This chapter emphasizes the psychological and tangible benefits of belonging to a group with a solid, political powerbase. Lawmaking is a basic power approach designed to give freedom and equity to groups of people. Limitations on the ability to foresee have long created socioeconomic problems for disabled people, and these, in turn, generate difficulties in psychological adjustment. In recent years, however, the confluence of many forces has led to the articulation of a new understanding of disability and the creation of protective legislation. Building upon the energy and vision of the civil rights and women’s movements, a disability rights movement began to coalesce and advocate for needed legislation. The basic survival programs for individuals with disabilities are contained in the Social Security Act. Both the federal education for all handicapped act and parallel state statutes have mainstreaming as a prime goal.