What is the significance of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990? How has it impacted people with disabilities?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The 1990 passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), in many respects, is the most sweeping antidiscrimination legislation since the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The ADA seeks to humanize the way society sees and treats people with disabilities. The ADA does not take the perspective on disability as totally an entitlement issue; that is, because a person has a disability, the person automatically receives certain benefits. Rather, its perspective is that people with disabilities are being denied certain rights.

The ADA went into effect in 1992, covering people with a disability, defined as a condition that "substantially limits" a "major life activity" such as walking or seeing. It prohibits bias in employment, transportation, public accommodations, and telecommunication against people with disabilities. Businesses with more than 15 employees cannot refuse to hire a qualified applicant with a disability; these companies are expected to make a "reasonable accommodation" to permit such a worker to do the job. Commercial establishments such as office buildings, hotels, theaters, supermarkets, and dry cleaners are barred from denying service to people with disabilities.

Activists remain encouraged since the passage of the ADA. Those working on behalf of the veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who have returned with significant disabilities have joined long-time activists in their continuing efforts for disability rights. Although the ADA has been in effect for less than two decades, studies reveal that people with disabilities feel empowered and perceive increased access to employment opportunities.