The Americans With Disabilities Act

2763 Words6 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay on The Americans with Disabilities Act

"The Americans With Disabilities Act is one of the most significant laws in American History. The preamble to the law states that it covers 43,000,000 Americans."(Frierson, p.3) Before the Americans With Disabilities Act(A.D.A.) was passed, employers were able to deny employment to a disabled worker, simply because he or she was disabled. With no other reason other than the persons physical disability were they turned away or released from a job. The Americans With Disabilities Act prevented this type of discrimination by establishing rules and regulations designed to protect persons with physical disabilities. With a workforce made up of 43,000,000 people, it is impossible to ignore the impact of these people. The Americans With Disabilities Act not only opened the door for millions of Americans to get back into the workplace, it is paving the road for new facilities in the workplace, new training programs and creating jobs designed for a disabled society. I believe the Americans With Disabilities Act is the most important precedent set in the struggle against all discrimination for persons with disability. In this paper I will give a brief description of the statutes set by the Americans With Disabilities Act, pertaining to disabilities in the workplace. I will then discuss what employers are required to do according to the A.D.A. and some of the regulations they must abide by. The next section of this paper will discuss the actual training of employees with disabilities with a highlight on training programs for workers with mobility and motion disabilities. The following section of this paper will discuss the economic effects of a vocational rehabilitation program. Finally this paper will conclude with a brief discussion of what the measures set by the Americans With Disabilities Act means to the actual workers and people it benefits. The Americans With Disabilities Act The Americans With Disabilities Act has a section devoted to nothing but practices by employers regarding the treatment of applicants and on staff workers based on their physical condition or any health problems they may have. Some of the disabilities included are vision, hearing, motion, or mental impairments. "Title I of the Americans With Disabilities Act prohibits employers from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities in job application procedures, hi... ... middle of paper ... ...ersons with disabilities to function as a productive member of society. Or what is thought to be a productive member, in that this person can be completely independent both in the home and in the workplace. Technology, persistence, and understanding makes it all happen. Now go back and look at the person who had a disability take control of his or her life. That person is no longer, hiding in the shadows, he is out, proudly contributing and living his life to the best of his ability. Also this person can support himself with a regular paycheck, not a government aid or the help of family and friends. This aspect in particular is of extreme importance to many disabled Americans. The ability to survive on their own, not having to be dependent on someone or some group to provide food, clothing or shelter, isn't that what we all want anyway? That is why the Americans With Disabilities Act is the most important precedent set in the struggle to end all discrimination against disabled people. Although there will always be some discrimination and prejudice against all groups in society, at least now one of those groups has the opportunity to prove themselves in an unforgiving society.

Show More
Related

  • Pam Huber v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc

    914 Words  | 2 Pages

    Moran, John Jude. "Disability Discrimination." Employment Law: New Challenges in the Business Environment. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 2014. 413-14. Print.

    Read More

  • Andre Dubus 'Why The Able-Bodied Still Don' T Get It

    916 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Disability Discrimination Act of 1995 set out to end the discrimination people with disabilities encounter. The Act gave disabled people the right to employment, access to goods, facilities, and services and the right to buy and rent land and property. These rights came into force in December 1996, making treating a disabled person less favorably than an able-bodied person unlawful. Further rights came into force in October 1999, including the idea that service providers should consider making reasonable adjustments to the way they deliver their services so that people with a disability can use them. (The DDA...) However, despite these

    Read More

  • Workforce Innovation Opportunity Act Case Study

    715 Words  | 2 Pages

    The movement continues to make great strides towards the empowerment and self determination ("Disability rights movement," 2005, p. 3). On the other hand, it has not completely broken down barriers that continue to create the dynamics of oppression among such individuals. For instance, WIOA can be harmful to individuals with disabilities because there are still societal prejudices and biases associated with the stereotypical portrayal of people with disabilities and WIOA has played a role in it. For example, WIOA networks with employers to hire individual’s with disabilities and place them in conventional settings, where they work with others who have disabilities, for example, Walgreen’s and in fact, these participating organizations have also increased their pay. In my opinion, individual’s with disabilities should be able to work with individuals who are not disabled, as well. Furthermore, pay for those individuals who are still considered to be in “sheltered” work programs have not received an increase in pay. Additionally, according to my studies, in 2012, less than 30 percent of Florida’s civilians with disabilities between age 18-64 living in the community were employed. There is a greater priority focused on young people who are disabled. This is an additional issue in my opinion which can be considered discrimination, because, the focus leaves out middle aged individuals as well as,

