(USA Today)
July 22, 2013
WASHINGTON, DC– [Excerpt provided by Inclusion Daily Express] Last year I met Dan Berschinski, a retired U.S. Armycaptain, Afghanistan War veteran and a double amputee. Eight months after he was severely wounded, he visited South Africa to watch theWorld Cup. Most fans were sizing up the teams, but Dan was sizing up other questions: Would his wheelchair fit through the hotel doorway? Would the bathrooms be accessible? Would the buildings have ramps?
As Dan told me, “Those are the kinds of questions we take for granted here in America, but, unfortunately, the accessibility measures that we enjoy here simply aren’t present in many other countries.”
Too many countries haven’t done what the United States did 23 years ago this week when we passed the Americans with Disabilities Act. In too many countries, what we take for granted hasn’t been granted at all.
We need to change that — and we can. But it requires American leadership in the world so that our wounded warriors and Americans with disabilities can travel, serve, study and work anywhere in the world with the same dignity and respect they enjoy here at home.
Entire article:
John Kerry: Our disabled deserve access abroad
http://tinyurl.com/ide0722134
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