The Cutting Edge

Joyce Bender

In 1990, on a beautiful morning at the White House, the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law in front of thousands of people with disabilities, and their advocates and friends. We all remember the words of President George H. W. Bush as he signed the bill that would provide Americans with disabilities the same rights as the non-disabled, “Let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down.”

Sadly, since that day, those words have not come true in all areas, and one of those areas is employment. Seventeen years later, we still have an unemployment rate of over 50% for Americans with significant disabilities. This is a national tragedy.

The ADA has been weakened over the past several years by Supreme Court rulings that do not make sense.

For example, Sutton v. United Airlines, Inc. in 1999 found that severely myopic twins who had unsuccessfully attempted to be hired as pilots by United Airlines, were not actually disabled because glasses could correct that problem. This is a real “catch 22” situation. You are not hired because of a disability, but are not protected by the ADA because it is not really a disability.

In Toyota Motor Mfg. v. Williams in 2002, the Supreme Court said that an assembly line worker with carpal tunnel syndrome, who was fired for poor attendance, could not claim it had anything to do with disability, stating it was not clear that her disability caused impairment of “major life activity” to be created. Once again, although you had a disability that prevented you from completing a normal work week, you would not be protected under the ADA if the disability was not deemed substantial enough.

As a woman with epilepsy and a hearing-loss, I have perfect attendance. But, the court would say that my disabilities would not be covered by the ADA because Dilantin and hearing-aids correct my problem. We all know in the disability community that attitudinal barriers exist towards disabilities like epilepsy, whether or not you are at that moment having a seizure.

The ultimate irony in all of this is that the Tony Coelho, former Democratic Whip in Congress, is the author of the Americans with Disabilities Act and is a person living with epilepsy. I do not think Tony wanted to exclude himself when he authored the ADA. That is ludicrous.

Tony Coelho never stops. He has been working for years and years to help move forward the ADA Restoration Act---legislation that would address this weakness in the ADA. At last year's National Epilepsy board meeting, Tony promised the board that he would work on getting this accomplished.

On July 26, 2007, Congressional leaders Steny Hoyer, Majority Leader (D-MD), Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), and Arlen Spector (R-PA) introduced the ADA Restoration Act. It was a great day, but we still have a long way to go. We need you to tell your representatives in the House of Representatives and Senate to sign on, if they have not already done so. You should send them a thank you note if they are already a sponsor. We all want to see this bill passed and signed by the President as we did with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

At the ceremony on July 26th, Congressman Steny Hoyer said, “Courts have ruled that medication or other corrective measures have made ADA claimants too functional to be considered disabled under the law. Let me be clear: This is not what Congress intended when it passed the ADA. We intended a broad application of the law. Simply put, the point of the ADA is not disability; it is the prevention of wrongful and unlawful discrimination.” Hoyer concluded, “Passage of this legislation is critical to helping us achieve the ADA's promise – and creating a society in which Americans with disabilities can realize their potential.”

Remember, the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed was because of the bi-partisan effort at that time. One reason we gained that momentum was the late Justin Dart Jr., the Godfather of the ADA, who worked hard to bring everyone together. Justin believed in unity and empowerment for all.

Although Justin died, we still have his spirit and leadership to direct us today. We need to remember that disability is not a partisan issue and this bill will not get passed without bi-partisan support. Congressmen Hoyer and Sensenbrenner have worked hard together to bring this bill forward.

The disabled is a group of people who have been left out of the American Dream of employment and freedom. Often, they are left out of affordable housing and transportation. Too, too many are still living in institutions and nursing homes. They need to unite and work together to see the ADA Restoration Act passed.

Joyce Bender is President and CEO of Bender Consulting Services, and is a regular contributor to The Cutting Edge News. Read more about the ADA Restoration Act at: www.epilepsyfoundation.org and www.aapd.com.