Countdown to the 20th Anniversary of the ADA: Celebrating 20 Years of the Americans with Disabilities Act

By Guest Blogger Hilda L. Solis, Secretary, U.S. Department of Labor

20 years ago today, the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) transformed our nation’s disability policy and made a strong statement about the value of diversity and inclusion.

In the years that have passed this landmark legislation has fundamentally altered the landscape of employment, government services, businesses, public areas, transportation and many other avenues of modern life – opening access for those with disabilities in the process.

The impact of this legislation has been felt by many, and that was no accident. The ADA was built upon the foundation of community involvement from disability advocates joining with the civil rights and social justice movements to create a common call for action. The legislation introduced by Senator Tom Harkin – a Democrat – won support from both sides of the aisle and was eventually signed into law by President George H.W. Bush – a Republican.

While its legacy of bi-partisans cooperation is timely given the current political climate, the ADA’s 20^th anniversary also provides a unique opportunity for the Department of Labor (DOL) to reaffirm its commitment to the ADA’s principles of equality, access and inclusion; and to recommit itself to ensuring that the goal of good and safe jobs for everyone includes workers with disabilities.

Last week, the Department of Labor published an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking inviting the public to assist in the revision of the regulations implementing Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and strengthen disability regulations related to federal contractors. The regulations have required equal employment opportunity and affirmative action in the hiring practices of federal contractors since the 1970s, yet the rate of people with disabilities who are unemployed or not in the labor force remains significantly higher than those without disabilities. 

According to recent data from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, just one in five people with disabilities were in the labor force, and the unemployment rate for those with disabilities remains much higher than the national average.

The Department of Labor offers resources and support to all Americans with disabilities. Our Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) provides national leadership on disability employment policy and practice by developing and influencing the use of evidence-based disability employment policies and practices and building collaborative partnerships.

We also provide support for programs such as Disability.gov, Americas Heroes at Work (which provides employment support to wounded warriors and Veterans with disabilities) and the National Resource Directory, as well as funding for the Job Accommodation Network (JAN) - the nation’s leading resource for workplace related accommodations. Also, our one-stop career centers work tirelessly to support individuals with disabilities by connecting them to employment.

On Friday, July 30^th we will be commemorating this important anniversary at the Department of Labor with former U.S. Congressman Tony Coelho, author and sponsor of the ADA, and Christine Griffin, Deputy Director, Office of Personnel Management. We are also inducting Justin Dart, Jr. and Helen Keller into the Department’s Labor Hall of Fame. Dart is widely regarded as the “father of the Americans with Disabilities Act.”  Keller’s story as an advocate who was deaf and blind taught the world that every worker has something positive to contribute when given an opportunity.

And as part of our celebration of this important milestone for the Americans with Disabilities Act, we’re asking everyone the question, “How has the ADA impacted your life?” I encourage you to visit www.disability.gov and share your story.

Access to fair employment is a fundamental right of every American. It is time to update this regulation to ensure that everyone, including individuals with disabilities, has access to good jobs.

Secretary Hilda L. Solis was confirmed as Secretary of Labor on February 24, 2009. Prior to confirmation as Secretary of Labor, Secretary Solis represented the 32nd Congressional District in California, a position she held from 2001 – 2009.

Countdown to the 20th Anniversary of the ADA: Day 1 - Landmark Declaration of Equality

By Guest Blogger Yoshiko Dart

It is quite overwhelming to be a part of something as significant as the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). As I have said before, Justin and I were not crusaders. Rather we tried to be - we felt a mission to be - good human beings. I am honored to participate in this recognition of the work that was done by so many friends and colleagues; however, I am not much of a blogger. I would like to share with you Justin’s excellent writing on the ADA which was published by the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities in the Fall 1990 ADA Special Issue of "Worklife," following the passage of the ADA. I hope that in reading them we remember the work that was done by so many and prepare ourselves for what lies ahead. I love you!  Justin continues to love you!

ADA POWER!  POWER OF DISABILITY PRIDE!  POWER OF LOVE AND TRUTH!

Lead on!

- Yoshiko Dart

ADA: Landmark Declaration of Equality

By Justin Dart

President George Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act on July 26, 1990, a landmark date in the evolution of human culture.

Throughout all of reported history until recent decades, people perceived as having significant disabilities have been treated as sub-humans  At worst they were killed or left as beggar-outcasts to die, at best they were cared for through subsistence welfare, out of sight and mind in institutions and back rooms.

