Monday, July 7, 2008

In the News: Unimpaired Rights

The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), passed in 1990, was supposed to level the playing field for the disabled. It ended up helping some more than others. If you had an incurable disease, such as epilepsy, that affected your everyday actions but could be treated with medication, you were not disabled, the Supreme Court determined, and you did not deserve the accompanying rights. That soon may change, thanks to a remarkably cooperative effort by businesses and advocates of protections for the disabled. The House recently voted overwhelmingly to expand those protections, and the Senate is expected to follow suit.

This is an excerpt from a July 6 editorial in the Washington Post. Read more.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Yes this is a hopeful sign. What's also interesting is that the UN was able to get enough signatures for their Convention on the Rights of the people with Disabilities in May. This celebration co-insided with the UN's Equal Rights passed 60 years ago! They found with research that people with disabilities were not being covered under it. I wrote up my feelings on this on my blog saratogaareas.com/ellie along with 3 url links for more info. Check it out its interesting