Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of the ADA

When Senator Tom Harkin, a Democrat from Iowa, delivered his farewell speech on the Senate Floor on December 12, 2014, he mentioned continuing to champion the cause of equality for all Americans. Then he declared, “I’m retiring from the Senate, but I’m not retiring from the fight.” While many of us do not know Sen. Harkin by name, we certainly have benefited from his chief accomplishment: authorizing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In introducing the bill, the Senator delivered part of his speech in sign language, a tribute to his brother who is deaf. The ADA was signed into law by President George H. W. Bush on July 26, 1990. This year, it celebrates its 25th anniversary. How does the ADA benefit those of us with disabilities? The law prohibits discrimination based on one’s disability. It prohibits employees from looking at a person, observing a disability, and thendenying that person the opportunity to participate in the same process for job qualifying that is given to other applicants. At the same time, ADA stipulates accessibility requirements – ramps, for example – on public accommodations. Under the ADA, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission defines a gamut of mental and physical disabilities: autism, bipolar disorder, blindness, cancer, cerebral palsy, deafness, diabetes, Epilepsy, Human Immunodeficiency (HIV) disorder, intellectual disability, major depressive disorder, mobility impairments requiring use of a wheelchair, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, partially or completely missing limbs, obsessive compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and Schizophrenia. The bill is divided into four titles. Title I covers employment with covered entities; that is, companies with 15 or more employees, employment agencies, labor organizations, and joint labor management. Title II forbids discrimination of the disabled in public local and state entities. Title III eliminates discrimination against the disabled in any public accommodations. Title IV requires U. S. companies to ensure services to the disabled, particularly to those who are deaf or hard of hearing. Though the courts, as well as Congress, agreed to the general purpose of the ADA—that is, to eliminate discrimination against the disabled—the interpretation of who is disabled was frequently viewed narrowly by the courts. In some cases, those who were disabled were disqualified from services, so Congress had more work to do on the ADA. Signed into law by President George W. Bush on September 25, 2008, the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments of 2008(ADAAA)more broadly defined the definition of disability, allowing many other qualified disabled persons to obtain services that they deserved. This much is certain: the passing of the ADA and the ADAAA has certainly improved the quality of life for those of us who are disabled.