Running head: THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE PROPOSED CHANGE

The Good, The Bad and The Proposed Changes

Marcela Hermosillo
Tracy Keninger
Drake University

Introduction

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Approximately one out five people in the United States has a disability. Individuals who
were born with a disability or acquired one with age encounter ongoing barriers to engage in
employment, education and public places.The employment rate for individuals without a
disability is seventy nine percent compared to forty percent for individuals with disabilities. As a
result of lack of employment individuals with disabilities are more likely to live in poverty. The
median monthly earnings for individuals without a disability between the ages of twenty one to
sixty four are $2724 compared to $1961 for individuals with disabilities (Bernstein, 2012).In the
present paper the impact of the American of Disabilities Act (ADA) is analyzed. It is
hypothesized that despite the implementation of the ADA, individuals with disabilities are still
not provided with equal access to employment and public accommodations. The following pages
will address the strengths, weaknesses and areas of opportunities of the ADA as well as a
propose changes to overcome the barriers and allow for full integration for individuals with
disabilities.
Overview of the American with Disabilities Act
Originally the Civil rights of 1964 protected individuals from another race from
discrimination. The law that was first implemented to protect individuals with disabilities against
discrimination was the Rehabilitation Act Section 504. The protection under this law was limited
to programs or activities that received federal funds. . Prior to the implementation of the ADA, it
was believed that avoidance of individuals with disabilities was a consequence as a result of their
disability and not discrimination (Concannon,2012) The ADA was designed after two civil rights
laws: the 1973 Rehabilitation Act and Civil Rights Act of 1964 ( Mc Crone,2011) In 1990,
advocates accomplished the inclusion of civil rights and protection against discrimination of all
programs regardless if they received federal funds or not. The ADA law was signed by President

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Bush. The signing of the ADA was a step in the right direction and made it illegal to
discriminate against individuals with disabilities (Concannon, 2012). This law provides guidance
and protection for individuals with disabilities when interacting with employers, state and local
government services, public accommodations, commercial facilities, transportation, and
telecommunications to be in compliance (Adelson,2009).
Impact of the American with Disabilities Act
He was the least disabled person I ever met or If a miracle cure were developed
overnight wouldnt every individual with a disability take the magic pill(Shapiro,1993)
Comments such as these are few out of hundreds of example of how the general public has
created a society that views individuals with disabilities as damaged goods (Shapiro,1993).A
perfect world according to the biomedical model is one without disabilities (Smart,2004) The
goal of the biomedical model was to provide a cure for all individuals with disabilities to help
them be normal (Milne,2012) Extensive research has proven that in addition to the biomedical
model the economic model and sociopolitical model influences individuals with disabilities. One
model alone cannot be applied to fully describe the experience that person with a disability has
had. The reason is because each model is one dimensional and disability is far from being one
dimensional. Disability is complex, the experience for an individual with a disability vary
depending on the social environment they lived or currently live in (Smart,2004). Collaboration
between both models allows barriers for individuals with disabilities to reduce (Milne, 2012).
The American with Disabilities Act recognized the influence of the sociopolitical environment,
economic model and biomedical medical, and incorporated sections within this law to prevent
segregation and isolation. The ADA makes it illegal to discriminate on the basis of disability in
employment, State and local government, public accommodations, commercial facilities,

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transportation, and telecommunications (Concannon,2012) Agencies responsible to ensure

compliance with the ADA are the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
enforces regulations covering employment., the Department of Transportation enforces
regulations related to transportation. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) enforces
regulations covering telecommunication services. The Department of Justice enforces regulations
governing public accommodations and state and local government services. In addition to
enforcing the ADA, programs have been created to assist individuals with disabilities to engage
in satisfactory employment, for example the Workforce Investment Act and Ticket to Work
(Peterson and Aguiar, 2004).
Disadvantages of the American with Disabilities Act
One of the goals of the ADA was to reassure individuals with disabilities and their
families that they had a place in our society and should be a part of the mainstream (McCrone,
2011) Laws such as the ADA have created unexpected social reactions that are completely
isolated to the laws protections and regulations. Scholars argue that as a result of the exposure of
the ADA, a mindset that individuals with a developmental disability such as Down syndrome
will be better off if not born has emerged. Down syndrome is the hereditary condition that occurs
most often among the U.S. population, the condition for which Americans test before birth, and
the condition that fetuses are aborted at the highest rate (Fox and Griffin,2009). Ninety percent of
abortions are fetuses with disabilities (Bauman,2012)The ADA was designed to forbid disability
discrimination in employment, assured access to public services and promised access to public
accommodations for individuals with disabilities (Fox and Griffin, 2009). The ADA does not
cover unborn fetuses and therefore parents make the decision for their unborn child to not be
born.