    Read More

  • Section 504 and The Americans with Disabilities Act

    950 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is probably the most comprehensible formulation of disabled individuals’ rights. The ADA officially became a law July 26, 1990 signed by President Bush. To understand the impact of the ADA, one must understand that almost every individual or family is touched by an experience of disability at one time or another. The necessities for state and local government, transportation, employment, and telecommunications can latently benefit everyone. An important point to understand is unlike people who have experienced discrimination based...

    Read More

  • Popular Groups In Society By Mary Shelley Rejected By Society

    1300 Words  | 3 Pages

    After being chased out of the cottagers’ house, he is overcome with fury at humanity and his creator. The creature exclaims his desires: “All, save I, were at rest or in enjoyment: I, like the archfiend, bore a hell within me, and finding myself unsympathised with, wished to tear up the trees, spread havoc and destruction around me, and then to have sat down and enjoyed the ruin” (Shelley 138). This demonstrates the creature’s monstrosity because he desires to destroy the joyful lives of others so they must experience the same pain and emptiness humanity has made him feel. The creature first seeks revenge against the De Lacey family by burning their cottage down after the family attacked the creature and fled in fear of him. After this act, the creature turns his vengeance on his creator. The creature displays his hatred toward Frankenstein for leaving him immediately and not providing guidance and protection in this harsh, new world by murdering his family and friends. While seeking his creator, the creature first murders Victor Frankenstein’s youngest brother William and exclaims, “I too can create desolation; my enemy is not invulnerable; this death will carry despair to him, and a thousand other miseries shall torment and destroy him” (Shelley 144). The creature wishes for Victor Frankenstein to suffer taking his own companions away, forcing him to be miserable as well by destroying his personal relationships with others by murdering loved

    Read More

  • The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

    1464 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is one of the most significant laws in American History. Before the ADA was passed, employers were able to deny employment to a disabled worker, simply because he or she was disabled. With no other reason other than the person's physical disability, they were turned away or released from a job. The ADA gives civil rights protections to individuals with disabilities similar to those provided to individuals on the basis of race, color, sex, national origin, age, and religion. The act guarantees equal opportunity for individuals with disabilities in public accommodations, employment, transportation, State and local government services, and telecommunications. The ADA not only opened the door for millions of Americans to get back into the workplace, it paved the road for new facilities in the workplace, new training programs, and created jobs designed for a disabled society (Frierson, 1990). This paper will discuss disabilities covered by the ADA, reasonable accommodations employers must take to accommodate individuals with disabilities, and the actions employers can take when considering applicants who have disabilities.

    Read More

  • Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)

    751 Words  | 2 Pages

    The ADA prohibits employer discrimination against qualified individuals with a disability in regard to application procedures, hiring and firing, promotions, pay, training, and other terms, conditions, and privileges of employment (Hernandez, 2001). This applies to the entire range of employer-employee relationships, including testing, work assignments, discipline, leave, benefits, and lay-offs. In addition, the ADA prohibits retaliation against individuals w...

    Read More

  • What is Reasonable Accommodation Under ADA

    1293 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Americans with Disability Act of 1990 (ADA) was put into force to protect employees from discrimination with disabilities in the area of employment. A person with a disability can be defined under the ADA as someone who has a physical or mental impairment which considerably limits one or more of major life activities. “It has been estimated that nearly one in five Americans has one or more physical or mental disabilities”(law book pg115). The ADA federal law requires that employers with 15 or more employees not to discriminate against applicants and current employees with disabilities and, when needed, provide reasonable accommodations to these individuals who are more than qualified to work. These individuals are protected in regard to the application process, hiring, advancement, firing, compensation/benefits, training or other privileges of employment. If an individual is requesting accommodation due to a disability and can be reasonably accommodated without creating an undue hardship or causing a direct threat to workspace safety must be given the same consideration for employment as any other applicant. An employer is not obligated to hire anyone that is not qualifies to what is considered the essential functions of the job according to the ADA. An accommodation under the ADA must allow the employee enjoy equal benefits, given an equal opportunity for the person with the disability to be considered for the job and to perform the essential functions.

