A law does not change the world overnight: 30 years of the ADA
July 26, 2020 2:03 PM Subscribe
30 years today, The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law by then-President H. W. Bush. The ADA has had powerful impacts on the lives of disabled people, opening up public spaces and mandating communication access for all. But the law was not simply gifted like alms to the pitable. The ADA came to be after decades of struggle and activism, notably the 1990 Capitol Crawl and the 1988 Deaf President Now protests [previously]. Today, on the 30 year anniversary, Alice Wong reflects: we may have come a long way, but we still have far to go.
I broke my ankle in NYC and while I don’t mean to diminish people with serious, lifelong disabilities ... seeing how hard is to move in a city that’s not very accessible due to old subway infrastructure and 6 story apartments with no elevators has opened my eyes to the importance of accessibility.
posted by geoff. at 2:29 PM on July 26, 2020 [11 favorites]
posted by geoff. at 2:29 PM on July 26, 2020 [11 favorites]
Indirectly related, this Smithsonian article:
This Frank Lloyd Wright Home Was a Trailblazing Example of Accessible Design
The Laurent House in Rockford, Illinois, was built 40 years before the Americans with Disabilities Act became law
posted by ShooBoo at 2:30 PM on July 26, 2020 [6 favorites]
This Frank Lloyd Wright Home Was a Trailblazing Example of Accessible Design
The Laurent House in Rockford, Illinois, was built 40 years before the Americans with Disabilities Act became law
posted by ShooBoo at 2:30 PM on July 26, 2020 [6 favorites]
As someone who has a disability that would require major surgery to deal with (a knee replacement), what geoff. said before is very true. I need to climb steps to get into the commuter bus into NYC, then get into the subway, then down to the tracks, and finally get on the subway, and the trip on the subway is painful. Most of the pain is from people refusing to give way for a disabled person to have a seat, to be sure. And then sometimes the elevators at the other end and broken, or the escalators don’t work, or someone parks in the crosswalk...
...I guess what I’m saying is that it is painful and difficult to work and travel in a lot of cities when you’re disabled. Seattle was much better than NYC most of the time.
posted by mephron at 2:35 PM on July 26, 2020 [5 favorites]
...I guess what I’m saying is that it is painful and difficult to work and travel in a lot of cities when you’re disabled. Seattle was much better than NYC most of the time.
posted by mephron at 2:35 PM on July 26, 2020 [5 favorites]
We’re 20 Percent of America, and We’re Still Invisible (Judith Heumann and John Wodatch, NYT Opinion, Jul. 26, 2020)
Mr. Wodatch is a former Department of Justice lawyer and the chief author of the regulations of both the A.D.A. and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, an anti-discrimination law that was a precursor to the A.D.A. He led the Justice Department office in charge of enforcing the A.D.A. until 2010. Ms. Heumann, an international disability rights activist, was the leader of the “504 sit-in” in San Francisco in 1977, at 25 days the longest nonviolent occupation of a federal building in American history. Ms. Heumann’s role in that protest has been documented in the recently released film “Crip Camp” and her memoir, “Being Heumann.”
Mr. Wodatch is a former Department of Justice lawyer and the chief author of the regulations of both the A.D.A. and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, an anti-discrimination law that was a precursor to the A.D.A. He led the Justice Department office in charge of enforcing the A.D.A. until 2010. Ms. Heumann, an international disability rights activist, was the leader of the “504 sit-in” in San Francisco in 1977, at 25 days the longest nonviolent occupation of a federal building in American history. Ms. Heumann’s role in that protest has been documented in the recently released film “Crip Camp” and her memoir, “Being Heumann.”
Having disabled persons in decision-making — in product development, design, governance — in the digital world is also crucial. And the “A.D.A. Generation,” an apt term coined by Rebecca Cokley for disabled persons born after the A.D.A., will lead the way. This generation is active, aware, and taking steps to call out and challenge ableism when they encounter it.posted by katra at 2:52 PM on July 26, 2020 [6 favorites]
But this generation cannot bring about change alone, nor should they. When President Bush declared on the White House lawn 30 years ago, “Let the shameful walls of exclusion finally come tumbling down,” he was calling on us as a nation to recognize our responsibility to end discrimination. If the moral arc of the universe is to continue to bend toward justice, we must embrace disability as a critical part of diversity, and truly welcome one another, in both letter and spirit, as equal members of society.
My college was “accessible” by the skin of their teeth. I progressed from needing a cane to needing a wheelchair my second year and they had to scramble to figure out what to do with me. There were only two wheelchair accessible dorms: one was the first floor of a women’s dorm, but I wasn’t allowed to be in it because the entire first floor was reserved for a certain sorority, which I wasn’t in. The second was the freshman boy’s dorm, which had an elevator and two co-ed floors at the top. So that’s where I ended up, and paid a hell of a lot more in fees than my peers because oh my god, freshman boys destroy so much shit. Including the elevator, which they put out of service constantly.
They also only had one building with air conditioning, which I needed due to chronic illness and seizures, and god bless whoever jigsawed all my classes to fit into it. The door buttons gave out constantly, I was always calling maintenance to have it fixed. The library was accessible only via the basement door at the bottom of the hill, which wasn’t a public entrance, they had to give me a key. I once accidentally entered when the library was closed because I didn’t know they had shorter hours on Fridays. I missed many classes because the hills were so steep that when it snowed, my power wheelchair couldn’t get any traction. I remember asking someone to go out and ask the snow clearing workers if they could please clear the path to my dorm next, so I could actually get home.