With the development of modern medicine and social responsibility, millions of 20th Century humans are surviving previously fatal conditions and living on with significant disabilities. These individuals have a great potential to be happy, productive members of their communities. However, our best efforts to fulfill this potential have been consistently limited by a massive residue of prejudice and paternalism. Our society is still infected by an insidious, now almost subconscious assumption that people with disabilities are less than fully human, and therefore are not fully eligible for the opportunities, services and support systems which are available to other people as a matter of right. 

More than two decades ago many of us in the disability community concluded that Americans with disabilities would never achieve full, productive citizenship until this nation made a firm statement of law protecting their civil rights. 

The Americans with Disabilities Act is such a law. It establishes “a clear and comprehensive prohibition of discrimination on the basis of disability.” Taken in combination with previously existing disability rights law, it provides a sound legal framework for the practical implementation of the inalienable right of all people with disabilities to participate equally in the mainstream of society. It extends to people with disabilities the same protection of their rights that is already enjoyed by the members of all other minorities. 

Most importantly, ADA is a landmark commandment of fundamental human morality. It is the world’s first declaration of equality for people with disabilities by any nation. It will proclaim to America and to the world that people with disabilities are fully human; that paternalistic, discriminatory, segregationist attitudes are no longer acceptable; and that henceforth people with disabilities must be accorded the same personal respect and the same social and economic opportunities as other people. 

ADA opens the doors of opportunity for millions of isolated, dependent Americans to become employees, taxpayers and welcome participants in the life of their communities.  It prepares the way for the emancipation of more than half of a billion of the world’s most oppressed people.

I am proud of America. I am proud of President Bush, Attorney General Thornburgh and Boyden Gray. I am proud of Senators Harkin, Hatch, Kennedy and Dole. I am proud of Congressmen Hoyer, Owens, Bartlett, Mineta, Fish, Brooks and all the great members of Congress who supported ADA. I am proud of former members Lowell Weicker and Tony Coelho.  I am proud of Bob Silberstein, Bill Roper, John Wodatch, Melissa Schulman, Bob Tate, Maureen West and all the great Congressional and Administrative staff who authored and fought for ADA. 

I am proud of Pat Wright, Lex Frieden, Evan Kemp, Sandra Parrino, Paul Marchand, Wade Blank, Elizabeth Boggs, Liz Savage, Marca Bristo, Judy Heumann, Arlene Mayerson and the thousands of other patriots who have struggled for long, hard years in a wilderness of prejudice and paternalism for the victory of ADA. 

Once again America has passed the torch of liberty and productivity to the world. 

All who love justice must unite in action to protect our hard won ADA rights, and to ensure that they are implemented through strong regulations, and enforced in every community. 

We of the disability community must communicate to America that full compliance with ADA can be profitable for all citizens, and we must join in cooperative action with government and the private sector to ensure that all will profit.

But ADA is only the beginning. It is not a solution. Rather, it is an essential foundation on which solutions will be constructed. 

We must undertake a courageous reallocation of our society’s resources from paternalism to independence and productivity. We must invest in a continuum of new and strengthened programs to liberate people with disabilities from dependency, and empower them to be equal and productive participants in the mainstream: Productivity-oriented education for all citizens. Economic, technological, independent living, vocational rehabilitation, transitional, personal assistance and community based supports for productivity and quality of life. Prevention. Affordable insurance and health care for all.  Incentives for productivity to replace disincentives. Accessible communications, transportation, housing, and completely new communities that are accessible as a whole.

A large agenda? Certainly! But no larger than that which faced our patriot forefathers at the successful conclusion of the revolutionary war. 

Like them, we have accomplished much. Like them, we have a profound responsibility to make a bold declaration of equality real in the lives of hundreds of millions of people in future generations. 

I believe that we will unite to fulfill that responsibility. Because I believe in you, the patriots of ADA. And I believe in you, the patriots to be. 

Together we have overcome. Together we shall overcome. 

Yoshiko Dart is the wife of Justin Dart and a renown advocate for disability and inclusion of all people. She has devoted a significant amount of time in encouraging the newest generation of disability leaders and supports the development of young people finding their voice in the disability movement. For more resources related to Justin Dart’s career and advocacy, visit http://www.ilru.org/html/about/Dart/dartindex.html.

