Who hasn’t used a curb cut to step from the street to the sidewalk? You may not have a physical disability but at times, when you’ve have a heavy cart to push or have a temporary disabling condition, you have probably found it very useful. The Amenicans with Disabilities Act (ADA) made it possible for persons with disabilities to travel the sidewalks and streetscapes of America.

The ADA, signed into law by President George H W Bush on July 26,,1990, has helped millions of people with disabilities access the basic rights they are entitled to as citizens of our country. It was landmark legislation that provides civil rights protection for people with disabilities and in the two decades since it was signed into law, there has been amazing progress in helping to create normal and usual circumstances for everyone.

The ADA has been the driving force behind changing the physical and the cultural world we live in to include everyone. The transportation system in this country has become much more comfortable because of the ADA. A person in a wheel chair, even a power wheel chair, can travel independently to just about any city that person would like to go. There has been an explosion of adaptive technology developed that assists individuals with disabilities in their efforts to hold down jobs, to be tourists, to attend worship services; in other words to participate in life.

As Janet Labrick says on the ADA video “Disability in general is an equal opportunity condition. Each one of us has the opportunity to acquire a disability.” As we celebrate the benefits we all derive from the ADA, we ask that you help to make even more strides forward toward full equality and inclusion.

Watch the video and learn more about the impact of the ADA.