Someone (a student, not faculty/staff) asked me once, “Why on earth did you decide to come here?” in reference to me being in a wheelchair. The answer was of course I wasn’t thinking about wheelchair accessibility when I came. But can you imagine just accepting that? That this is a place where a disabled person just shouldn’t even try to be. That it’s acceptable to have places like that. It’s just how things are. You figure out somewhere else to go. There are other colleges for disabled people. Which of course, there are, but I wanted to be at that one. And thankfully I was able to be, but many people don’t get that option. We still have a long way to go.
posted by brook horse at 3:04 PM on July 26, 2020 [62 favorites]
They also only had one building with air conditioning, which I needed due to chronic illness and seizures, and god bless whoever jigsawed all my classes to fit into it. The door buttons gave out constantly, I was always calling maintenance to have it fixed. The library was accessible only via the basement door at the bottom of the hill, which wasn’t a public entrance, they had to give me a key. I once accidentally entered when the library was closed because I didn’t know they had shorter hours on Fridays. I missed many classes because the hills were so steep that when it snowed, my power wheelchair couldn’t get any traction. I remember asking someone to go out and ask the snow clearing workers if they could please clear the path to my dorm next, so I could actually get home.
Someone (a student, not faculty/staff) asked me once, “Why on earth did you decide to come here?” in reference to me being in a wheelchair. The answer was of course I wasn’t thinking about wheelchair accessibility when I came. But can you imagine just accepting that? That this is a place where a disabled person just shouldn’t even try to be. That it’s acceptable to have places like that. It’s just how things are. You figure out somewhere else to go. There are other colleges for disabled people. Which of course, there are, but I wanted to be at that one. And thankfully I was able to be, but many people don’t get that option. We still have a long way to go.
posted by brook horse at 3:04 PM on July 26, 2020 [62 favorites]
30 Years after the ADA, It’s Time to Imagine a More Accessible Future (Anna Hamilton, Bitch Media, Jul. 20, 2020)
Thirty years after its passage, the ADA’s promises are hampered by the same problems that have dogged all movements for civil rights: As Rooted in Rights blog editor-in-chief Emily Ladau notes, “[Y]ou can’t legislate attitudes.” In addressing disabled people as a group, the ADA reinforces the medical model of disability, which conceives of disability as something that is physically or mentally “wrong,” something that requires medical intervention—such as medication(s), surgery, or other medical procedures—in order to make the disabled person more “normal.” Journalist s.e. smith, who covers disability issues, identifies the problems with this blanketed approach. (In the interest of full disclosure, smith and I have worked together before, including on a 2011 print feature for Bitch.) “The ADA was fantastic, groundbreaking civil rights legislation that clearly established a framework for the personhood of disabled people,” smith says. “But it is also rooted in a very limited and medicalized view of disability, and it relies on individual enforcement—in essence treating violations as a personal rather than systemic problem.”posted by katra at 3:08 PM on July 26, 2020 [13 favorites]
“For example, if you have diagnosed ADHD, you can get accommodations at work, but if you are self-diagnosed or can’t provide documentation [those accommodations] can be denied, and that’s not actionable,” smith continues. “Whereas if a workplace [builds] ADHD accommodations into the job, people don’t have to disclose or have proof to get what they need. A revamped ADA would have to rely heavily on disabled policy experts to create a framework that better reflects a shared future while creating room for innovation and creative interpretation—legislation is a really rigid way of setting and protecting civil rights, and we can’t just legislate disablism away.” One of the many issues that disabled people face, making it tough to imagine an accessible United States—much less imagine a shift of balance from a disability rights framework to a collective understanding of disability justice—is the attitude that disabilities are personal problems that can be overcome by a person’s will. This is a common but incorrect assumption that reflects America’s obsession with rugged individualism.
With a little bit of gumption and positive thinking, we’re told, disabled people can take personal responsibility for their disabilities and either overcome them (with medical help or simply a sunnier attitude) or overcompensate in order to compete with nondisabled people. Whether it’s former figure skater and testicular-cancer survivor Scott Hamilton’s Pollyannaish assertion that “the only disability in life is a bad attitude,” the seemingly endless array of disability-inspiration porn on social media, or news stories that focus on disabled athletes who manage superhuman feats, the old adage that all you have to do to overcome adversity is “pull yourself up by your bootstraps” is pervasive. The media’s focus on individual disabled people who manage to “make it” despite our capitalistic and ableist (not to mention kyriarchal) system can take attention away from collective actions and efforts to make widespread systemic changes for people with disabilities.
Oh, I haven't spoken to s. e. smith in like ten years now--back when folks were doing F. W. D. (Feminists With Disabilities), which was a group blog I found really influential, ou was a really powerful thinker. I'm rather delighted to run across smith again!
posted by sciatrix at 3:33 PM on July 26, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by sciatrix at 3:33 PM on July 26, 2020 [5 favorites]
ADA also covers things like epilepsy; before the ADA colleges would (more often) push students with epilepsy out in various ways. And now employers largely can't just fire someone with epilepsy and instead have to provide a reasonable accommodation. It's remarkably how recent the ADA is and how much further the USA still has to go.
