Take Action ADA

Take Action ADA.pdf

Download PDF • 578KB

This piece of writing originally existed as a slides presentation that I made for my AP US History class for a fun final little project. The assignment was to pick something relating to the class at least and tell the class why it's important to take action. I only managed to save a PDF of the slides before my access to my high school email was cut, so I probably have unintentionally left out helpful background information. Also, there's a download link for the PDF if you are interested :)

What legislation exists to support disabled Americans?

The Americans with Disabilities Act (1990) (ADA) is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which made discrimination based on race, religion, sex, national origin, and other characteristics illegal, and later sexual orientation. In addition, unlike the Civil Rights Act, the ADA also requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities, and imposes accessibility requirements on public accommodations

Marca Bristo

-Longtime disability rights activist from Chicago

-Pivotal voice in the shaping and passing of ADA

-Got young people to demand better access to all forms of living in America

-Feminist - helped disabled women think differently about themselves

Before ADA

Before ADA, disabled students got little to no education, and struggled with employment. They were also placed into workshops but didn’t do anything If Americans with disabilities did get a job, they were played extremely poorly.

ADA in Schools

According to the Learning Disabilities Association of America, every year thousands of individuals with learning disabilities apply for and are appropriately granted accommodations, including extended time, for the college admissions exams such as the SAT and ACT.

Keri Gray, member of the American Association of People with Disabilities

“I think that one of the first things I think about is the ADA, what it has done for our inclusion and perception. So, we know that one in five people across the United States have a disability, but it is still not widely known that disability is not just the summation of your medical conditions, but it is a legal term that gives you access to your human rights.”

What are some day to day problems that disabled Americans face?

Disabled people have problems with access, like being able to enter a building or getting resources so that they can survive and thrive. People struggle to be accepted by society, but there has been a growth of resources. Interpreters, captions, etc.

People still face problems trying to find employment that is accessible to them. Being able to use the ADA ensures that the people must be accommodated in their workplace, and gives them a way to protect themselves if situations of discrimination do occur

Dr. Oluwaferanmi Okanlami, assistant professor at U-Michigan medical school and a disabled American

“Disability is ubiquitous. It does not discriminate based on race or gender or ethnicity or socioeconomic status. But there's an entire demographic of individuals that don't have equal rights and that don't have something as simple as the ability to enter a building because it is structurally not accessible for me to come in.”

“[T]he ADA is a civil rights law that tries to provide equal access to public services and then to private services that are offered for the public's consumption and giving equal access. So something as simple as curb cutouts, right? A ramp to go from the street to the sidewalk is something that we likely don't think about every day until you are then in a wheelchair and you can't get onto the block because there's nothing there that allows you to get in.

But really, even in its inception, they said that this is just the beginning. This is not meant to be the ceiling. It's really meant to be a floor of basic needs.”

What problems still need to be solved for disabled Americans?

Jen Deerinwater, disabled American in the Cherokee nation of Oklahoma:

“One of the caveats of the ADA was to try to stop the institutionalization of disabled people. Well, that's not really ended. Like, yes, we do have more options, but disabled people are being institutionalized all the time. I can't tell you the number of times I have had medical providers or health care workers try to put me in a nursing home. I don't need to be in a nursing home. Just make sure I have a disability-accessible apartment and a home health aide, and I can mostly get by on my own.”

Workplace Accommodations

When COVID happened, a lot of people had to change to work virtually. This allowed disabled americans to work from home, and be more productive. Corporations had said (pre-COVID) that they weren’t able to provide for their employees to work at home, but clearly they could manage it because COVID forced it on everyone.

Disability Representation

Actors with disabilities will be included in auditions for each new film and television production at NBCUniversal, which becomes the second major media company to make such a commitment. The pledge was made in response to calls for change by the Ruderman Family Foundation, following a similar commitment the disability rights advocate received from CBS Entertainment in 2019.

Dr. Oluwaferanmi Okanlami

“I made a comment about how I don't like "special needs" as a phrase … But someone responded by saying, ‘Housing, transportation, equal access to public facilities. Those things should not be considered special.’”

College Admissions Scandal

A counselor at a private high school said her school is very clear with students and parents about the rules, and that officials generally are skeptical if anyone asks for an accommodation at SAT/ACT time and that person has not sought accommodations earlier for school exams.

Working with “genuinely qualified learning-style difference students is amazing and very rewarding,” she said. ‘This is a threat to them.’”

“Testing agencies should focus on better oversight of employees rather than doubting those with disabilities.” - L. Scott Lissner, the ADA coordinator at Ohio State

Why this topic?

-2/3 of the group is disabled

--(1/3 of the group is not disabled)

-Important to represent

-Disabled people deserve rights

Sources

2 Disability Rights Activists on the Power of the ADA — and Where It Falls Short.” PBS NewsHour, PBS, 27 July 2020, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/2-disability-rights-activists-on-the-power-of-the-ada-and-where-it-falls-short.

Elber, Lynn. “NBCUniversal Vows Auditions for Actors with Disabilities.” PBS NewsHour, PBS, Associated Press, 29 Jan. 2021, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/nbcuniversal-vows-auditions-for-actors-with-disabilities.

“How Marca Bristo Took down Barriers for Americans with Disabilities.” PBS NewsHour, PBS, 9 Sept. 2019, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/how-marca-bristo-took-down-barriers-for-americans-with-disabilities.

Jackson, Leena I. “30 Years after ADA’s Passage, What It Means to These Americans with Disabilities.” PBS NewsHour, 27 July 2020, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/30-years-after-adas-passage-what-it-means-to-these-americans-with-disabilities.

Jaschik, Scott. “How the Admissions Scandal Could Hurt Students with Learning Disabilities.” PBS NewsHour, PBS, Inside Higher Ed, 14 Mar. 2019, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/education/how-the-admissions-scandal-could-hurt-students-with-learning-disabilities.

Sreenivasan, Hari. “30 Years after ADA, Inaccessibility Persists for the Disabled.” PBS NewsHour, PBS, 26 July 2020, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/30-years-after-ada-inaccessibility-persists-for-the-disabled.