When Professional Is Personal – Celebrating 22 Years of the ADA
Categories: Civil Rights
When the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was enacted, I was only six years old. At that time, I don’t think I knew what it, or a disability, was. Yet, even before I was aware of its existence, the ADA and related laws made it possible for me to attend public schools and enjoy movies, restaurants, museums, parks, vacations and all of the other activities that an integrated life with friends and family offers.
But perhaps more importantly, the existence of the ADA has allowed me to grow up never doubting that I was a full and equal citizen, someone with worth and dignity, who had talents and skills to share with the rest of the world. It never crossed my mind that I was somehow inferior or had less to contribute than anyone else. As one school administrator told my parents when they inquired about enrolling me in a “special” school for children with disabilities, “There is nothing wrong with your daughter. She just can’t walk.”
The path that my life has taken since then has proven him right. With the love, patience and support of my friends and family, I have thrived and made the most of the opportunities that would not have been available but for the ADA. I excelled in school, lived in a dormitory at college, moved into my own apartment in Washington, D.C., graduated from law school and now, against all odds, I have become an attorney who represents the United States as it enforces the ADA. The overlap between my own experiences and my work in the Disability Rights Section of the Civil Rights Division at the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is striking.
When I was still in elementary school, my dad brought home a computer. Using that first computer, with its grainy screen and unbearably slow, screechy modem, I learned how to type so that I could more quickly and easily share my thoughts with the rest of the world. I met other people with disabilities and eagerly awaited their bulletin board postings that offered a glimpse of what life as an adult with a disability could be like. I also discovered a passion for technology that continues to this day. My experience with that first computer, as well as every device I have owned since then, reflects the importance of the department’s work to apply the ADA to new technologies and the Internet. My department recognizes that technology has the power to create opportunities for people with disabilities, and works to ensure that emerging technologies and websites are accessible to all.
Aside from a few brief flirtations with the dream of owning my own beauty salon and sailing around the world, I have always wanted to be a lawyer. But the path to my chosen career was not smooth. I struggled to obtain accommodations for my law school entrance exam and for the bar exam. My otherwise stellar application arrived at law schools with a “flag” informing every school that I had received accommodations and my (hard earned) score should be interpreted with caution. The Civil Rights Division has worked to ensure that students like me receive needed accommodations, and that high stakes tests are offered in a way that best ensures that they measure knowledge and skill – not disability. We are also challenging testing providers’ practice of “flagging” the scores of students who get accommodations, thus undermining their perceived validity.
I am particularly proud to be part of the department’s aggressive efforts to enforce Olmstead, the Supreme Court decision that held that unnecessary segregation of people with disabilities is discrimination. My department has participated in more than 40 Olmstead cases in 25 states, and has entered into agreements to ensure that individuals with disabilities in Georgia, Delaware and Virginia are not unnecessarily institutionalized.
These cases are deeply personal to me. Every time I hear the stories of people who are affected by the discriminatory policies at issue in our Olmstead cases – sometimes people who share my diagnosis – I am reminded that, but for a few twists of fate, their life could be mine. I know how fortunate I am to have grown up surrounded by my family and friends, not in a segregated facility with other people with disabilities.
Instead of moving into an institution when I finished school, I rented a wheelchair-accessible apartment in the heart of Washington, D.C. I know that my ability to enjoy city living like any other young professional is thanks in no small part to the ADA and the Fair Housing Act. Every day that I turn the key in the lock of my very own apartment, decide what to make for dinner and decide when (or when not) to get out of bed, I am thankful that Olmstead will protect the quality of life that I enjoy, and will help others to experience the same small pleasures.
I feel privileged to play a small role in my department’s ADA enforcement work and profoundly grateful for the ADA, which has enriched not only my life, but the lives of millions of other Americans with disabilities.
Source: http://usodep.blogs.govdelivery.com/2012/08/06/when-professional-is-personal-celebrating-22-years-of-the-ada/
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