posted by skynxnex at 3:46 PM on July 26, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by skynxnex at 3:46 PM on July 26, 2020 [3 favorites]
What Happens When You’re Disabled but Nobody Can Tell (Andrew Solomon, NYT, Jul. 10, 2020, Updated Jul. 20, 2020 / Deccan Herald reprint)
The author and clinical psychologist Andrew Solomon examines the disabilities that ramps and designated parking spots don’t address. [Computer-generated audio recording included at NYT]
The author and clinical psychologist Andrew Solomon examines the disabilities that ramps and designated parking spots don’t address. [Computer-generated audio recording included at NYT]
The word “disability” evokes images of ramps, lower-positioned urinals, grab bars and other allowances in our architectural landscape. But an untold number of people have disabilities — from A.D.H.D. to addictive disorder to lupus — that aren’t necessarily helped by a designated parking spot. A person who walks with a limp but uses no physical support may be jostled on the street like anyone else. An autistic person, or a person with a mental illness, will often be disdained or even assailed for peculiar or antisocial behavior. [...] The Center for Disability Rights (C.D.R.) lists the following invisible disabilities: “learning differences, deafness, autism, prosthetics, Traumatic Brain Injury (T.B.I.), mental health disabilities, Usher syndrome, bipolar disorder, diabetes, A.D.D./A.D.H.D., fibromyalgia, arthritis, Alzheimer’s, anxiety, sleep disorder, Crohn’s disease, and many more.” Post-traumatic stress disorder, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and cystic fibrosis are other invisible disabilities. The C.D.R. cautions, “Unless it is disclosed, no one knows for sure whether someone has an invisible disability.”posted by katra at 3:49 PM on July 26, 2020 [25 favorites]
[...] Societal reactions to hidden disabilities can be harsh. [...] Students granted extra time to take a test may be met by the cynicism of peers; some may choose not to avail themselves of a reasonable accommodation because they fear being stigmatized. Working people who require specific environmental conditions — an autistic person, for example, may need an office without florescent lighting — may attract suspicion and even mockery. [...] Some people have tried to hide their situation even from family members. Those who have been validated at home tend to enjoy better self-esteem and to be more comfortable with workplace disclosure, but that is no guarantee that such sharing will turn out well for them. Disclosure remains the exception rather than the rule. As the Norwegian scholar Susan Lingsom succinctly observed, “Social conventions support silence.”
[...] Not accommodating disabled people is costly, too; when the disability is invisible, it often goes unaccommodated, A.D.A. or no A.D.A. Research has demonstrated that people who are keeping significant personal secrets become preoccupied with them, living in a private hell and expending their energy on concealment. This strategy of personal concealment serves no advantage at all: not for the person affected, for the employer or for a society deprived of the very real contributions people with invisible disabilities would otherwise stand to make.
But can you imagine just accepting that? That this is a place where a disabled person just shouldn’t even try to be.
Wow. That is shocking, brook horse. My disability leaves me on a cane and with diminished balance and strength. I visited a new branch of the city library in a newly-constructed community centre last year and after walking around the building and locating which of the seven or nine entrances was the one I wanted (i.e. for the library, not the gym or pool or high school), I found the accessible doors did not have their push pads to open them in service. With an effort, I forced open the heavy door; if I’d been in a wheelchair, this would have been impossible.
Once inside I mentioned this to the librarians; they told me that the pads usually are shut off, but they call maintenance to activate them if they have a disabled patron.
I ask you.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 4:18 PM on July 26, 2020 [22 favorites]
Wow. That is shocking, brook horse. My disability leaves me on a cane and with diminished balance and strength. I visited a new branch of the city library in a newly-constructed community centre last year and after walking around the building and locating which of the seven or nine entrances was the one I wanted (i.e. for the library, not the gym or pool or high school), I found the accessible doors did not have their push pads to open them in service. With an effort, I forced open the heavy door; if I’d been in a wheelchair, this would have been impossible.
Once inside I mentioned this to the librarians; they told me that the pads usually are shut off, but they call maintenance to activate them if they have a disabled patron.
I ask you.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 4:18 PM on July 26, 2020 [22 favorites]
Once inside I mentioned this to the librarians; they told me that the pads usually are shut off, but they call maintenance to activate them if they have a disabled patron.
This jostled my memory. The original setup with the library was that there was a buzzer on the basement door, and I had to buzz the front desk to ask them to come down and let me in. After leaving me for 20 minutes in a Wisconsin winter while the librarian was away from the desk helping someone with a printer, they realized that wasn’t tenable and that’s when they gave me the key. There were also no pads for this door, I had to either bring a friend or struggle to get it open on my own, which I was only marginally able to do because I was in a power wheelchair. I don’t think it would have been possible in a manual one.
I also recall someone telling me that they thought the reason the pads on other places on campus kept going out was that someone on maintenance was turning them off to save power and they couldn’t figure out who it was.
posted by brook horse at 4:43 PM on July 26, 2020 [10 favorites]
This jostled my memory. The original setup with the library was that there was a buzzer on the basement door, and I had to buzz the front desk to ask them to come down and let me in. After leaving me for 20 minutes in a Wisconsin winter while the librarian was away from the desk helping someone with a printer, they realized that wasn’t tenable and that’s when they gave me the key. There were also no pads for this door, I had to either bring a friend or struggle to get it open on my own, which I was only marginally able to do because I was in a power wheelchair. I don’t think it would have been possible in a manual one.
