The Americans with Disabilities Act at (Almost) Twenty: Civil Rights, Inclusion - and More Work Ahead
By Cindy Brown, ADA & Accessibility Specialist
When Dr. Beth Omansky was a young newly-divorced mother getting back into the workforce, she lost three jobs because of her disability. In the first job at a stadium snack bar, Omansky, who has low vision, couldn’t see the menu overhead. The second job was at a discount store, where she had difficulty telling egg salad from tuna salad. When she was fired from her third job as a receptionist at an optometrist’s office, they told her that it didn't look good to have her looking closely at things: it made it seem like they “couldn’t make glasses.”
“There was no such thing as asking for accommodations,” said Omansky, who had worked at all of those jobs before the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). After the ADA was signed into law, she landed a job at a bakery and asked for an accommodation (large print recipes). Things weren’t perfect, though. Omanksy was always paid less than her co-workers. She eventually went on to earn a PhD in Social Work.
Susan Anderson, who is deaf, was four years old when the ADA was passed in 1990. Her childhood memories about inclusion revolve around negotiation and discussion as to what would be reasonable and possible. When she first took swimming lessons, she had an interpreter—who stood on the side of the pool. “It was very hard to simultaneously watch the interpreter and see what the teacher was demonstrating,” said Anderson. The next summer, thanks to her mother, she had an interpreter in the water next to the teacher. “This made a big difference in my ability to participate with the class during the swimming lesson,” she said.
Lavaun Heaster has had a learning disability since childhood. “Since I did not know what my problem was or what resources/accommodations might help,” said Heaster, “I relied on others to get me though college and graduate school.” Heaster, who works for Kaiser Permanente and chairs several disability-related committees, said, “I just thought I was lazy and ‘not living up to my potential.’ It was after I lost my vision in 1991 that my learning disability was diagnosed and I started receiving some services for it, and that has had the biggest impact on me recognizing my unique set of needs.”
It’s still taking society a while to recognize the needs of people with disabilities, even with the passage of the ADA. Omansky, who now has a doctorate in Social Work with an emphasis on Disability Studies, is currently unemployed, as is every one of the participants (who are blind) in a research group she leads. She, Anderson, and Heaster all noted difficulties regarding access and equality. That said, they also see the positive changes the ADA has made: more people with disabilities out in society, more accessible buildings, and more people who understand that access and accommodations are not “special services” but a civil right.
They all said that more awareness, more understanding, and more education about the ADA are needed. And they agree that the ADA is a step in the right direction. “I am now a college graduate who has been blessed with a wealth of knowledge and experiences that equal those of my hearing peers,” said Anderson. “This would not have been possible without the ADA.”