Countdown to the 20th Anniversary of the ADA: Day 2 - Entrepreneurs Advance

By Guest Blogger John D. Kemp, Executive Director and General Counsel, US Business Leadership Network

20 years ago, I was at the White House for the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). Since that very hot summer day, we’ve seen many great advances for the community of people with a disability. Public accommodations have improved, education has become more accessible and individuals with disabilities have become a recognized component of our nation’s workforce.

The ADA highlighted the fact that Americans with a disability are employees of businesses nationwide. The US Business Leadership Network® (USBLN®) and its local Business Leadership Network affiliates across the country have worked with these professionals to help them find jobs, advance within their companies and create better workplaces for themselves. As important as it is to mark this historic anniversary with reflections on the past, it is equally important for us to continue to look to the future. The USBLN® is now working on a new program which highlights another critical role individuals with a disability play in today’s economy – the role of entrepreneur and business owner. As our nation recovers from the current economic downturn, the self-employed will again prove to be the agile ignition of the economic engine.

As the Executive Director of the USBLN®, I have the honor of working with many major corporations who have committed to work on a daily basis to ensure the spirit of the ADA is an ingrained part of their corporate culture. These corporations have led the way in creating accessible workplaces where individuals with a disability are not only included, but also a valued and essential ingredient to the success of the corporation. I’m very pleased that several corporate members of the USBLN® have recognized that inclusion does not simply stop at providing a workplace accommodation for an employee or at enticing customers with a disability to purchase their product. The USBLN® has been working with several major corporations to bring inclusion to their supplier diversity programs through our new Disability Supplier Diversity Program^SM (DSDP).

Launched at the beginning of 2010, the USBLN® DSDP connects major corporations to potential vendors that are disability-owned businesses. The USBLN® DSDP offers certification to businesses that are at least 51 percent owned, operated, managed and controlled by an individual with a disability. We work with our certified companies to identify the value they can bring to the supply chains of our corporate partners and provide a forum for introductions and deal-making.

We are currently seeking companies that are interested in having disability-owned businesses as vendors and business partners as well as disability-owned businesses that could be candidates for certification. If you or your company falls into either of these categories, I encourage you to learn more about the USBLN® DSDP at www.usbln.org.

The progress of the past two decades has been tremendous and certainly deserves celebration. As disability-owned businesses expand their opportunities within corporate America, we are sure to find additional reasons to celebrate. May the party continue!

For More Information

The US Business Leadership Network® (USBLN®) is the national disability organization that serves as the collective voice of over 60 Business Leadership Network affiliates across North America, representing over 5,000 employers. The USBLN® helps build workplaces, marketplaces and supply chains where people with disabilities are respected for their talents, while supporting the development and expansion of its BLN affiliates. The USBLN® recognizes and supports best practices in the employment and advancement of people with disabilities; the preparedness for work of youth and students with disabilities; marketing to consumers with disabilities; and contracting with vendors with disabilities through the development and certification of disability-owned businesses. Please visit www.usbln.org for more information.

John D. Kemp, 2007 recipient of the New Freedom Initiative award and 2006 recipient of the Henry B. Betts Award (regarded as America's highest honor for disability leadership and service) is widely respected for his many achievements, both in the corporate and non-profit worlds. As a person with personal disability experience who uses four prostheses, John inspires others to achieve the impossible through knowledge, experience, vision, personality and persistence.

Mr. Kemp graduated from Georgetown University in 1971 and from Washburn University School of Law in 1974. Mr. Kemp was awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Law from Washburn University School of Law in May, 2003. With more than 45 years of direct experience in the disability movement, Kemp is a principal at the Washington, D.C. Law Firm of Powers, Pyles, Sutter & Verville, P.C. He presently serves as CEO of ACCSES, Executive Director of the One Percent Coalition and Executive Director & General Counsel of the US Business Leadership Network.

Countdown to the 20th Anniversary of the ADA: Day 3 - Happy 20th Birthday to the Americans with Disabilities Act!

By Guest Blogger Dick Thornburgh, Attorney General for President George H.W Bush

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) afforded me a unique opportunity to merge my personal and official agendas. As the proud parent of my son, Peter, who has both intellectual and physical disabilities, I had a personal interest in seeing this important advance in disability rights enacted into law. As Attorney General of the United States, I had also been assigned by President George H. W. Bush to be the point person for the administration’s efforts to secure passage of this groundbreaking law.

