We Are All Just Temporarily Abled
The Intersectionality of the Americans with Disabilities Act
As the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) enters its third decade this year, it’s helpful to reflect on the history of this breakthrough civil rights legislation, and also to understand the ways it affects not only those individuals living with a disability now, but also virtually every person in this country. The vast majority of us, in the end, are all just temporarily abled. If we are lucky enough to reach the golden years of existence, we will likely meet those climbing birthdays with any host of disabling conditions—physically, cognitively, medically. Even in the prime of life, many people will encounter a temporary disability—an ACL ski accident; a carpel tunnel surgery; a cancer diagnosis. For these reasons and a host of others, it is important that the ADA is preserved, respected, and understood.
The ADA passed in 1990 after fierce battles in courtrooms, on legislative floors, and on city streets. Like most civil rights movements, the actions of those drawing attention to the discriminatory practices made people uncomfortable. There were painful and powerful images of people with disabilities crawling on their stomachs up the steps of their capital buildings because there was not an accessible route into the offices. There were month-long sit-ins and violent arrests of disability activists. There were parents pleading for some semblance of education for their children with disabilities, during a time when some one million children with disabilities were completely excluded from public education, and another three million received no individualized services. The public, lawmakers, and the courts needed education to gain an understanding of how truly discriminatory basic American systems were. Physical inaccessibility created systemic inequity for those living with a disability, and this discrimination was by and large legal until the passage of the ADA.
Throughout the years, disability rights advocates worked tirelessly to ensure that the umbrella of disability rights did not shrink under mounting pressure. The disability community resisted several efforts to restrict protections for certain groups of individuals, most notably those with mental illnesses or contagious diseases. While the first legal battle against discrimination due to contagious diseases applied to a woman diagnosed with tuberculosis, that legal victory eventually paved the way to prohibit discrimination against people with HIV and AIDS. Indeed, it was in the early days of the AIDS crisis that AIDS advocates and ADA advocates worked fervently together for a common cause.
Disability rights advocates lobbied and won mental health care parity in the Affordable Care Act. Mental health care, including addiction services, must be covered by insurance companies in the same way that any other medical condition is covered. Furthermore, the ADA prohibits discrimination in the workplace due to a mental illness. With the advent of newer and more effective pharmacological interventions to treat even the most severe mental illness, the workplace is now open to many individuals who had never had access before. The ADA calls for reasonable accommodations to ensure that those living with mental health issues do not have to fear retaliation for asking for more time on a task or more frequent breaks.
Another affliction offered protections from the ADA—pregnancy. Although pregnancy itself is not a disability, pregnant workers may experience issues that would require a reasonable accommodation under the ADA. Pregnant women may need accommodations to address physical restrictions like lifting or bending, or they may need accommodations to address a workplace’s uniform. The ADA allows for protections under those scenarios.
Disability rights provide a framework of universal access. Universal accessibility to sidewalks and streets and employment and empowerment can only benefit every person. Making buildings more accommodating helps not just your grandmother in her wheelchair, but also your sister or brother with their stroller. Wider doorways are helpful when balancing boxes and groceries, and also when using a walker or cane. The beeping noise at a cross walk that signals safety to your toddler to cross the street, also allows an individual with a sight impairment to safely walk in their city. The rising tide of the ADA lifts every person’s boat, whether that person lives everyday with a disability, or whether that person is for the moment temporarily abled.
Megan Sommer
Chairperson, Town of Scituate Commission on Disabilities