The Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA)
December 2003
Editor: Want to know more about the ADA? Too busy to seek out the
information on your own? Then this free online training may be just what
you're looking for. Here's Diane Edge to tell you all about it!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am a member of the ADA advisory Board serving the Mid Atlantic ADA
Info Center and recently was informed of a free online course designed
to learn more about the ADA.
The website is http://adainfo.org/resources/ What you need to do is
go the link for "training", click on that and then "ADA
BUILDING BLOCKS". You can earn one CEU and a certificate - if you
pass the online test.
While we focus mostly on deaf issues- I think anyone taking this
course will see a broader application that can be used for our common
interest of deaf needs.
It is an interesting learning experience and can be done in your free
time and again - it costs nothing !! Knowledge is power and this is
worthwhile.
Take care and happy holidays to all
Diane Edge
Deaf Services Director
Advocacy Support League
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
October 2004
Are you interested in playing a great game and learning about the ADA
at the same time? Or perhaps you'd like to try out your advocacy skills
in a simulated environment before plunging into the real world. Here's a
great online game that allows you to do these things and more. It's free
and available to all at http://www.adagame.org
Here's the game description from the website:
The ADA Game simulates how advocacy can promote positive changes in
communities. Players take on the role of advocates for disability rights
in one of eight virtual communities in the Southeastern United States
and work together to improve compliance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) in their communities in the areas of: Program
Access, Public Accommodations, Transportation, Employment, and
Communication.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In nine of every 10 cases, the Justice Department
forced government agencies and businesses to comply with federal
disability laws during the past five years by using mediation and not
imposing penalties. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said Thursday that
1,800 complaints out of 2,000 cases involving the Americans With
Disabilities Act had been settled through mediation. The department's
civil rights division also settled 151 such cases against state and local
governments.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Editor: If you're interested in learning more about the Americans
with Disabilities Act (ADA), this free online course might be just the
thing!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Visit http://www.adabasics.org to register for the ADA Basics Course
developed for you by your regional Disability and Business Technical
Assistance Centers. The course is designed to provide you with the basic
principles and core concepts of the Americans with Disabilities Act of
1990
(ADA). The 12-topic course may be accessed at any time using a
computer or mobile device with an Internet connection. Each topic
contains relative information and real-life examples to help increase
your understanding of the ADA!
The comprehensive course includes:
* Multiple-choice self-tests to "Apply Your Knowledge".
* Relevant court cases and additional "Tell Me More"
resources.
* A Glossary of frequently-used terms and Resources for further
reference.
To date, thousands have taken the course and rated it very highly.
Satisfied users have said:
* At first I thought this was going to be a boring lesson on law, but I
learned so much without the hassle of endless jargon.
* THIS WAS A VERY INFORMATIVE COURSE FOR THE BEGINNER SUCH AS MYSELF.
* This course should be mandatory for those in a position to hire new
employees.
* This is a great course and the style of the course is perfect for my
particular learning style.
* This course was very informative and I learned some things about the
ADA that I didn't know!
* I enjoyed the challenge this course presented. Finally I understand
the ADA and have more confidence answering questions.
* This was a very approachable, thorough and simplified-language
introduction to the ADA.
CEU and CRC credits are available.
Questions on the Americans with Disabilities Act?
Contact the regional DBTAC serving your state via the national toll-
free ADA hotline at 1-800-949-4232 (v/tty) or visit DBTAC - ADA & IT
Technical Assistance Centers <http://www.dbtac.vcu.edu/centers.aspx>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
July 2008
Sometimes you have to wonder if these reporters
get their journalism diplomas from a box of Cracker Jacks? Or are they
intentionally misstating the facts about the ADA Amendment Act in order to
stiffen the resistance to it within the business community? Despite what
they say in this CNN article, a pig on a leash is NOT a service animal,
and the ADA Amendment states that very clearly. So businesses do NOT have
to accommodate a pig on a leash. Down a good dose of Pepto Bismol before
you read this travesty!
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
September 2008
Millions of Americans with diseases or impairments
such as diabetes, epilepsy, heart disease, cancer and carpal tunnel
syndrome will be protected from job discrimination under a new disability
rights measure set to become law this week. The bill, five years in the
making, won final passage in Congress last week, and President Bush said
he would sign it. The measure overturns a series of Supreme Court rulings
that sharply limited who was covered by the Americans With Disabilities
Act. When it was first passed in 1990, Congress said the
anti-discrimination law protected anyone with a "physical or mental
impairment" that "substantially limits" them. But the high court
interpreted the law to apply only to people who were truly disabled, not
to those with common impairments such as a hearing loss or a medical
condition that can be treated . . . . "Courts have created an absurd
Catch-22 by allowing employers to say a person is 'too disabled' to do the
job but not 'disabled enough' to be protected by the ADA," a coalition of
disability rights groups told Congress.
Full Story
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
February 2009
Yesterday, as part of ongoing follow up on my
story in this week's New York Times Magazine, I posted about a Department
of Justice document leaked to me with the wording of their proposal to ban
all non-canine service animals. Below the jump, for those interested, I've
pasted an excerpt from that proposal, which is not yet public. It outlines
the arguments the DOJ heard for and against the species ban during this
summer's public hearings, plus the DOJ's responses, and its final ruling
on the issue.
Full Story