    Read More

  • The Rehabilitation Act of 1973

    1092 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in programs conducted by Federal agencies, in programs receiving Federal financial assistance, in Federal employment, and in the employment practices of Federal contractors (US Department of Justice, 2011...

    Read More

  • Mask Film Analysis

    700 Words  | 2 Pages

    The people with disabilities are portrayed as hardworking. They have people surrounding them that are accepting and encourage them to do their best. The support helps them build up courage to overcome their disability. It can take years, but the effort will not be

    Read More

  • Socrates and His Escape

    1786 Words  | 4 Pages

    Each one of us has been accused of some kind of act at some point in our lives. Yet those accusations have been terribly mistaken and sometimes there is so little that a person can do to fix that. In this case we are talking about the wonderful philosophist Socrates, a person of many beliefs and ideas. He was a man who dearly believed in justice and doing justice to others. We will examine Socrates' way of thinking and his rationality towards a healthy and logical mind. After reading the Meno, Apology, and Crito I have come to a conclusion that Socrates made the right decision by rejecting Crito's offer of escape and the reasoning behind that will be explained by providing parts of the dialogues and the ideas behind them.

    Read More

  • Disability Discrimination

    1090 Words  | 3 Pages

    No two people are exactly the same; no one is raised the same as another person, no two people have the same mental acuity, and no two people have the same genetic or physical appearance. However, some people do not even have the privilege to get out of bed everyday and walk, because they instead have to climb into a wheelchair. This is just one example of a disability, but there are so many more in the world, and some people do not give disabled members of society the same opportunities they would afford to just about anyone else. Judging by the amount of awareness this social inequality is given today, there is just not enough of an audience to listen and do something about this issue. When analyzing all of the given evidence, one can easily

    Read More

  • The Legacy of Nelson Mandela

    1222 Words  | 3 Pages

    “To deny people their right to human rights is to challenge their very humanity. To impose on them a wretched life of hunger and deprivation is to dehumanize them. But such has been the terrible fate of all black persons in our country under the system of apartheid (“In Nelson Mandela’s own words”). Nelson Mandela was a moral compass symbolizing the struggle against racial oppression. Nelson Mandela emerged from prison after twenty-seven years to lead his country to justice. For twenty-seven years he sat in a cell because he believed in a country without apartheid, a country with freedom and human rights. He fought for a country where all people were equal, treated with respect and given equal opportunity. Nelson Mandela looms large in the actions of activists and politicians. He inspired music and movies, and swayed the mind of powerful leaders. Making him an influential person who affected American culture.

    Read More

  • Discrimination Against People With Disabilities

    1586 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...eglected social issues in recent history (Barlow). People with disabilities often face societal barriers and disability evokes negative perceptions and discrimination in society. As a result of the stigma associated with disability, persons with disabilities are generally excluded from education, employment, and community life which deprives them of opportunities essential to their social development, health and well-being (Stefan). It is such barriers and discrimination that actually set people apart from society, in many cases making them a burden to the community. The ideas and concepts of equality and full participation for persons with disabilities have been developed very far on paper, but not in reality (Wallace). The government can make numerous laws against discrimination, but this does not change the way that people with disabilities are judged in society.

    Read More

  • Disability Rights Essay

    1258 Words  | 3 Pages

    This act established old age benefits and funding for assistance to blind individuals and disabled children and the extension of existing vocational rehabilitation programmes. In present day society, since the passage of the ADA (American with Disabilities Act of 1990) endless efforts of the disability rights movement have continued on the focus of the rigorous enforcement of the ADA, as well as accessibility for people with disabilities in employment, technology, education, housing, transportation, healthcare, and independent living for the people who are born with a disability and for the people who develop it at some point in their lives. Although rights of the disabled have significantly gotten better globally throughout the years, many of the people who have disabilities and are living in extremely undeveloped countries or supreme poverty do not have access nor rights to any benefits. For example, people who are in wheelchairs as a transportation device have extremely limited access to common places such as grocery stores, schools, employment offices,

    Read More

More about The Americans With Disabilities Act

Open Document