The New York Times reports on a nonprofit group’s contention that a branch of the Union Community Health Center has failed to make numerous accommodations required by disability laws. Learn more.
Poll Reveals Growing Acceptance of Intellectual Disability
A Harris poll suggests the more than half of Americans who have personal contact with someone with intellectual disabilities are increasingly accepting and positive, although many people remain uninformed about intellectual disabilities. Learn more.
ADA, 25 Years Later: We’re Still Not Equal
A study conducted by the Morrison Institute for Public Policy at Arizona State University tested attitudes toward people with disabilities. Among the findings: Disability service professionals, business owners and even parents of children with disabilities have low employment expectations for those with disabilities. Learn more.
The Way Forward
The Washington Post, in a moving video and text, tells the story of a U.S. District Judge who made it her mission to help people devastated by sudden, serious spinal cord injuries. Learn more.
How the ADA has Enlarged Freedom for 25 Years
Katherine Schneider, a retired clinical psychologist at the University of Wisconsin — Eau Claire, author, blogger (kathiecomments.wordpress.com) and advocate on disability issues, reflects on how the Americans with Disabilities Act changed her life and that of other blind people. Learn more.
Deadline Extended: Katherine Schneider Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Disability
We’re seeking the best reporting on disability issues across media platforms. Entries for the annual Katherine Schneider Journalism Award for Excellence in Reporting on Disability will be accepted through 11:59 p.m. Aug. 7.
The Schneider Award is the first national journalism contest devoted exclusively to disability coverage. It is administered by the National Center on Disability and Journalism, headquartered at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University, under a grant from Katherine Schneider, a retired clinical psychologist who also supports the Schneider Family Book Award. That award is administered by the American Library Association and honors the best children’s book each year that captures the disability experience for children and adolescents. Learn more.
U.S. Census Bureau Facts for Features: 25th Anniversary of Americans with Disabilities Act
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, people with disabilities represent 19 percent of the U.S. population. The bureau shares 25 interesting statistics about the Americans with Disabilities Act as part of its 25th anniversary. Read More.
Woman Denied Tour Bus Access Because of Wheelchair July 20
A Washington Post columnist writes about a professor who traveled to Washington, D.C., to celebrate the anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act who was told tour buses don’t accommodate people with wheelchairs. Learn more.
Covering the Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities
The Americans with Disabilities Act celebrates its 25th anniversary on July 26.
The act is widely viewed as the most significant piece of legislation advancing the rights of the hundreds of thousands of Americans with disabilities. The landmark civil rights law seeks to end discrimination on the basis of disability and requires equal access to opportunities for the disabled. In many ways, it has changed life in America.
News organizations are covering the anniversary in a variety of ways. Here are some of the stories that have been produced so far:
- Harvard historian Akira Iriye named the signing of the ADA as one of the turning points of the 20th century in Time’s list of 25 moments that changed America.
- New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio named July Disability Pride Month, The New York Daily News reports.
- The Disability Visibility Project partnered with StoryCorps to collect stories from people with disabilities.
- End the Awkward campaign seeks to educate people about how to interact with those who have disabilities, the DCist reports.
- NPR looks at a public relations campaign for the ADA and covers a new front on the accessibility fight, the Internet.
- The Pittsburgh-Post Gazette, KPAX in Missoula and Western Montana, WBAY in Green Bay, Mich., and the Texas Tribune report on how the country has changed since the ADA was signed into law.
- The Associated Press reports on a survey from Kessler Foundation that looks at how Americans with disabilities are fairing in the labor market, 25 years after the population gained workplace protections under the ADA.
- PR Newswire aggregates U.S. Census data concerning people living with disabilities in the United States.
- Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., writes that he has experienced, firsthand, the changes the law has made, but says that “there is still more work to do to fulfill the mission that the ADA set out to accomplish.” Langevin is the first person with quadriplegia to serve as a representative in the U.S. Capitol, where increasing accessibility for wheelchair users is an ongoing process.
For more news and events, search Twitter using #ADA25.
Also, the ADA National Network has a tip sheet of resources (http://www.adaanniversary.org/), including a list of events across the country (https://adata.org/ada-anniversary/events).
Short Film “The Mighty” Delivers Message on Disability
Three Dreams from Wire Walker Studios on Vimeo.
A 3-minute film about a hang glider, magician and painter, carries a powerful message about disability. The film was produced in conjunction with The Mighty, an online publication focusing on dispelling the stigma around disability, and Wire Walker Studios, a Los Angeles-based production company making media for social change.