ADA B-Day, an Ambiguous Affair

by Dora Raymaker · 2009-07-24 10:40:00 UTC
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This week is the 19th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. I've blogged about the ADA a fair amount, some positive, some critical, and plenty just in passing or reference.

I'm not the only person who has mixed feelings about this legislation which has been both a powerful tool for equality and a nasty disappointment for people seeking justice. Lower Hudson Journal News contributor Robert Cole asks whether a get well card would be more appropriate for the ADA than a birthday card. Cole sites little change in employment rates, continued lack of access, and continued lack of community inclusion as deep issues.

Obviously there are issues with the ADA itself that need to be rectified, but do those issues account solely for Cole's observations? What role might other factors such as lack of program coordination, conflicting policies, and program disincentives (National Disability Policy: A Progress Report document for more ideas) play in the bigger picture? What about situations where the government is refusing to work on the infrastructure necessary for the ADA to be fully realized? What other complex factors, like the intricacies of transportation, that often aren't thought about? What about the sort of discrimination few see because it is culturally sanctioned?

As Cole states, we have to do better.

But where is the leverage for doing better? Is it in the ADA itself, or elsewhere?

What do you think, should the ADA get the birthday card, the get well card, or both?

Dora Raymaker
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