REFLECTING ON THE ADA

On July 26th when we celebrated the 25th Anniversary of the American with Disabilities Act,  I thought not only of the people who have benefited from this Law and of how much as  Society we have gained, but I also thought of people who brought the ADA to fruition.

I thought too of the long struggle to have the voices of those with little or no political power heard.

I still remember the names and faces of those I had the privilege  of working with, many of whom I still hear from.  Some have died, but all helped me learn and grow.

These are some of the people who I remember and without whom the ADA would not have been possible:

From parents and families who in the face of many obstacles still believed that there was a place for people with disabilities to learn and be productive in our society;

To those who wanted to use their own voices to be heard and successfully formed their own organization, "Speaking for Ourselves;"

To the Federal Judge wise enough to close down one of the country's most notorious institutions where both staff and patients had lost their humanity;

To the student intern who helped developed a small brochure called, "What do you say to a person with mental retardation? Try, Hello!"

To the many care workers and  University trained professionals who patiently and encouragingly offered therapy in music, art and  vocational skills;

To the attentive record keepers who found flaws in systems that sometimes lost track of family members that had been inadvertently  incarcerated and then took the time and made the effort to rectify the error;

To the diversity of people of all color, of all educational and economic means who worked long and hard to bring about society's change in attitude;

To business people who understood the value of hiring employees who were productive and reliable;

To a small group of actors who took a chance to tell the story in a different way through mime;

To far-sighted state and federal legislators, small community elected officials and to national and international figures who listened and then brought the power of their authority to help all of us better understand our obligation to each other;

All of them and others came to mind as the Americans with Disabilities Act celebrated its 25th Anniversary on July 26, 2015.