None of us who were present for the signing of the ADA on July 26, 1990, will ever forget that day. Under a blazing summer sun, some 3,000 persons, with and without disabilities, gathered on the South Lawn of the White House and cheered and cheered as President Bush issued his stirring challenge “to let the shameful walls of exclusion finally come tumbling down.”

For those of us who had participated in the lengthy legislative process that produced the ADA, the day was especially meaningful. Democrats and Republicans alike, legislators and staff from both houses of Congress had labored long and hard in the effort to produce this critical civil rights legislation. Statements, speeches, hearings and arguments ensued over every detail of the proposed act. But most important of all was the constant pressure exerted on the legislative process by countless persons with disabilities themselves, supported by families, friends, caregivers and advocates. This was truly a grass roots effort that showed how success in the legislative process can indeed be gained by careful and informed lobbying based upon sound marshalling of the facts and arguments necessary to gain the attention of legislators.

Since 1990, we have seen much progress made in furthering access to mainstream America for people with disabilities. We are reminded daily of progress by ramps and curb-cuts, dedicated parking spaces in shopping centers, brailed elevators and ATM machines and sign language interpreters at public meetings. More people with disabilities are living in their communities instead of being confined to isolated and impersonal institutions. On the other hand, progress has been slow in employment. Despite the provisions for equal access to employment and the requirement of “reasonable accommodation” in the workplace, there has been no net increase in the number of employed Americans with disabilities in the past twenty years. Clearly a disappointment.

While activity in the courts has sometimes been of the “two steps forward, one step back” variety, careful monitoring of court decisions at odds with the intent of the ADA has produced curative legislative enactments to help restore its original intent.

Meanwhile, Ginny’s and my son Peter lives in the community and, while greatly limited, he volunteers every day at the local food bank, is welcomed by his faith congregation and is supported by many programs and a circle of friends.

But just as “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,” such vigilance is doubly necessary to assure disability rights in these times of proposed cut-backs in government support for those with disabilities. We must assure that “those shameful walls of exclusion” which President Bush referred to at the signing of the ADA do not re-emerge under the guise of austerity programs at the state and federal level. The full and equal participation of Americans with disabilities in all aspects of life is not only good for people with disabilities, it is good for America. Moreover, it is the right thing to do.

Happy 20th birthday to the Americans with Disabilities Act!

Countdown to the 20th Anniversary of the ADA: Day 4 - The Dawn of a New Day

By Guest Blogger Jonathan Young, Chair, National Council on Disability

For many of us, there is a personal dimension to the history of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). My experience makes it possible for me to now write as the Chairman of the National Council on Disability (NCD), but in 1996, when I began my work on the history of the ADA, I was a doctoral candidate in American history specializing in 19th-century American intellectual and cultural history and writing a dissertation on the slavery debates. I was a person with a disability, having broken my neck in a high school wrestling match and living with partial paralysis. But I did not identify as a person with a disability, and I did not view myself as part of the disability community. To me, disability was the enemy. I wanted to pass for “normal” as best I could. I had internalized social stigma about disability.

In 1996 - ten years after my original spinal cord injury - I spiraled downward into depression and gave serious thought to dropping out of my Ph.D. program. Writing a history of the ADA on a contract with NCD was not the low-stress opportunity I was looking for, and when I decided to do the project I had substantial doubt about my ability to complete it. However, through writing the ADA’s history, my life was transformed.

I had only been vaguely aware of the ADA when it passed in 1990 - probably much like most of the 43 million people identified in the ADA’s findings who similarly lacked identity as a person with a disability and thus took little note of the ADA’s passage. However, researching the history of the ADA, and particularly interviewing many of the people who made the ADA’s enactment possible, made me rethink the meaning of disability and my own identity. I was riveted by the story of how the ADA came into existence and the gravity of the change wrought through it. My preconception that disability was a debilitating weakness, an enemy to be overcome, ran headlong into the life stories of disability rights advocates whose power and pride both individually and collectively laid the foundation for passage of the ADA.

By the time NCD released my completed history, Equality of Opportunity, on July 26, 1997, I had begun to view myself as a person with a disability and as part of the disability community. I had also emerged from a deep depression and regained my self-confidence - no doubt largely because my inability to embrace my identity as a person with a disability had contributed to my depression. In retrospect, the closing line of Equality of Opportunity - “The dawn of a new day” - was as much about the impact of the ADA on my life as the ADA itself. Identity as a person with a disability was liberating rather than stigmatizing. It gave my life new purpose and meaning.

