Tag: ADA

COVID-19 is a disaster for people with disabilities. Without 30-year-old law, it would be worse

The isolation can be terrifying and tragic. The stress can exacerbate mental illness and other health problems. Add the loss of mobility and independence, the disruption of routines: the beloved caregiver who doesn’t come, the day program that doesn’t open, the concern that lack of support will give families no choice but to institutionalize.

In the hospital, people who can’t speak are left with no one to communicate for them, vulnerable to the fear medical care will be rationed, given to someone deemed more worthy or valuable than themselves.

Though everyone has been suffering during the COVID-19 pandemic, people with disabilities have perhaps been the most disadvantaged, their lives the most disrupted. Continue reading.

Demise of Walmart ‘greeters’ reveals shortcomings in the Americans with Disabilities Act

Walmart’s decision to eliminate the “greeter” position in all its stores is a case study of why the Americans with Disabilities Act is falling short of its original vision.

Back in 2015, the retailer began experimenting with a new position it called “hosts” to replace the employee who traditionally greeted customers entering a store. The new position, however, required the ability to lift 25 pounds, clean up spills and stand for long periods of time – duties that would be difficult or impossible for many greeters with a disability.

After a public backlash, Walmart said it would give greeters with disabilities extra support and time to find a new job in the company.

View the complete May 13 article by Stacy Hickox, Assistant Professor, Michigan State University, on the Conversation website here.

 

The Quiet Attack on the ADA Making Its Way Through Congress

The following article by Eliza Schultz, Rebecca Cokley and Rebecca Vallas was posted on the Center for American Progress website September 22, 2017:

Protesters supporting people with disabilities gather outside the White House in Washington, May 15, 2017. Credit: AP/Susan Walsh

In the current political climate, the assault on Americans with disabilities is no longer limited to attempts to strip them of health care, take away the services millions need to live independently and to work, or make deep cuts to programs that help many make ends meet. Now a bill making its way through Congress threatens to roll back the civil rights of people with disabilities by exactly 27 years. The bill, misleadingly titled the ADA Education and Reform Act of 2017, would hack away at the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, the landmark civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability and mandates that people with disabilities have “equal opportunity” to participate in American life. Continue reading “The Quiet Attack on the ADA Making Its Way Through Congress”