On Tuesday, July 27, the Law Bulletin published a news story covering the Lighthouse’s panel discussion of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), held on the 20th Anniversary of the act being signed into law.  The following article appears courtesy of the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin:

Panel discusses passage of ADA, its importance

By Maria Kantzavelos
Law Bulletin staff writer

Braille signs. Sidewalks with curb cuts. Ramps. New communications and information technologies accessible to people with disabilities.

These are just a few of the visible signs of the reach of the Americans with Disabilities Act, U.S. Sen. Richard J. Durbin, D-Ill, said Monday, on the ADA's 20th birthday.

Before the legislation that prohibits discrimination based on disability was signed into law two decades ago, if a disabled person "needed a haircut, if you needed to see a doctor, if you wanted to meet a friend for a cup of coffee, you probably had to rely on family and friends," Durbin said. "Very few transit systems in the country had buses and trains accessible to people with wheelchairs. Today, thanks to the ADA, that's changing for the better.

"By removing physical barriers, ADA is helping to reduce some of the isolation and the prejudice that people with disabilities have faced," Durbin said.

But the senator said there is more to be done to ensure full access to opportunity for all Americans with disabilities, including integrating people with disabilities more fully into America's workplaces and expanding home- and community-based care options.

He said the employment rates of men and women with disabilities have declined since the ADA was signed into law, and cited statistics suggesting that the jobless rate of people with disabilities before the recession was as high as 60 percent to 70 percent.

"The physical barriers are disappearing, but there are other barriers that continue to prevent far too many Americans with disabilities from being full participants," Durbin said.

Durbin spoke Monday before more than 100 representatives of agencies serving people with disabilities, as well the individuals they serve, during a program presented by The Chicago Lighthouse for People Who Are Blind Or Visually Impaired.

The program, which featured a panel discussion moderated by retired Cook County associate judge and former prosecutor Nicholas T. Pomaro, was held in honor of the 20th anniversary of the signing into law of the ADA.

"When I was a young man going to school, it was much tougher than it is now," said Pomaro, who has been blind since age six.

Pomaro directs The Chicago Lighthouse's Kane Legal Clinic, which provides free legal services to blind or visually impaired people on low-incomes who seek representation in matters such as those related to job discrimination, social security, tax issues, and other civil matters, as well as assistance in criminal defense.

"It's not easy today, but it's better, and 10 years from now it's going to be better than what it is now. And 10 years from then it'll be better again," Pomaro said. "It's a gradual process, and we're getting there. Thank God we live in this country, with the laws that help us get on equal footing with everyone else."

It was President George H.W. Bush who signed the ADA into law on July 26, 1990. The final vote on the legislation in the Senate was 91 to 6. In the House it was 377 to 27, said Durbin, who then was serving as a U.S. congressman.

"It just shows you the strong bipartisan support that this nation can bring together for the right cause," Durbin said.

Under the ADA, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, transportation, public accommodation, communications, and governmental activities, a disability is defined as a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity. The law was expanded in 2008 to include chronic health conditions such as diabetes, epilepsy and cancer.

The ADA, Durbin said, has been described as "the emancipation proclamation for people with disabilities."

The program on Monday included Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne M. Burke, who shared some of her own reflections of how the Special Olympics got started in Chicago many decades ago.

While employed by the Chicago Park District as a physical education instructor of disabled children in 1965, Burke was a founder of the Chicago Special Olympics.

"I had never seen a person with disabilities at that time," Burke said. "Back then we didn't talk about it; we didn't see them; the parents were embarrassed, and the kids were not participating in the community at all. So we had our work cut out for us.

"But children and young adults, they learned everything I knew how to do: twirl the baton, tap dance, do track and field, basketball, swim," Burke said. "They were athletes and stars from the beginning, just craving to learn. The only difference was the way they learned. And I had to learn how to teach."

And the seed was planted for the Special Olympics.

"I decided that we should do a citywide track meet in Chicago because we wanted to know how many more children were like that living in Chicago," Burke said.

During the planning of the track meet, Burke said, it was suggested that she contact Eunice Kennedy Shriver, who gave $25,000 to the Park District to put on the first game.

"One thousand children in 26 states and Canada participated," Burke said. "And just last week, July 20, was the 42nd anniversary of our special games."

The presentation celebrating the birthday of the ADA at The Chicago Lighthouse also featured remarks from several disability rights advocates, as well as Emily Norris, a third-year law student at University of Illinois College of Law who is working this summer in the Kane Legal Clinic.

The disability advocates on the panel included Rene D. Luna of Access Living, an advocacy and service organization run by and for people with disabilities; Lighthouse board member Paul Scher, whose work on state and national committees helped form legislation, including the ADA; Ray Campbell, the adaptive technology help desk technician at The Chicago Lighthouse who has long been an advocate for equal access to public and private transportation; and Mary Abramson, supervisor of The Chicago Lighthouse's office skills program.

The panelists praised the achievements that have come in the struggle for equal rights for people with disabilities and the passage of the ADA, including improvements in the area of transportation.

"When a bus pulls up, it's sure nice to hear that voice saying route such-and-such going wherever," said Campbell, who has been blind since birth. "That just makes the process of using public transportation that much more of an independent thing for us."

The panelists encouraged those gathered for the program to continue to fight for equality, including in the area of employment.

And, Campbell pointed out, entities that sell goods and services on the Web do not have to comply with the ADA.

"That needs to change. All of us are conducting more and more of our business online," Campbell said.
Abramson, who was born legally blind, said the ADA is a great tool for securing the legal rights of people with disabilities.

"But it won't force people to change those negative attitudes about people with disabilities, and it won't make people accept us," she said. "However, we have a great opportunity to help ourselves, because we are the largest minority group in this country and we are the fastest-growing minority. Therefore, just by living our everyday lives and going about our normal activities we can overcome, just because of those sheer numbers, change those attitudes. And I really believe things will get better for us."

mkantzavelos@lbpc.com

July 27, 2010 Volume: 156 Issue: 145