This personal story is part and parcel of the ADA’s significance in our society. The ADA is a nondiscrimination law. But, much more than that, it is a clarion call for transforming attitudes about disability. The ADA proclaims that all people, including people with disabilities, should participate fully in all aspects of our communities and have opportunities to take risks, to succeed, and yes, to fail. Equality of opportunity means having a chance to live independently and become financially secure, but it is not a guarantee.

We celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the ADA well after civil rights provisions have been implemented in regulations, tested in court and even amended by the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendments Act of 2008. We also celebrate amidst our nation’s worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. Unemployment is high. People are losing their homes. Access to health care remains elusive. And that is before we begin talking about the individual experiences of millions of people with disabilities, for whom the economic downturn only compounds longstanding disparities in living, learning and earning.

Unfortunately, the challenges that we face together as a nation are compounded by partisan strife. Although vitriol is no stranger to the history of American politics, something is sorely missing today - the genuine and widespread willingness to set aside ideology to pursue pragmatic solutions that make critical differences in the lives of real people. The explosion in access to 24-hour Internet-based communications exacerbates this trend, even though information technologies and other technologies have provided new levels of access for people with disabilities.

Despite the fast-paced and daunting world we inhabit, tangible marks of the ADA’s success surround us -not just regarding the ADA’s specific nondiscrimination provisions but symbolically as well. The ADA is the disability community’s standard-bearer for the disability policy goals of equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living and economic self-sufficiency. Some of the ADA’s impact has been increasingly felt with the march of time as requirements for new and renovated construction create more livable communities and as physical and telecommunications infrastructures become more accessible and usable by more people with disabilities. In other cases, we see the symbolic victory of the ADA as people with disabilities assume prominent positions of leadership in government, business and our communities and as more children grow up embracing disability as a natural part of the human experience. But we also know that problems abound, and the hard work of delivering on the ADA’s promise still lies in front of us.

The ADA’s history also provides a sober reminder to the disability community about the challenges of, and need for cross-community collaboration. The ADA was a unique moment in disability history where diverse individuals and organizations rallied around a common cause. In doing so they showed the power of shared goals and coordinated action. Nevertheless, the years since the enactment of the ADA have restored in large measure the longer tradition of a splintered community with myriad - and sometimes competing -priorities. The disability community is anything but homogenous. It is difficult to find a common ground of policy issues that are equally viewed as priorities for different types of disabilities and for discreet policy areas. The ADA reminds us that there is a profound strength that comes in unity of numbers and purpose.

The legacy, the hope and the promise of the ADA endure, yet much more work must be done to transform law into life. Together, we can be the catalyst for our nation's continued transformation.

For More Information

To learn more about the NCD, visit www.ncd.gov.

Jonathan Young is the Chair of the National Council on Disability. As part of the celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the signing of the ADA, NCD is releasing a reprint of Equality of Opportunity: The Making of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The reprint is part of NCD’s National Summit on Disability Policy 2010, which seeks to explore the current state of ‘Living, Learning and Earning” for people with disabilities.

Countdown to the 20th Anniversary of the ADA: Day 5 - The Hope of a More Inclusive Place

By Guest Blogger Patricia A. Shiu, Director, Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, US Department of Labor

Privileged to grow up in a progressive community, Hyde Park, on the South side of Chicago in the 1960s and 1970s, I learned a great deal about celebrating difference - racial, economic, religious, ethnic and economic diversity. However, as a child, I do not remember knowing people who identified affirmatively and positively as persons with disabilities. This was clearly a disadvantage for me.

Fortunately, I moved to Berkeley, California, in the late 1970s to attend law school in San Francisco. More importantly, it was there that I clerked for Arlene Mayerson, a prominent disability rights advocate, at the Disability Rights Resource Center. I gained a tremendous amount of knowledge about disability civil rights laws and learned about the struggles of people with disabilities to vindicate their civil rights in all facets of life. The passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) gave me great hope that perhaps this was the time in history where all people with disabilities would be treated fairly, and with dignity and respect. The ADA symbolized the hope of a more inclusive place, where all individuals have a chance to live the American dream.