I also recall someone telling me that they thought the reason the pads on other places on campus kept going out was that someone on maintenance was turning them off to save power and they couldn’t figure out who it was.
posted by brook horse at 4:43 PM on July 26, 2020 [10 favorites]
I can't favorite katra's comments enough. Whenever I tell people about the workplace and school discrimination I've encountered, people usually don't believe it really happened because "that's against the ADA." It's not like there are ADA Cops that you can just call up and have them come arrest your boss. The ADA is only as strong as their fear of a lawsuit and your ability to drag them to court.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:45 PM on July 26, 2020 [30 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:45 PM on July 26, 2020 [30 favorites]
What TUM said. I have anxiety and depression and diabetes.
I am pretty sure an issue with my mental health cost me a job, and I had to explain the diabetes to HR when someone told them they saw me “shooting up” in the men’s room. (I suspect it was the same person who told HR that seeing me walking around with my cane made them feel I was causing an “uncomfortable work environment”, but fuck that guy with a steamroller.)
posted by mephron at 5:32 PM on July 26, 2020 [9 favorites]
I am pretty sure an issue with my mental health cost me a job, and I had to explain the diabetes to HR when someone told them they saw me “shooting up” in the men’s room. (I suspect it was the same person who told HR that seeing me walking around with my cane made them feel I was causing an “uncomfortable work environment”, but fuck that guy with a steamroller.)
posted by mephron at 5:32 PM on July 26, 2020 [9 favorites]
I broke my ankle in NYC and while I don’t mean to diminish people with serious, lifelong disabilities ... seeing how hard is to move in a city that’s not very accessible due to old subway infrastructure and 6 story apartments with no elevators has opened my eyes to the importance of accessibility.It shouldn’t take this but I really like how the idea of inclusive design has been spreading in the tech world, including the concept of how all of us will at some point have situational, temporary, or new disabilities which will benefit from better design. A really common example are new parents getting religion about quality curb cuts and apps having good support for one-handed use, but injuries are right behind that for getting people to think about how it doesn’t require that much to make life so much easier for people with particular constraints.
posted by adamsc at 6:07 PM on July 26, 2020 [6 favorites]
I broke my ankle in NYC and while I don’t mean to diminish people with serious, lifelong disabilities ... seeing how hard is to move in a city that’s not very accessible due to old subway infrastructure and 6 story apartments with no elevators has opened my eyes to the importance of accessibility.
None of us are further than one bad sprain away from needing that infrastructure to be there.
Sid Wolinsky once described the first elevator in the New York Subway system as "a gift from the disability community and the ADA to the nondisabled people of New York". In Toronto, you can spend a day watching the elevator ramps and button-assisted doors in subway and never once see somebody in a wheelchair or crutches, or a cane, any obvious physical impediment. It's always somebody pushing a stroller, or someone carrying an awkward parcel or a bag of groceries. It's usually just somebody who wants their day to be a bit easier.
If you only look at the cost of accessibility, it looks pretty expensive! And if you amortize that cost over the number of people with obvious, visible disabilities using ramps or the assisted-opening doors or whatever, this stuff still looks sort of expensive.
But if you amortize it over the number of people really using those ramps day to day - or the number of people who will potentially need that, someday, for the month it takes your ankle to feel better or the three months it takes the femur to knit, or the nine months you're on parental leave pushing that stroller up and down that ramp or the decade or two you're spending with that cane- they're basically free.
posted by mhoye at 6:43 PM on July 26, 2020 [26 favorites]
None of us are further than one bad sprain away from needing that infrastructure to be there.
Sid Wolinsky once described the first elevator in the New York Subway system as "a gift from the disability community and the ADA to the nondisabled people of New York". In Toronto, you can spend a day watching the elevator ramps and button-assisted doors in subway and never once see somebody in a wheelchair or crutches, or a cane, any obvious physical impediment. It's always somebody pushing a stroller, or someone carrying an awkward parcel or a bag of groceries. It's usually just somebody who wants their day to be a bit easier.
If you only look at the cost of accessibility, it looks pretty expensive! And if you amortize that cost over the number of people with obvious, visible disabilities using ramps or the assisted-opening doors or whatever, this stuff still looks sort of expensive.
But if you amortize it over the number of people really using those ramps day to day - or the number of people who will potentially need that, someday, for the month it takes your ankle to feel better or the three months it takes the femur to knit, or the nine months you're on parental leave pushing that stroller up and down that ramp or the decade or two you're spending with that cane- they're basically free.
posted by mhoye at 6:43 PM on July 26, 2020 [26 favorites]
I'm someone who's decade of surgeries in a thankfully somewhat inclusive secondary schooling system (CA) meant that for all that I was going from crutches to wheelchairs to crutches to canes- I was always able to figure out how to navigate college. But it was still harder than it should be. I'm also someone who has quite a few less noticeable disabilities that I tend to just work around rather than make a fuss about with a few exceptions. I've lucked out into a work environment where the issues I do still have and will forever have are just non-issues. But oh man. We had one case of a maskless asshole trying to cite the ADA to get into my garden center without a mask claiming he'd sue us all and I nearly took his head off. After all the bullcrap I had to go through to get accessible classrooms this absolute fartface was abusing a law meant to help the helpless into possibly spreading a disease that disproportionately kills the disabled. Also for a fellow with "COPD" he sure could shout loud and long. A coworker had to drag me off to "help him with a tree" so I didn't take a swing at the jerk. Would have been a hell of a way to have been fired. He was allowed through the back to get whatever he wanted with a minimum of interaction but me and another coworker managed to get across to management how completely unacceptable that was- that that's not how the ADA works. And for the first time in fucking forever my disability history helped me. I was able to cite my own history with the law with regards to my own disabilities in college to explain exactly what "reasonable accommodation" meant and why the maskless asshole absolutely would be laughed out of court if he tried to sue us... and it worked. The bosses triple clamped down on this jackassery as not ok and not allowed and it hasn't been attempted again. I'm still a little weird about talking about my more fiddly physical disabilities- but I'm not gonna shut up if it can help others.
