Americans with Disabilities – Progress?

by Ruth A. Sheets

More than 20 years ago the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed.  Many of us thought it promised that “soon” disabled persons would be fully integrated into the American society. 

We knew that integration would take some time, but we who live every day with disabilities could dream.

There is no question that some improvements have been made over the past two decades.  Many communities have curb cuts to allow easier wheel chair mobility.  Many buildings have ramps into facilities that used to be inaccessible to anyone who was mobility impaired.  Some restaurants have Braille menus and some elevators have Braille or large-print numbers to indicate floors.

These changes are great and very helpful to many disabled persons, but did you notice that all of these are legally mandated, public, physical changes?  They barely touch the real challenges to disabled people. 

Those “real” challenges which have hardly changed at all in the twenty plus years since ADA may include alterations to the physical environment, but more frequently involve such intangibles as opportunity, services, and attitudes.

The unemployment rate among disabled persons runs around 70% which is significantly higher than faced by any other group of Americans.  Special Education is mandated in schools, but due to budget concerns, children with all types of disabilities are thrown into the same resource rooms, at least 12 students to one teacher.

Technology advances exponentially, but little or no thought is given to making devices accessible from the start.  They generally have to be retrofitted, which, of course, means all kinds of additions to make the technology work for the disabled user, a significant increase in complexity.

Services of all kinds for disabled people are being cut due to economic concerns.  This is at a time when many Americans are coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan in some way physically or mentally impaired.  

Medical technology can keep people alive who have serious physical conditions.  It can provide prostheses and other equipment to help people to get around.  But, what about quality of life, the ability to contribute to the larger society? 

That takes me to the topic of attitude.  Having physical accessibility just isn’t enough.  The attitude barriers are , in my view, nearly as strong as they were when ADA was passed. 

The only wheelchair users on my bus route are on their way to or from the hospital or doctor, not a job.  The only other visually impaired employee in my school district was laid off and has not yet found another position.  My visually impaired sister, who has tremendous computer experience and lives in a major technology area, took many months to find work.

Why would an employer hire a disabled person when a fully able-bodied person might be able to do the job as well and with no need to adjust the work environment?

How do we “see” disabled persons?  Do we say things like “There but for the grace of God go I,” or something like it when we encounter someone who is disabled?  Maybe we should stop and think about what we are really saying.  Is that what we actually mean?  "We got God’s grace and they didn’t, too bad for them."