For the past 25 years, prior to my work with the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) at the U.S. Department of Labor, I have had the pleasure and privilege of representing many people with disabilities. I have come to know workers and students with disabilities, and their families and the challenges they have faced in grappling with societal inequities. I have been touched by their courage, their insights and their relentless drive for justice and inclusion. As the Director of the OFCCP, I look forward to the next 20 years and to continue working to help people with disabilities achieve the American dream.

For More Information

The OFCCP enforces, for the benefit of job seekers and wage earners, the contractual promise of affirmative action and equal employment. More specifically, the OFCCP enforces Executive Order 11246, as amended; Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended; and the Vietnam Era Veterans’ Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 (VEVRAA), as amended. 

For more information about the OFCCP, please visit www.dol.gov/ofccp.

Countdown to the 20th Anniversary of the ADA: Day 6 - A New Chapter

By Guest Blogger Christine Griffin, Deputy Director, Office of Personnel Management (OPM)

The passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990 literally changed my career path and in effect, my life. Although at that time I had been a woman with a disability for 10 years, I entered law school knowing nothing about disability rights or disability law. In fact, my goal was to become a lawyer who would focus on Food and Drug Administration (FDA) medical device compliance for either the federal government or a medical device manufacturer. Prior to going to law school, I worked as a mechanical engineer for the FDA and, in my mind, going to law school was a natural progression for a career in Food and Drug Law compliance. In 1990, I was surprised to learn that it probably wasn’t my great self-advocacy skills alone, but most likely other people’s knowledge of the Rehabilitation Act, that provided some of the opportunities I experienced in school and the workplace.

While a law student, I had the good fortune to be one of 400 individuals chosen to participate in an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)/Department of Justice ADA Network training that Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) attorneys and advocates developed and implemented. During that training, I met some of the greatest disability advocates in this nation, and all my original law goals evaporated.  I met people like Liz Savage and Marilyn Golden, who taught me about this great new civil rights law and the potential of the future for all people with disabilities if this law was implemented correctly. My life was changed forever. I wanted to be a part of this exciting new chapter in the advancement of disability rights, and I returned to law school with new goals. Now here I am 20 years later, ready to celebrate another anniversary of the law that changed my life.

Christine M. Griffin was sworn in as the Deputy Director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) on January 4, 2010, by OPM Director John Berry. Prior to coming to OPM, Griffin served as a Commissioner of the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), assisting in the development of EEO enforcement policies.

Countdown to the 20th Anniversary of the ADA: Day 7 - The Disability Fabric

By Guest Blogger Kathy Martinez, Assistant Secretary, Office of Disability Employment Policy, U.S. Department of Labor

There's something very special about having a sister. From a very early age, my sister was my touchstone. Like many other sisters, we laughed together, played together and even shared a secret mode of communication using the position of Braille dots to spell out words to one another. Although having a second child with a disability was initially very hard on my parents, I’m so grateful for my sister. We not only benefited from each other's experiences as people who are blind, but we also strategized together about how to approach the world.

I come from a large family of Latino and Native American heritage. My parents did not have much formal education, and their English skills were poor when I was growing up. Although my parents had limited experience with disability and an overwhelming sense of guilt, helplessness and fear for their children, they knew instinctively that as a Latina and a person with a disability, I (and my sister) faced layers of barriers, which I would have to cut through if I was to survive, much less thrive, in mainstream society. This reaction is not surprising, given the social stigma, isolation and misinformation so common in society at large.

Although I was vaguely aware of being different at a younger age, when I started kindergarten, being surrounded by kids who could get from one end of the playground to another without crashing into bikes, toys and/or other kids made me fully realize that I was really different. Being mainstreamed was one of the most powerful, although painful, lessons of my school years. The lower expectations of me from others spurred me on to maintain higher personal expectations. While some peers were cruel, others were incredibly inventive and compassionate. Although my friends expected much, they also gave much (frequently without condition). My peers invented alternate versions of tennis, badminton and volleyball so I could participate. And they gave me plenty of advice about things like color, fashion and style. Mastering and demonstrating these "soft skills" helped me to "assimilate" into the larger culture.

As a teenager, I was involved in both the Women's Movement and the Farm Workers Movement. These experiences played a critical role in shaping my sense of purpose in life by influencing many of my political ideals and teaching me about working with various types of people. Despite this, I honestly never felt completely "included.” Organizers of those movements very often found it difficult to get past my disability and utilize my skills.

