Twenty years ago on July 26, 1990 the Americans with Disabilities act was passed. This was a monumental moment in our history as it created equal opportunities for people with disabilities in the workplace as well as made mandatory the accessibility of public spaces and information.
According to the U.S. Census, 15% or 41.3 million Americans have a disability. Until 1990, these citizens had unequal opportunities in America and felt discriminated against by employers and in many instances were not provided the necessary accommodations to enjoy many of the public spaces and events that most Americans do.
Michigan led the United States in rights for the disabled as it was one of the first states to pass laws protecting disabled people. This has not changed as Michigan is still leading the country by having strict laws enforcing these rights. For example, under federal law a business only has to adhere with the ADA if they have a certain number of employees. However, in Michigan the business must only have one employee for these laws to apply.
An article by Zlati Meyer of Free Press points out that today we see "so many disabled people out and about [as] part of our society – that it's so commonplace you don't even think about it anymore". This can be attributed to the ADA and its success within the community. Also within this article are many stories about individual lives that the ADA has changed. If you would like to view this article please visit: http://tinyurl.com/2fzrcqe
