Anthony L. “Tony” Coelho, as majority whip in the House of Representatives, in 1988 introduced the first Americans with Disabilities Act [ADA], the major civil rights legislation for people with disabilities. He was also a key figure in the Epilepsy Foundation, as it developed an effective lobbying program and a leadership role in disability community advocacy for the ADA. In his oral history Coelho recounts his experiences as a child with epilepsy (born in 1942) with the stigma and discrimination visited on people with epilepsy within his Portuguese-American community in Merced County, California, and as a young adult in southern California. He discusses his decision to acknowledge his mostly invisible and highly stigmatized disability when he ran for congressman in 1978 and his work with the civil rights community on a range of disability issues in Congress. He chronicles his relationship with the Epilepsy Foundation over the years, transitions within the foundation, and his continuing work for education, employment, and medical research for people with epilepsy. A significant section of the oral history deals with his introduction and managing of ADA bills in 1988 and 1989 and his continuing work behind the scenes to pass the bill in 1989 and 1990 after resigning from Congress. He discusses his interactions with the leaders of the disability community and others and the importance of the grassroots campaign in the passage of the ADA. Throughout he reflects on issues of personal identity as a person with a disability, the importance of public education, and definitions of normality and accommodation. Congressman Coelho’s interview was one of a multi-interview focus on Social and Political Advocacy in the Epilepsy Community, a subset of the Disability Rights and Independent Living Project.