Brazos Valley Center for Independent Living

Connecting people to the power of independence

disability rights

FREE Web Seminar on Accessibility of Long Term Services and Other Community Supports

Heads up, everybody! We apologize for the very short notice, but this event looks to be very informative.

At 3:00 – 4:30 Eastern time TOMORROW, Thursday, August 29, 2013, The Aging and Disability Partnership for Managed Long Term Services and Supports is offering a FREE webcast on health care providers being both “physically and programmatically accessible” to people who have disabilities. The webinar presenters will discuss applicable laws under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Rehabilitation act of 1973, and the new Affordable Care Act.

This webcast is open and FREE to everyone, but preregistration is required. Please visit http://app.certain.com/profile/form/index.cfm?PKformID=0x15836515ebf to do so. After preregistering, participants will receive an email with details on how to log on.

ADA Awareness Day: 23 Ways the Americans with Disabilities Act Empowers People Who Have Disabilities

Friday, July 26, 2013 is the 23rd anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. As such, July 26 now marks ADA Awareness Day each year.

What is the ADA?

The Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA, is a federal law that extends to individuals who have disabilities the right to equal access and opportunity in the areas of employment, transportation, public services, and telecommunications. Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa initially sponsored the ADA in Congress, and President George H. W. Bush signed it into law on July 26, 1990. Implementation began in 1992, and in 2009 Congress passed some important updates and clarifications to the original law.

The Signing of the ADA
President George H. W. Bush signs the ADA into law.

Everyday ADA

So what does the ADA mean to people who have disabilities in their everyday lives? Ah, let us count the ways—23 of them to honor this year’s anniversary!

  1. Qualified people who have disabilities now get the same consideration as everyone else when applying for jobs.
  2. Workers who have disabilities can ask for reasonable accommodations to help them meet their essential job functions.
  3. Workers who have disabilities enjoy more privacy now because their employers can’t ask them personal or non-job-related questions about their disabilities.
  4. People who have disabilities can choose to have someone advocate for them when asserting their rights under the ADA.
  5. Employers who have technical questions about ADA compliance and how to best help their employees who have disabilities can get guidance and answers from www.ada.gov.
  6. New public buildings now have accessible features such as ramps and elevators, and many older ones have been made accessible.

    Photo of concrete ramp
    Exterior Concrete Wheelchair Ramp
  7. Sidewalks now have “curb cuts” so that people who use wheelchairs can access them and cross streets more safely.

    Photo of a curb cut
    Curb Cut
  8. Public restrooms now have at least one stall fitted with grab bars that can accommodate a wheelchair.

    Photo of an accessible public restroom
    Accessible Public Restroom
  9. People who have low vision or no vision can request printed material from businesses and public entities in alternative formats such as large print and Braille.
  10. People who have disabilities no longer have to fear and deal with being turned away from public places.
  11. Nowadays, entities that provide transportation to the public also provide accessible service to people who have disabilities.

    Photo of paratransit bus
    An Accessible Paratransit Bus
  12. People who have hearing impairments can now communicate more easily thanks to enhanced devices and networks that handle text.

    Photo of a TTY machine
    A Teletypewriter Machine (TTY)
  13. Students who have disabilities can also now get reasonable accommodations to help with campus access, optimal classroom seating, and test taking.
  14. Persons with disabilities who use service dogs can now take their dogs that are specially trained to assist them any place the public is allowed.service dogs
  15. People who have developmental disabilities can navigate the public environment more easily and safely thanks to signs that have pictures as well as words, such as those found outside public restrooms.

    Photo f accessible restroom sign, including Braille
    Accessible Restroom Sign
  16. People who have low vision, or no vision at all, can now navigate their environments more independently because of Braille markings on doors and elevators.
  17. Even web sites are becoming easier to use thanks to provisions in the ADA.
  18. People with disabilities who have experienced discrimination in violation of the ADA can now go to court to have the discrimination or lack of access corrected.
  19. In public places, store shelves, water fountains, towel dispensers, displays, and even buffets are now better labeled, designed and positioned to allow people who have disabilities to access them.

    Drawing of accessible store aisle and display
    Accessible Store Aisle and Display
  20. Store aisles are now much wider to allow two wheelchair users to pass each other comfortably.
  21. People with disabilities who use adaptive devices can now take their technology that is specifically designed to assist with their disabilities anywhere the public is allowed, such as taking a white cane through airport security.
  22. The ADA has given rise to a concept called “universal design,” which entails designing buildings, environments, and even objects so that everyone can use them, regardless of their functional or access needs.
  23. The ADA has raised much awareness about disabilities and how people who have them live, work, travel, transact, and communicate.definition of advocacy

Of course the ADA has far more than 23 benefits. With that in mind, we look ahead to the upcoming Silver Anniversary in 2015—the ADA Legacy Project! For more information and to participate, please visit: http://www.facebook.com/ADALegacy.

Americans with Disabilities Act Anniversary

Press Release

July 2, 2013

For Immediate Release

July 26 marks the 23rd anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, or ADA. The ADA extends to individuals who have disabilities the right to equal access and opportunity in the areas of employment, transportation, public services, and telecommunications. Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa initially sponsored the ADA in Congress, and President George H. W. Bush signed it into law on July 26, 1990. Implementation began in 1992, and in 2009 Congress passed some important updates and clarifications to the original law.

Job applicants with disabilities can now expect the same consideration as applicants without disabilities as long as they are “otherwise qualified,” meaning they meet education and experience requirements and can perform all of the essential functions of a job with or without “reasonable accommodations.” Those are modifications made to a job or job site that remove access barriers, such as building a wheelchair ramp at a job site.

When it comes to getting to work, or just around town, people who have disabilities can, under ADA, expect equal access to public transportation. Buses and trains have been redesigned to allow for mobility device access, and drivers and automated systems now announce stops and offer other similar features to make navigation accessible.

If the destination is a public place, individuals with disabilities can now expect to be able to access independently buildings and the products and services they contain. Extra wide doorways, ramps, Braille markings on doors and elevators, and restrooms with assistive structure are all tangible benefits of the ADA.

For those who have communication access needs such as hearing or speech impairments, the ADA significantly expands the scope of telecommunications technology to include the ready availability of teletypewriters (TTYs), telecommunications devices for the deaf (TDDs) and other relay networks to facilitate communication.

The overall purpose of the ADA is to level the proverbial playing field so that people who have disabilities can gain access to basic aspects of life that people without disabilities gain easily: employment, transportation, commerce, and communication. For more information about the ADA, please visit www.ada.gov or contact the Brazos Valley Center for Independent Living, www.bvcil.org.