The Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act Celebrates 30 Years
Let the Shameful Wall of Exclusion Finally Come Tumbling Down
-President George H.W. Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act on July 26, 1990
The History of the Americans with Disabilities Act
A Movement Perspective
By Arlene Mayerson
1992
The history of the ADA did not begin on July 26, 1990 at the signing ceremony at the White House. It did not begin in 1988 when the first ADA was introduced in Congress. The ADA story began a long time ago in cities and towns throughout the United States when people with disabilities began to challenge societal barriers that excluded them from their communities, and when parents of children with disabilities began to fight against the exclusion and segregation of their children. It began with the establishment of local groups to advocate for the rights of people with disabilities. It began with the establishment of the independent living movement which challenged the notion that people with disabilities needed to be institutionalized, and which fought for and provided services for people with disabilities to live in the community.
The ADA owes its birthright not to any one person, or any few, but to the many thousands of people who make up the disability rights movement – people who have worked for years organizing and attending protests, licking envelopes, sending out alerts, drafting legislation, speaking, testifying, negotiating, lobbying, filing lawsuits, being arrested – doing whatever they could for a cause they believed in. There are far too many people whose commitment and hard work contributed to the passage of this historic piece of disability civil rights legislation to be able to give appropriate credit by name. Without the work of so many – without the disability rights movement – there would be no ADA. (the entire article can be found at https://dredf.org/about-us/publications/the-history-of-the-ada/)
Pioneers of the Disability Rights Movement
Edward Verne Roberts
Roberts began his career as an advocate when a high school administrator threatened to deny him his diploma because he had not completed driver's education and physical education. Roberts was the first student who relied on a wheelchair to attend the University of California, Berkeley. Roberts founded the Center for Independent Living for people with disabilities.
Click on the video to watch Ed Roberts on 60 Minutes
Justin Dart, Jr.
Activist and advocate for people with disabilities. Dart worked closely with both Democratic and Republican Members of Congress to advance the rights of disabled people. He helped to pass the Americans with Disabilities Act, co-founded the American Association of People with Disabilities, and is regarded as the "Godfather of the ADA"
“I call for solidarity among all who love justice, all who love life, to create a revolution that will empower every single human being to govern his or her life, to govern the society and to be fully productive of life quality for self and for all.” - Dart, Jr.
Judy Huemann
Four decades ago, Judith Heumann helped to lead a groundbreaking protest called the Section 504 sit-in -- in which disabled-rights activists occupied a federal building for almost a month, demanding greater accessibility for all. In this personal, inspiring talk, Heumann tells the stories behind the protest -- and reminds us that, 40 years on, there's still work left to do.
Heumann is a lifelong civil rights advocate for people with disabilities. Her work has produced significant contributions to the development of human rights legislation and policies benefiting children and adults with disabilities
“Disability only becomes a tragedy for me when society fails to provide the things we need to lead our lives- job opportunities or barrier-free buildings, for example. It is not a tragedy to me that I’m living in a wheelchair” - Huemann
Key Elements of the Americans with Disabilities Act
(Adapted from: ADA National Network, https://adata.org/factsheet/ADA-overview)
Title I - Employment
Helps people with disabilities access the same employment opportunities and benefits available to people without disabilities.
Applies to employers with 15 or more employees.
Requires employers to provide reasonable accommodations to qualified applicants or employees. A “reasonable accommodation” is a change that accommodates employees with disabilities so they can do the job without causing the employer “undue hardship” (too much difficulty or expense).
Defines disability, establishes guidelines for the reasonable accommodation process, and addresses medical examinations and inquiries.
Regulated and enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
Title II - Public Services: State and Local Government
Prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by “public entities” such as state and local government agencies. .
Requires public entities to make their programs, services and activities accessible to individuals with disabilities.
Outlines requirements for self-evaluation and planning; making reasonable modifications to policies, practices, and procedures where necessary to avoid discrimination; identifying architectural barriers; and communicating effectively with people with hearing, vision and speech disabilities.
Regulated and enforced by the U.S. Department of Justice
Title III - Public Accommodations and Services Operated by Private Entities
Prohibits places of public accommodation from discriminating against individuals with disabilities. Public accommodations include privately owned, leased or operated facilities like hotels, restaurants, retail merchants, doctor’s offices, golf courses, private schools, day care centers, health clubs, sports stadiums, movie theaters, and so on.
Sets the minimum standards for accessibility for alterations and new construction of commercial facilities and privately owned public accommodations. It also requires public accommodations to remove barriers in existing buildings where it is easy to do so without much difficulty or expense.
Directs businesses to make "reasonable modifications" to their usual ways of doing things when serving people with disabilities.
Requires that businesses take steps necessary to communicate effectively with customers with vision, hearing, and speech disabilities.
Regulated and enforced by the U.S. Department of Justice
Title IV - Telecommunications
Requires telephone and Internet companies to provide a nationwide system of interstate and intrastate telecommunications relay services that allows individuals with hearing or speech disabilities to communicate over the telephone.
Requires closed captioning of federally funded public service announcements.
Additional Information
The Americans with Disabilities Act, Signing Ceremony, July 26, 1990
Crip Camp: A Disability Rights Revolution on Netflix
Beyond the Americans with Disabilities Act
Authors: Neal E. Lipsitz; Kaela Parks; Mary Lee Vance
https://www.naspa.org/book/beyond-the-americans-with-disabilities-act
Academic Ableism: Disability and Higher Education
Author: Jay T. Dolmage
Living Gently in a Violent World
Authors: Stanley Hauerwas and Jean Vanier
http://readingreligion.org/books/living-gently-violent-world
Disability Incarcerated: Imprisonment and Disability in the United States of America
Editors: L. Ben Moshe; C. Chapman; A Carey
Forward by, Angela Davis
https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9781137393234