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Too Vague Of Definition

Another constant challenge of the ADA is the vagueness of the definition of a disability.
According to Mc Crone, a disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment that
substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual; or a record of such
impairment or (3) being regarded as having such impairment Lack of clearness on the definition
has caused ADA lawsuits to be ruled against the plaintiff who is requesting protection under the
ADA.
Impact on the ADA on Tile I
Title I of the ADA makes it illegal to deny employment to an equally qualified individual
who has disability, be viewed as having a disability, or having a history of disability (Spero,
2003). Noteworthy attempts have been dedicated to creating and spreading information to
employers on a variety of characteristics of employing people with disabilities. Research
illustrates that the information has not made a significant gain on statistics. Employers
understand the broad definition of the ADA but no significant change in the economic and
employment statistics for individuals with disabilities has occurred as a result (Rudstam,
Hittleman, Gower, 2013). Individuals do have the right to submit a complaint through the Equal
Employment Opportunity Office if they feel they had been discriminated against. Unfortunately
a study conducted in 2007, found that four percent of Title I cases have resulted in the favor of
plaintiff (Albright, quoted by Mc Crone, 2011). On contrast Title I has eliminated disability
inquiries and pre-employment physicals, allowing individuals with a disability a chance to
advocate for themselves and request reasonable accommodations (Fox and Griffin, 2009).
Advantages of the American with Disabilities Act

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As a result of the implementation of the ADA activists continue to advocate achieving a

more inclusive society (Martinez, 2011). The biggest barrier for individuals with disabilities is
non disabled individuals attitudes and beliefs. The passage of this law was a milestone since it
has allowed for non disabled individuals to view that not all individuals with disabilities want to
be normal or cured. Asking an individual with a disability if they want to be cured is similar to
asking someone from a underrepresented class to change their color to be accepted
(Shapiro,2003) The ADA has provided a sense of pride and belonging to individuals with
disabilities across our nation. As a result of the voice provided by the ADA amendments to
reduce unfair court rulings have been implemented. The amendments of 2008 resulted in six new
positive changes:
1.The pool of individuals considered disabled is now larger. The definition of disability
did not change, however, the ADAAA makes it clear who congress intends to meet the
definition of disabled.
2. The ADA must disregard and make decisions without taking into consideration if the
individual with a disability is taking appropriate steps to control his or her disability.
3. The interpretation of how a major life activity is defined as has been expanded.
4. The definition of an individual being perceived as having a disability has changed.
Prior to the ADAAA the plaintiff needed to prove that the employer perceived him or her
as a person who was unable to participate in a major life activity where as now, the
individual being regarded as having an disability only has to prove that the employer
perceived him or her as having a mental or physical impairment.

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5. The amendment allows the EEOC to control and define substantial limitations. In
addition, the examples of substantial limitations will not have to be as extreme.
6. The changes also include allowing individuals who experience impairments that are
periodic or in remission might still be covered under the ADA (Bowman,2011).
The changes are rather new, and similar to any other law without continued advocacy and
support of the protected class of this law the changes will be meaningless. At the end of the day it
is up to our society to embrace the differences and seek to understand individuals with
disabilities (Shapiro,2003)
Moving Forward
In order to continue to move forward and see effective integration of individuals with
disabilities changes are required. Removing the stereotype that individuals with disabilities seek
the pity of others untrue (Shapiro,2003) it is imperative that a new culture is created, one in
which individuals with disabilities are treated like people that have same rights and access as
everyone else.
Title II/Education Reform
Research proves that increasing educational attainment has a direct correlation to
unemployment rates, earnings, physical and mental health is better, tendency to live longer,
reduction of crimes, less incarceration, increase voting and overall a better future for the next
generation ( Measure American and United Way,2009) By 2018, sixty three percent of job
openings will require employees to have at least some college education (Carnevale, Smith,
Strohl,2010) During 2001-2003 a study reported that one out of five individuals with disabilities

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attended a post secondary education (Wagner, Newman,Cameto, Garza, Levine,2005) Title II of

the ADA covers post secondary educations; therefore, I propose that all post secondary
institutions become responsible to identify students with disabilities, and provide adequate
accommodations to ensure their success. This is the same model use by the Individuals with
Disabilities Act for secondary education, allowing the same framework to continue in a post
secondary education will increase the numbers of individuals graduating from a post secondary
program and reduce the unemployment rate.
Title I Employment
According to the Office of Disability Employment Office the unemployment rate for an
individual with a disability is twice as high as an individual who does not have a disability.
Providing information to employers to be in compliance with the ADA has been done for the last
twenty years, and according to studies employers understand the basics of the ADA. My
proposed change will require incorporating a learning approach that is structured to promote
partnerships and creates organizational change that will positively impact individuals with
disabilities. Speak the language of business owners, let them know what is in for them by being
in compliance with the ADA and creating an organization that welcomes and promotes
individuals with disabilities (Rudstam,2013). In addition, imposing monetary fines for employers
who are not in compliance with the ADA Title I will encourage participation to the non
compliant employers.
Overall, by creating a culture that allows for individuals with disabilities to become a part
of the mainstream, obtain a post secondary education and obtain a fulfilling career the perception

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of individuals with disabilities will shift. Thus shift, will impact the number of abortions for
unborn fetus that have been diagnosed as having a developmental disability.