We do still have a long way to go- thank you for this post Sciatrix.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 8:13 PM on July 26, 2020 [23 favorites]
We do still have a long way to go- thank you for this post Sciatrix.
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 8:13 PM on July 26, 2020 [23 favorites]
People With 'Invisible Disabilities' Fight For Understanding (Naomi Gingold, NPR, Mar. 8, 2015)
It is hard to pinpoint the number of Americans with an invisible disability, but it's estimated there are millions. Their conditions may range from lupus to bipolar disorder or diabetes. The severity of each person's condition varies, and the fear of stigma means that people often prefer not to talk about their illnesses. But in employment disability discrimination charges filed with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission between 2005 and 2010, the most commonly cited conditions were invisible ones, according to analysis by researchers at Cornell University's Employment and Disability Institute.Disabilities, Face Masks, and the ADA (Ellice Switzer, Wendy Strobel Gower, Cornell University ILR School, Jul. 2, 2020)
"You know, it's that invisible nature of an illness that people don't understand," says Wayne Connell, the founder and head of the Invisible Disabilities Association. He started the group after his wife was diagnosed with Lyme disease and multiple sclerosis. "We'd park in disabled parking and she didn't use a wheelchair or a cane, and so people would always give us dirty looks and scream at us," he recalls. "When they see someone in a wheelchair, OK, they get that they're in a wheelchair. But what if they have chronic pain, what if they have PTSD — anything from cancer to peripheral neuropathy to autism?" [...] When a disability isn't immediately obvious, others — at work, school or even at home — sometimes doubt it exists and accuse those who suffer from invisible conditions of simply angling for special treatment.
It is critical to note that some people with disabilities or conditions are unable to wear a mask due to a legitimate health concern. Stores (and other places of public accommodation) should be able to offer alternative methods to receive goods and services. For example, a grocery store may offer online or phone orders, with curbside pick-up or delivery. If operationally feasible, shopping before or after hours when appropriate social distance can be observed may be another alternative. It is important to note that private businesses cannot just refuse service. At least one of the alternatives offered should be no-cost, to avoid imposing an unintentional surcharge on patrons with disabilities. As in all situations, people can be permitted to use other types of face coverings like face shields or bandanas. Just keep the conversation solution-focused, and avoid debating about whether or not the person in question has a disability.posted by katra at 9:59 PM on July 26, 2020 [3 favorites]
Yeah, invisible disabilities can be a minefield. I’m visually impaired but not legally blind. I’ve been advised to invest in an “ID cane.” It resembles the long white canes blind people use to navigate, but its sole purpose is to turn an invisible disability into a visible one so that people will believe you when you tell them you need accommodations.
(I am indulging in generalization for brevity’s sake; there are of course more nuances than that.)
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:31 PM on July 26, 2020 [10 favorites]
(I am indulging in generalization for brevity’s sake; there are of course more nuances than that.)
posted by The Underpants Monster at 11:31 PM on July 26, 2020 [10 favorites]
And there is the Trump-stoked culture war about masks, which includes a lack of consistent messaging about what consumers can expect and how businesses can respond in the US. I often feel that it is culture and society that creates disabling exclusions, and the mask issue in the US seems like a prime example, because there hasn't been a systemic adaptation to the legitimate health issues that people may have. If people were widely aware that their inability (or willful refusal) to wear a mask would be accommodated with a reasonable alternative, and if authority figures consistently emphasized how important it is, my hope is that there would be less interpersonal conflict and more accessibility.
I do like creating accommodations that people can freely choose to use whether they have an ADA-covered condition or not. Back in the day, when I was a college instructor, I designed my course policies and assignments with accommodations in mind, and similar to curb cuts and one-handed apps, it also meant that my classes were more accessible to parents or anyone who suddenly became unable to meet an arbitrary due date or time limit. I saved myself a lot of time by not having to process paperwork, and I protected the privacy of my students. There was a lot more to it that I could go on about for awhile, but the point is that I created my policies for everyone because some people were going to have legitimate ADA claims.
posted by katra at 12:41 AM on July 27, 2020 [3 favorites]
I do like creating accommodations that people can freely choose to use whether they have an ADA-covered condition or not. Back in the day, when I was a college instructor, I designed my course policies and assignments with accommodations in mind, and similar to curb cuts and one-handed apps, it also meant that my classes were more accessible to parents or anyone who suddenly became unable to meet an arbitrary due date or time limit. I saved myself a lot of time by not having to process paperwork, and I protected the privacy of my students. There was a lot more to it that I could go on about for awhile, but the point is that I created my policies for everyone because some people were going to have legitimate ADA claims.
posted by katra at 12:41 AM on July 27, 2020 [3 favorites]
It's nearly 30 years ago that I noted one of the ironies of the Irish streetscape. The office for The Irish Wheelchair Association was where they could afford the rent: which was in behind a shopfront in a little row of offices and shops behind the National Maternity Hospital and Trinity College Dublin. You knew it was the IWA because a) there was a sign b) every morning someone had to put out a wooden wheelchair ramp (and bring it in at night so it wouldn't be added to a bonfire at The Projects next door). Several months later, the Celtic Tiger started to spew money and this particular travesty was rectified. But mean-spirited, co$t-con$ciou$, minimalist accommodation is still with us. The students union at the small midland college where I work agitated for gender-neutral "bathrooms" and, at the start of this last academic year, management found a cost-effective solution to this problem - putting a ⚥ sign on the wheel-chair facilities. Very s l o w hand-clap.
