workforce, and we’re generating income that we can circulate back through the economy that will benefit the employers.”
Lex notes that “the younger generation is finding that there are still barriers to employment.” But he remains optimistic, confident that young and future advocates will “pick up the torch and move on, as I’m seeing happen.”
ADALive! · Let’s Get To Work: Disability and Employment Policy: A Conversation with Lex Frieden
We invite our community to listen, read the transcript, and explore the series.
- Listen: Let’s Get to Work: Disability and Employment Policy: A Conversation with Lex Frieden
- Transcript: Let’s Get to Work: Disability and Employment Policy: A Conversation with Lex Frieden [PDF file]
- Episode page: EPISODE WEB PAGE: Let’s Get to Work: Disability and Employment Policy: A Conversation with Lex Frieden
About the Let’s Get to Work Podcast
The Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University, in collaboration with Harvard Medical School, Rutgers University, Cornell University, and Mathematica, invites you to listen to our podcast series: “Let’s Get to Work: Reimagining Disability Employment Policy”. “Let’s Get to Work” features guests with unique knowledge and experience who share their perspective on disability employment policy as part of the work of the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR)-funded Disability Employment Policy Rehabilitation Research and Training Center. Join us and Let’s Get to Work!
Meet the Let’s Get To Work! Sponsors
The Disability Employment Policy Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (DEP RRTC)
The Disability Employment Policy Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (DEP RRTC) is funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR, grant #90RTEM0016) in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University, Harvard Medical School, Rutgers University, Cornell University, and Mathematica are partnering to design and implement a series of studies that produce new data and evidence on disability employment policy to enhance employment outcomes for persons with disabilities.
Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University (BBI)
The Burton Blatt Institute reaches around the globe to advance the civic, economic, and social participation of people with disabilities through innovative research that informs policy, programs, and practice development. BBI builds on the legacy of Burton Blatt, a pioneering disability rights scholar. BBI has offices in Syracuse, New York and Lexington, Kentucky.
Southeast ADA Center
Based in Lexington, Kentucky, the Southeast ADA Center (SEADA) is one of ten regional ADA Centers in the ADA National Network. ADA Centers provide information, training, and guidance on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). SEADA is a project of the Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University. The Center is funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Administration on Community Living (ACL), National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR).