Disability Now

In the blink of an eye it will be the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Within the borders of the USA the ADA has been praised, excoriated, upheld in courts, crushed in courts, adopted as a model for future design, ignored and labeled as an “unfunded mandate”. In short, like many other political and legal developments in American history, the ADA is as tall and curvy as Mt. Rushmore. You can salute it; hurl obscenities at it; ignore it; or argue about the wisdom of carving it in the first place. Many folks both within and outside the “disability community” have done all these things, often sequentially.

The ADA is a human document. It’s the horse designed by committee. It’s wildly imperfect. It grants churches immunity. When you see a church, mosque, temple, or synagogue with a wheelchair ramp you’re looking at a house of worship that has done what’s right despite the embarrassing exception. It’s likely of course that someone in the “flock” has a disability and maybe, just maybe, has deep pockets. But as I say, the ADA is imperfect and it’s critics will remind you of it at every possible juncture. The biggest criticism is that the disabled are not any better off when it comes to employment than they were before the act. Statistics about disability are notoriously hard to gather but the static unemployment figures seem conclusive: between 60 and 80% of the disabled (who are of working age) remain jobless though the ADA has been the law of the land for a quarter of a century. “You can’t legislate morality” goes the refrain. True enough. But you can give morality a fighting chance: remove barriers, make accommodations “reasonable” and encourage attitudinal changes. These are the triumphs of the ADA. People with disabilities may not be fully in the village square but the expectation, the presumption they should be is understood.

I say “the presumption” is understood. Disabled people might come here one day. I remember checking into a motel in Santa Cruz, CA some three or four years after the ADA was passed. I had my guide dog with me. The manager was very excited to see me. He had a telephone relay device for the deaf and was eager to bring it to my room. I was so touched by his enthusiasm I didn’t venture to explain why it wouldn’t be helpful for me. I thanked him profusely. I put it in the closet. It was the presumption that mattered. The managed had known a disabled person would appear one day.
And there I was. As I say, it’s this presupposition cripples will appear at your door that is the ADA’s signature benefit. One may quibble about the value of this but I won’t. I’ve lived much of my life without civil rights and I know the difference. When I was in graudate school at the University of Iowa back in the early 1980’s a professor of literature told me I couldn’t be in his class if I was blind. Today’s professors may be equally ableist but in general terms they won’t come right out and tell you to go away. They will evince a moue of disgust. They’ll tell you what an inconvenience you are. But the chances are good they won’t get away with it. I won’t say it’s impossible. At too many colleges and universities attitudinal barriers and structural barriers remain in place and while the Department of Justice is handing out hefty fines to many insitutions of higher education, transformations within the ivory tower are painfully slow.

The Los Angeles County Jail is the largest psychiatric hospital in the US. 25 years after the ADA we’ve achieved a great national disgrace. People with psychiatric conditions or autism or learning disabilities are frequently abused by police.
Rehabilitation programs for people who’ve suffered spinal cord injuries have been scaled back; wounded veterans don’t get the resources they often need; budget cuts imperil orientation and mobility services for the blind and visually impaired; public transportation is reduced; wheel chair users see their chairs destroyed by airlines; service animal users are told they can’t enter the shopping mall; the disabled with good resumes are told “that job was just filled”. It has been a quarter of a century since the ADA and in all too many cases things are as bad as ever.

Conservatives say getting rid of Social Security Disability payments would impel the disabled into the work force. To this I always say: “try showing up with a white cane and sunglasses and see how quickly the Widget Company will hire you.” And to this I say: “do you want the blind begging in the streets?” Some may want this. Most I presume do not. Embarrassment isn’t completely passe in the United States. Not yet.

The biggest single obstacle to employment for the disabled remains the attitudinal barrier. Even though the Social Securithy Administration made it possible some fifteen years ago for the disabled to keep benefits while transitioning to work the jobs haven’t appeared. Could it be that neo-liberalism will finally command all citizens, disabled or not, to become sole-proprietors—entrepreneurs, consultants, purveyors of cottage industry commodities? Perhaps. But if we were to honor the ADA at 25 a push toward creating material tax incentives and accommodation resources for buisnesses that hire the disabled would be a signature accomplishment. 

You can’t legislate morality but you can make it profitable.