posted by BobTheScientist at 2:11 AM on July 27, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by BobTheScientist at 2:11 AM on July 27, 2020 [1 favorite]
I used to have a job working with people with disabilities in their homes who were under 55. Many had become disabled after some traumatic event like gunshot wounds , car accidents, and other things. Those people in general were low income to begin with and many were stuck in unacessable apartments. Met a guy with a wheelchair who literally could not access his kitchen. He could get in, but he would be unable to use the sink (too high), open the frigerator ( not enough clearance) use the counter space (to high) among other things. The bathroom door wasnt wide enough for the wheelchair, so he couldn't independantly transfer. He knew how and could, but without the space he had to have additional assistance. To compound, he couldn't actually leave his third floor walk up which required him to be carried out by the fire department any time he left for anything and carried back up when he arrived back. He spent most of his life in a bed even though medicaid had covered his assistive equipment , but they do not cover additional living expenses or costs, and because he lived with family members and they rented, there was really nothing they could do. He'd been applied for subsidized housing, but criminal backgrounds are generally disqualifiers, and even if he was eligible the waiting list can be years ands years and years. He was young and smart and able. He was trapped. People were trying to help him, but getting nowhere.
Also, to start in home community services can take a significant time from the start of a disability, i think he waited over a year for someone to come in to help him and assist the family with tasks.
It was through that job I learned the terrifing truth that many people with disabilities never even get the chance to go to places to even see if they are accessible because fundimental problems with accessing appropraite living spaces that confine them. You won't see them protest or struggle, because they are trapped wherever they live.
The importance of advocacy from everyone cannot be stated enough. The ADA is not enough. There is so much to be done.
posted by AlexiaSky at 3:59 AM on July 27, 2020 [13 favorites]
Also, to start in home community services can take a significant time from the start of a disability, i think he waited over a year for someone to come in to help him and assist the family with tasks.
It was through that job I learned the terrifing truth that many people with disabilities never even get the chance to go to places to even see if they are accessible because fundimental problems with accessing appropraite living spaces that confine them. You won't see them protest or struggle, because they are trapped wherever they live.
The importance of advocacy from everyone cannot be stated enough. The ADA is not enough. There is so much to be done.
posted by AlexiaSky at 3:59 AM on July 27, 2020 [13 favorites]
I also recall someone telling me that they thought the reason the pads on other places on campus kept going out was that someone on maintenance was turning them off to save power and they couldn’t figure out who it was.
I have some background in systems analysis. I could not believe I was explaining — to librarians of all people — the idea of controlled access versus random access.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:29 AM on July 27, 2020 [5 favorites]
I have some background in systems analysis. I could not believe I was explaining — to librarians of all people — the idea of controlled access versus random access.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:29 AM on July 27, 2020 [5 favorites]
In Toronto, you can spend a day watching the elevator ramps and button-assisted doors in subway and never once see somebody in a wheelchair or crutches, or a cane, any obvious physical impediment.
I wonder how much of the low traffic of the visibly impaired is due to those in need avoiding the subway altogether because there is an elevator at only one end of the trip. The original 1954 downtown subway (Union to Eglinton) has eleven stops, six of which have elevators, so even in the most heavily-served part of the city, in optimum conditions and with a destination adjacent to a station (say, Yonge and Wellesley) you might have to wheel yourself half a kilometre.
In the wider city, stations are much further apart and about 60% of the stations have an elevator (46 of 75, sayeth the TTC) and those are not always in service. I recall passing by the elevator in Bathurst station a year ago; it was out of service, so it had a sign helpfully instructing those who wished to reach street level one floor up to take the subway to Ossington, take a bus north to St Clair, a streetcar east to Bathurst, and a second bus south to Bathurst Station, a journey of some seven kilometres and close to an hour in optimum conditions.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:55 AM on July 27, 2020 [1 favorite]
I wonder how much of the low traffic of the visibly impaired is due to those in need avoiding the subway altogether because there is an elevator at only one end of the trip. The original 1954 downtown subway (Union to Eglinton) has eleven stops, six of which have elevators, so even in the most heavily-served part of the city, in optimum conditions and with a destination adjacent to a station (say, Yonge and Wellesley) you might have to wheel yourself half a kilometre.
In the wider city, stations are much further apart and about 60% of the stations have an elevator (46 of 75, sayeth the TTC) and those are not always in service. I recall passing by the elevator in Bathurst station a year ago; it was out of service, so it had a sign helpfully instructing those who wished to reach street level one floor up to take the subway to Ossington, take a bus north to St Clair, a streetcar east to Bathurst, and a second bus south to Bathurst Station, a journey of some seven kilometres and close to an hour in optimum conditions.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 6:55 AM on July 27, 2020 [1 favorite]
ricochet biscuit: I wonder how much of the low traffic of the visibly impaired is due to those in need avoiding the subway altogether because there is an elevator at only one end of the trip.
The TTC's Wheel-Trans program, with all its faults, is probably the best bet for people want to go long distances. I see wheelchairs on the King streetcar line occasionally, now that it has accessible streetcars, and semi-regularly on the Sherbourne bus. They're usually taking short trips, though, because you ain't gonna get your wheelchair down those stairs at Sherbourne Station.
posted by clawsoon at 8:08 AM on July 27, 2020
The TTC's Wheel-Trans program, with all its faults, is probably the best bet for people want to go long distances. I see wheelchairs on the King streetcar line occasionally, now that it has accessible streetcars, and semi-regularly on the Sherbourne bus. They're usually taking short trips, though, because you ain't gonna get your wheelchair down those stairs at Sherbourne Station.
posted by clawsoon at 8:08 AM on July 27, 2020
Also: You might think you'd never see someone with a visible disability if you usually travel during rush hour. I've noticed that the walkers and wheelchairs almost always come out during the quieter parts of the day when they don't have to face grumpy commuters who pack the cars and wouldn't be willing to give up their space and risk being late no matter how much a disabled passenger might need to get to an appointment of their own.
posted by clawsoon at 8:18 AM on July 27, 2020 [10 favorites]
posted by clawsoon at 8:18 AM on July 27, 2020 [10 favorites]
This week's On The Media podcast has two segments on accessibility:
2. Vanessa Chang [@vxchang], lecturer at California College of the Arts; Mik Scarlet [@MikScarlet]; and Sara Hendren [@ablerism], on issues of accessibility and health in design — past, present, and future. Listen.posted by mmascolino at 8:25 AM on July 27, 2020 [3 favorites]
3. Judy Heumann [@judithheumann], disability rights activist, on the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the documentary "Crip Camp." Listen.
wouldn't be willing to give up their space and risk being late no matter how much a disabled passenger might need to get to an appointment of their own.
Protip: there are seats supposedly designated for disabled passengers, but if you sit in them and focus on your phone, they are for you!
posted by ricochet biscuit at 2:39 PM on July 27, 2020 [2 favorites]
Protip: there are seats supposedly designated for disabled passengers, but if you sit in them and focus on your phone, they are for you!
posted by ricochet biscuit at 2:39 PM on July 27, 2020 [2 favorites]
Protip: there are seats supposedly designated for disabled passengers, but if you sit in them and focus on your phone, they are for you!
In New York City's subway system, it's not even an offense to sit there and ignore a disabled person who asks to sit down. I'm sure you can guess how I know.
posted by mephron at 2:57 PM on July 27, 2020 [2 favorites]
In New York City's subway system, it's not even an offense to sit there and ignore a disabled person who asks to sit down. I'm sure you can guess how I know.
posted by mephron at 2:57 PM on July 27, 2020 [2 favorites]
ricochet biscuit: Protip: there are seats supposedly designated for disabled passengers, but if you sit in them and focus on your phone, they are for you!
I'm pretty sure I remember that one from the first iPhone keynote by Steve Jobs.
posted by clawsoon at 3:11 PM on July 27, 2020 [3 favorites]
I'm pretty sure I remember that one from the first iPhone keynote by Steve Jobs.
posted by clawsoon at 3:11 PM on July 27, 2020 [3 favorites]
Protip: there are seats supposedly designated for disabled passengers, but if you sit in them and focus on your phone, they are for you!
I mean I have been this person. I focus on my phone to ignore the judgmental looks from strangers who wonder why this young, healthy person feels entitled to a disabled seat. It’s because only one of those things is true and if I stand for more than a couple minutes at a time I will faint. So while in abstract I will complain about abled people using seats meant for disabled people, I would caution people against thinking they have ever witnessed this because invisible disabilities gonna be invisible.
posted by brook horse at 3:17 PM on July 27, 2020 [10 favorites]
I mean I have been this person. I focus on my phone to ignore the judgmental looks from strangers who wonder why this young, healthy person feels entitled to a disabled seat. It’s because only one of those things is true and if I stand for more than a couple minutes at a time I will faint. So while in abstract I will complain about abled people using seats meant for disabled people, I would caution people against thinking they have ever witnessed this because invisible disabilities gonna be invisible.
posted by brook horse at 3:17 PM on July 27, 2020 [10 favorites]
This is why I pretty much always carry a cane, even if technically some days I can walk unaided. My balance is about 25% of what it used to be, and I prefer sitting in one of the seats provided (sans dirty looks) to falling onto people.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:36 PM on July 27, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by ricochet biscuit at 3:36 PM on July 27, 2020 [3 favorites]
I would caution people against thinking they have ever witnessed this because invisible disabilities gonna be invisible
Of course I’m aware of that, and I’ve had experiences similar to yours, but I’ve also been in the queue behind big groups of giggling students openly talking about how they want to get on first “to get the cool seats.”
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:08 PM on July 27, 2020 [1 favorite]
Of course I’m aware of that, and I’ve had experiences similar to yours, but I’ve also been in the queue behind big groups of giggling students openly talking about how they want to get on first “to get the cool seats.”
