In eleven pages the Americans with Disabilities Act, first passed in 1990 is examined in a consideration of its history, successes, failures, and workplace implications. Ten sources are cited in the bibliography.
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Introduction First enacted on July 26, 1990, the Americans With Disabilities Act
(ADA) was intended to prevent the discrimination by private and government employers alike against a qualified individual either in terms of application procedures, hiring, firing, advancement, or any other aspect
of the employment arrangement (Lesko, 1994). In effect, the ADA is a civil rights bill for the disabled (Neary, 2000). One of the ADAs legislative sponsors, Senator Tom
Harkin from Iowa, clarifies that the Act is intended to protect the rights not just of our stereotypical image of the disabled, someone confined to a wheelchair, but also the
blind, the deaf, the cognitively impaired and a diversity of other types of disabilities (Neary, 2000). The ADA has resulted in
a tremendous improvement in regard to the lives of the disabled. There are, however, certain facts which we must acknowledge. In a 2000 Internet Poll on a web
site for the disabled, for example, one in four respondents reported that they had been the target of discrimination (Lore, 2000). Unfortunately, the greatest hurdle we have to
face in regard to overcoming barriers in the workplace is the hurdle of peoples attitudes towards the disabled. Too often the
disabled are stereotyped and this stereotyping can have negative impacts even under the best of intentions. Consider a situation involving blind individuals, for example. Too many among the
general public assume that the provision of Braille signs is adequate in itself in meeting the needs of the blind. In reality, many visually impaired individuals cannot read Braille.