When I was growing up, there were very few employment opportunities for a woman who was blind. The options were limited – rehabilitation counselor, telephone operator or typist in a typing pool. During my high school years when I was being assessed by career counselors for people who were blind, I was channeled toward factory types of jobs and ended up getting a job in a lock factory. This was a very dangerous work environment where a person with a disability would probably never be placed today. My job was to run a punch press.

So, in April 1977, when I was handed a Braille flyer about a civil rights protest being held by people with disabilities in San Francisco, I had to attend. This event, which brought together hundreds of people with every imaginable type of disability and their allies, landed me in the midst of the emerging Disability Rights Movement.  The Movement began in Berkeley and was led by such luminaries as Ed Roberts, Judy Heumann and Gerald Baptiste, an African-American advocate who was blind. As a Latina, I was so impressed to see such a varied mix of ethnicities, ages, races and disability types, as well as support from the broader civil rights community. The empowerment, connections and sense of wholeness from this experience have played a vital part of my own educational and career development.

My horizons were further broadened after high school when I had the opportunity to travel and live outside the United States in places like Japan, Central America and Mexico. These experiences exposed me to the realities of accessibility and disability services in developing countries. The lack of sidewalks, transportation, services and awareness of disability as a social issue in these places refined my understanding of my own struggles in the United States-- and fueled my passion and commitment to furthering disability rights.

Subsequently, I worked as the director of blind services for the Center for Independent Living (CIL) in Berkeley, which taught me to work on a daily basis with people with other types of disabilities. Since the concepts of "accommodations" and "personal assistance" were still more ideas on paper than supports actually available in the workplace, CIL employees created their own symbiotic support systems: people who were blind carried out physical tasks, and workers with physical disabilities served as readers or guides.

In 1988, I entered college at San Francisco State University. My sister and I were the first in our family to pursue postsecondary education, largely because we couldn't perform most blue collar jobs. I graduated with a degree in Speech and Communication Studies.  After graduation, I was hired by the World Institute on Disability (WID) based in Oakland, California and served as the Executive Director from 2005 – 2009.  In 2002, I was appointed by President Bush to the National Council on Disability, an independent federal agency advising the President and Congress on disability policy. Three years later, I was selected as a public member of the newly-established State Department Advisory Committee on Disability and Foreign Policy, and in 2007 I was appointed as a board member of the U.S. Institute of Peace, a Congressionally-created agency dedicated to research and projects in conflict management.

In July of 2009, I joined the Obama Administration as the Assistant Secretary of the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) in the U.S. Department of Labor. 

It’s an honor to be celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as part of this Administration. Because of this far-reaching civil rights legislation, disability is gradually being woven in to the fabric of our society like other populations from diverse backgrounds. Disability is a natural part of the human condition. And, the more we, as people with disabilities, participate in school, work and community life, the less fear, misconceptions and stereotypes can negatively impact society’s perceptions. We’re seen as contributing and productive members of society, and fear melts away. 

I firmly believe those of us who have been disability rights advocates for a long time have a responsibility to be mentors and role models for younger folks with disabilities. Other than my sister, I didn't meet another person of color who was blind until I was18 or 19 years old. Friends and colleagues - look for ways to support the younger people with disabilities who are beginning their adult and work lives. Young folks - seek out mentors and role models in the multiple communities of which you're a part, because disability is not our only source of identity.

We are all part of many communities. We need to connect with them, make our place in them, and, when necessary, help expand people's comfort level with us by being in their midst and sharing our common commitments.

Kathleen Martinez was nominated by President Barack Obama to be the third Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy and was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on June 25, 2009. As head of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), Ms. Martinez advises the Secretary of Labor and works with all DOL agencies to lead a comprehensive and coordinated national policy regarding the employment of people with disabilities.

Countdown to the 20th Anniversary of the ADA: Day 8 - Personal Anniversaries

By Guest Blogger Kelly Buckland, Executive Director, National Council on Independent Living (NCIL)

I broke my neck on July 26, 1970 and have had a disability since. Please note the date. Yes, that’s right - it was exactly 20 years before the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed. I was 16 years old, and the world was a much different place in many ways: there were no ramps, except loading ramps; there were no curb cuts, except for driveways; and there were no accessible restrooms.

