Articles from prior issues of The Advocate

January/February, 1996

ADA Impacts Employment and the Public
by Brenda Tibbets, South Dakota DDS

RON HANSON, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF Maine Vocational Rehabilitation presented an update on ADA issues and the impact ADA is having on employment and public services. ADA is not a federal building code. ADA refers to Civil Rights for people with disabilities. Throughout history, people have not known how to act around people with disabilities, from leaving them in the cave to putting them in asylums. With the advent of World Wars and the Civil War, it became a social problem since there were so many people with disabilities. The Rehabilitation Act of 1920 recognized workers injured on the job, and helped people continue to be productive. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 excluded people with disabilities. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 had two chapters: 1)Section 503 whereby if federal dollars were involved, the receiver had to do something affirmative by hiring someone with a handicap; 2)Section 504 said that no otherwise qualified handicapped individual could be discriminated against. President Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 - The “Emancipation Proclamation” for the disabled. ADA gives civil rights protection to individuals with disabilities that are like those provided to individuals on the basis of race, sex, national origin, and religion. It guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in Employment, Public Accommodations, Transportation, State and local government services, and Telecommunications. Overview of ADA Titles

I. EMPLOYMENT: Prohibits employers from discriminating against qualified disabled individuals in hiring, promotion, job assignments,discharge, compensation, and in all other “terms, conditions, and privileges” of employment.

II. PUBLIC SERVICES: Prohibits discrimination against qualified disabled individuals from participation in the services, programs, or activities of a public entity, including employment practices. Includes transportation and a “readily accessible” standard.

III. PUBLIC ACCOMMODATIONS AND COMMERCIAL FACILITIES: Prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in the enjoyment of goods, services, facilities, privileges, advantages or accommodations in places of public accommodations and commercial facilities...i.e., restaurants, hotels, theaters, doctors’ offices, pharmacies, retail stores, museums, libraries, parks, private schools and day care centers. Also includes interpreters, readers, and tapes.

IV. TELECOMMUNICATIONS: Required telephone companies to provide “telecommunications relay services” throughout their service areas. The relay services must operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

V. MISCELLANEOUS: Clarifies impact of provisions of ADA on the existing laws, acts and regulations.

ADA is all about INCLUSION. It encourages all of us to look at the largest minority in the U.S. (49 million Americans) first as individuals, then as the person “who uses a wheelchair” “..with mental illness” “...with cerebral palsy,” etc. It gets down to including people with disabilities in the community, just like everyone else.

Even the most common everyday activities can be major obstacles to a person with a disability. Some examples: An invitation to lunch...is the restaurant accessible? Voting ... is it accessible? If not, have to get an Absentee Ballot. No, the voter isn’t sick or going to be out of town. Bring the ballot out to the car? (For everyone?) A haircut...buying groceries...visiting government offices... etc. Mr. Hanson stated “the Spirit of ADA must be implanted. We must not exclude a major part of the population from the full and equal enjoyment of life.” The bottom line for any civil rights legislation is that it will cost to make the changes. The challenge is the belief that the government must pay for it or it won’t be done. The struggle is on behalf of every person with a disability who wants to have full and equal enjoyment of life.