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:08 PM on July 27, 2020 [1 favorite]
I did start to type something along the lines of “unless the person has explicitly said they don’t need the seat” but I couldn’t figure out how to word it at the time so left it out, but yeah, consider that caveat added in there.
posted by brook horse at 4:20 PM on July 27, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by brook horse at 4:20 PM on July 27, 2020 [2 favorites]
Thank you for this post, and the stories you all have shared in the comments. I attended a virtual talk today about the MTA's progress (and frustrating lack thereof) on making the subway system accessible. I don't love the head of NYC Transit for many reasons, but she was so good today talking about how, basically, the agency is committed to accessibility upgrades and how they are crucial for everyone, since we are all going to need them someday. This is a thing I think so many able-bodied people just don't get, until they have to experience it themselves. (I know I didn't, and now I have an invisible and really mild, all things considered, mobility issue that still impacts just about everything in my life and I am so exhausted from worrying if I will get a seat on the train and whether I will be able to participate in professional and social and physical activities from day to day.)
posted by ferret branca at 8:22 PM on July 27, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by ferret branca at 8:22 PM on July 27, 2020 [3 favorites]
I was only alive two years without the ADA (so, a baby) and while yeah, I spend a lot of time thinking about how the law and society has failed us and how much needs to be done and how bad things are and can and will be, and I have a million stories I could tell in that vein, but - I'm able to study these things on a high professional level because of the ADA. I'm able to do that studying in a city that has elevators I can use, to get places, and do things. I was able to discover that I was not in any sense obligated to be a poster child out of being boxed in but rather that I was a part of a vibrant, interesting community, that there were words for things I did not know there were words for when I was young and confused, that I'm proud and happy to be a disabled person, that I at my core do not desire to change who I am and doing work for my community brings me joy. We have a long way to go, but when I look at the trajectory of my life right now and see people like Alice doing their thing I feel more than anything grateful and proud and ready to do that work.
posted by colorblock sock at 9:01 PM on July 27, 2020 [6 favorites]
posted by colorblock sock at 9:01 PM on July 27, 2020 [6 favorites]
Right - when my mother was a kid, even kids with temporary disabilities were kept out of regular schools.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:25 PM on July 27, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by The Underpants Monster at 9:25 PM on July 27, 2020 [2 favorites]
I just realized that 1990 was the year I was hospitalized because my public school wanted me to try to not need my medicine as often as I was required to take it. (Asthma, needed a nebulizer treatment midday at school as I required one every four hours or so, So I'd take one before I left home, needed one at lunch, and then took one once I was back at home). I was hospitalized within a week.
They were unhappy about it. They also put me in a room by myself and made me skip recess for my meds and I'm still bitter about it.
Anyway, it's really interesting to put this in context as an adult, that there were all these big reforms I wasnt super aware of, and how it may have impacted our changed the schools response or didn't.
posted by AlexiaSky at 11:29 PM on July 27, 2020 [6 favorites]
They were unhappy about it. They also put me in a room by myself and made me skip recess for my meds and I'm still bitter about it.
Anyway, it's really interesting to put this in context as an adult, that there were all these big reforms I wasnt super aware of, and how it may have impacted our changed the schools response or didn't.
posted by AlexiaSky at 11:29 PM on July 27, 2020 [6 favorites]
Watching the Capitol Crawl video was eye-opening.
I know how to build a 508-compliant website and do it as often as I have the power to.
I notice e-scooters parked in handicap spots and drag them out, notice cars sticking out of driveways onto sidewalks and consider how a person with a wheelchair or walker would navigate the same sidewalks I navigate.
There’s a lot of broken shit out there.
posted by bendy at 11:33 PM on July 27, 2020 [4 favorites]
I know how to build a 508-compliant website and do it as often as I have the power to.
I notice e-scooters parked in handicap spots and drag them out, notice cars sticking out of driveways onto sidewalks and consider how a person with a wheelchair or walker would navigate the same sidewalks I navigate.
There’s a lot of broken shit out there.
posted by bendy at 11:33 PM on July 27, 2020 [4 favorites]
It's interesting to consider how things NOT covered by the ADA have NOT changed in the last thirty years and thus appreciate its impact even further. For example, airplanes are mostly exempt from being wheelchair accessible. This despite the fact that all other modes of transit from trains to buses to taxis can be configured to allow for wheelchair users to remain in their chairs and safety tests have been done that show it's possible for a wheelchair to be safely secured in a plane. To board a plane, passengers who cannot walk must be transferred to very narrow "aisle chairs," many of which were built pre-ADA, strapped with three, four, or even five straps to this chair (think Hannibal Lecter being transported), and then rolled onto the plane. The most immobile passengers are lifted by often poorly trained and underpaid airport workers often resulting in injury to both passengers and workers. A wheelchair is placed in cargo if it will not fit in the cabin closets and are often damaged due to lack of proper lifting equipment and understaffed cargo teams. If you've ever witnessed this, it looks like you're stepping back to a time when the ADA did not exist. There is at least one grassroots organization trying to change this, but it looks like airlines won't make any big changes until they are forced to. Only recently were airlines required to start recording and reporting the number of wheelchairs damaged in transit, and it turns out more than 30 wheelchairs per day are mishandled/broken/lost each day in the US. Imagine if 30 passengers broke their legs every day? Things would change in a heartbeat.
posted by thorny at 11:40 AM on July 28, 2020 [9 favorites]
posted by thorny at 11:40 AM on July 28, 2020 [9 favorites]
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This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments
Also this (I’m not crying - you’re crying)
At 8 years old, @JenniferKeelan
Chaffiins climbed 78 marble stairs up the Capitol's West Front on her hands and knees – a feat that took over an hour – in a act of protest asking for Congress to pass the Americans with Disability Act (ADA). 30 years later ... #thankstoADA
(The links above to Omaha.com articles appear paywalled FYI - so not so if a duplicate of the Capital Crawl link)
posted by inflatablekiwi at 2:27 PM on July 26, 2020 [9 favorites]