The Winds of Change: The Societal Impact of the Americans with Disabilities Act

Is America really the "Land of Opportunity" as so many claim it to be? For the average person searching for a job, the answer would probably be "Yes" because there are so many jobs to choose from. However, for someone with a physical or mental handicap (from hereon called "challenge"), it is a lot more difficult. It doesn't matter how long a challenged person has been a volunteer at a job. More often than not, if a company has a job opening, it will be filled by someone who is just like the rest of the company. Also, if there is a shortage of people with challenges in a particular area, then that application is down the tubes as well.

I do not know how many people in the world have physical challenges, but that doesn't matter. We are human beings and we deserve to be treated like human beings. We can do everything other "normal" people can do, if given the proper opportunities. People look at us like we're ill and they need to treat us like we're ill. It is either that or avoid us completely. If given the chance to prove ourselves, we can become doctors, lawyers, authors, reporters, anything we want to be. We can look out for ourselves, and we do not need people to be as charitable as they think we do. If we ask for assistance, give it-or don't. Don't give us charity because you feel pity or shame for us. If we are teaching a group of people and we wanted to know what they learned the last time just as a review, do not take over for us, especially if all the other teachers are asking the same question. It is not only rude, but absolutely belittling as well.

The Americans with Disabilities Act is supposed to protect and assist people with challenges in many aspects, including employment. The EEOC (Equal Employment Opportunities Commission) was set up to help those who feel they have been discriminated against by their employers by giving someone with no challenges a promotion ahead of them. However, for some unknown reason, they refuse to help people who feel they a perfect match for a job, but they are not hired because of their challenge. If someone is looking for employment, it is absolutely important that the manager goes over the ADA to find out where they are going right and where they are going wrong.

Employers seem to go for a certain characteristic when hiring, which is potential employee's ability to walk. They don't care quite as much about how clumsy someone is, whether they fit the exact qualifications or anything, just as long as they can walk. I think the band Moody Blues said it best "There's none so blind as those who cannot see." Employers only seem to notice the physical challenges, they do not see how the potential employee improvises around the challenge to accomplish the same goal. The Moody Blues also said "And to those who lack the courage say it's dangerous to try". Life is about taking risks. Employers who want their business to go far need to at least think about checking out potential employees with disabilities.

If a person with a disability is talking about what they want to do with their life, be supportive. The worst thing you can do is treat them less than what you would like them to treat you. Even if the idea seems to be pretty far out of the realm of possibility, they might not think so. The right thing to do is be supportive and help as much as possible. Even if they are working toward that goal, and they seem hesitant about continuing along their path, continue to back them up. Try to find out what they are feeling and why they are hesitant about continuing. If they have decided to go for another career, support them.

A person with a disability might be involved with sports, like karate, for a number of years. Their goal has always been to become an instructor at that school, so they keep pushing themselves as hard as possible to try to make sure they have covered the curriculum as well as necessary, become acquainted with most of the students and become liked by them, and been available to help out as often as necessary. If the school has extracurricular activities, birthday parties, self-defense clinics, etc. the student has more than likely done everything they can to stay after class to help out with those activities. Every-so-often the student has asked to talk to the manager about possible job openings, but the manager tends to be elusive about it. The student asks, and the manager says that there are no openings available-but the next thing the student knows, there is a new instructor in the mix after being told there were no openings. The student feels absolutely crushed about it, but is resolved to continue to seek employment. It is also be within that students legal right to make sure the school is running the way the ADA states.

It may be accurate that there are not too many people with disabilities currently in the work force-most of them might be in institutions. However, that does not mean that those who are not in institutions do not deserve a fair chance at a good, solid career. You, yourself have been given ample chances to prove what you are capable of-do not prejudge someone, especially if they have an obvious physical challenge. You might just be eliminating a good friend, ally, co-worker or employee before you get to know them.