After I spent approximately one year in rehabilitation, I returned to my parents’ home and went back to school.  At that time, there were no requirements for the school to be accessible. My classmates and friends would have to pick me up and carry me up the stairs and into my classroom, then down the stairs at the end of the day. There were also no requirements for schools to accept students with disabilities. Because the spokes on my manual wheelchair would collect snow in the wintertime, which would get tracked into my classroom, my science teacher wanted me expelled from school. It took significant advocacy from my mother with the superintendent to keep me in school.

After graduating from high school, I decided to go to college. I chose to attend Boise State University in Boise, Idaho, because it was one of the most accessible campuses in the state.  However, Boise State was 300 miles from my parents’ house, meaning I would have to move hundreds of miles away from home to attend college. There were no attendant programs nor any home and community-based services at that time. Therefore, I was forced to move into a nursing home at the age of 19 in order to attend college.

After graduating from college, I went to work for a few months for the protection and advocacy system in Idaho. Then, I was able to find employment as a social worker with the Department of Health and Welfare and worked in Child Protection and Youth Rehabilitation. While living in Burley, Idaho, I became involved in disability rights work and shortly after that became involved in working with the Idaho State legislature. The first bill we worked on was one that would guarantee voters with disabilities access to polling places in Idaho. We were able to pass that bill in 1985.

In 1989, I was hired as the Executive Director for the first center for independent living in Boise, and that same year I attended my first NCIL conference. During the conference, we marched on the White House to convince President George H.W. Bush to support the ADA.

In 1990, I was part of a group of disability advocates in Idaho who were successful in getting the Idaho legislature to pass a personal assistance bill. The bill made personal assistance services available to people with disabilities in Idaho so they would not have to move into nursing homes.  Also in 1990, the United States Congress passed the ADA, and on the 20th anniversary that I acquired my disability (July 26, 1990), President Bush signed the ADA into law. What a great 20th anniversary present!
Because of the ADA, ramps and curb cuts are now required; people with disabilities are guaranteed access to polling places in the United States; and we have the right to attend school without fear of being expelled because of having a disability.

For 20 years, I experienced life in America as a person with a disability who had little to no rights. Now it has been 20 years since the ADA was signed, and I have lived 20 years as an American with a disability with my rights guaranteed under the ADA.

As we all celebrate the 20th anniversary of the ADA, I will be celebrating 40 years of living with a disability. And as we celebrate how far we have come in the last 20 years, we will also need to focus on how far we have to go in the next 20.

For More Information

To learn more about the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL), visit www.ncil.org.

 

Countdown to the 20th Anniversary of the ADA: Day 9 - Step Forward and Fight

By Guest Blogger Judith Heumann

In 1949 when I had polio, there were no laws that protected me against discrimination based on my disability. My parents were immigrants who had the same expectations for me as they did for my brothers. But they learned early on that their vision for my future was not shared by many and that if they did not fight for my rights, my life would be wasted. I learned from my parents’ willingness to step forward and fight for me, and join with other parents to fight for the rights of their children, that change would not occur unless we believed that all things were possible and that we could never give up on breaking down the walls of discrimination. Millions of people with disabilities and their families were and continue to be adversely effected by the discrimination we still face today. 

While we still face discrimination based on disability, the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) demonstrated our ability to work in coalition with other civil and human rights organizations and in a bipartisan fashion to convince the House and the Senate that the discrimination we faced was not isolated, but pervasive and needed national legislation with teeth. Most importantly, the passage of the ADA brought thousands of people with disabilities, their parents and colleagues into the public eye, in many cases for the first time, to tell their stories of discrimination and its adverse effect on their lives. 

While many people dedicated their lives to the passage of the ADA, I will forever believe that the leadership of Justin and Yoshiko Dart was the major force that brought the voices of people with disabilities and their families out into the public because they recognized the importance of people telling their stories. In my view, the ability to publicly discuss the discrimination we faced and the humiliation and degradation that results, coupled with our fight and commitment to reform our society, showed the world our tenacity and belief that society can change. The passage of the ADA and the 20 years we have fought for effective implementation have made us a stronger Movement - one that will never turn back and will continue to advance the lives of people with disabilities. 

Judith Heumann is an internationally recognized leader in the disability community, and a lifelong civil rights advocate for disadvantaged people. Heumann is a graduate of Long Island University and holds a Master of Science degree in public health from the University of California, Berkeley.  She has been awarded honorary doctorates by Long Island University in Brooklyn, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Toledo.