Text 6. People with Disabilities

People with Disabilities, persons with physical, sensory, or mental impairments that can make performing an everyday task more difficult. Under this broad definition, an estimated 54 million people in the United States, or nearly 20 percent of the population, live with disabilities. Some disabilities, such as a broken hip, may be temporary; others are relatively minor, such as vision impairments that can be modified by corrective lenses. Other disabilities classified as severe may not represent a handicap—that is, the inability to take part in community life on an equal level with others. For instance, a person who uses a wheelchair may be able to live independently if physical and social barriers to mobility have been removed. In 2000 an estimated 34 to 43 million people in the United States had chronic disabilities.

Efforts by disabled people to establish legal rights mark a sharp contrast with traditional U.S. public policy. Before the 1970s, most legislation dealing with the problems of people with disabilities, such as Social Security or public-assistance entitlements, provided limited financial support or specific services. The change in the 1970s and 1980s centered on the rights of disabled people to the same protection under the law enjoyed by the rest of the population.

New laws and court decisions embodying civil rights of people with disabilities have affected several areas of life. In education, federal law now guarantees a free appropriate public education to all disabled children, regardless of the severity of their condition. In the area of employment, state laws prohibit discrimination against disabled people. In addition, the federal Rehabilitation Act (1973) requires businesses that handle federal contracts to practice affirmative action in employing disabled people and to make “reasonable accommodations” to their needs. Another advance has been the placement of previously institutionalized people with mental disabilities in community-living facilities or group homes that provide a living environment more similar to those of able-bodied people, as well as access to local community resources.

In advocating for their rights, disabled people have worked to establish several important principles. One is that they be considered on the basis of individual merit, not on stereotyped assumptions about disabilities. Another is that society must make certain changes to enable them to participate more easily in business and social activities; an example is wheelchair access to public transportation, building entrances, and theaters. A third principle is that, to the extent appropriate for each individual, disabled people should be integrated with people who are not disabled.

A major step in achieving these goals was the landmark federal Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, which prohibits discrimination against people with physical or mental disabilities in employment, public accommodations, transportation, and telecommunications. Successful implementation of this law promised to have a profound and positive impact on the status of people with disabilities.

In the late 1990s the United States Supreme Court issued a series of rulings that more precisely defined who is considered disabled under the ADA. The Court ruled that the ADA does not apply to people with correctable impairments, such as vision problems, or to people with medical problems that can be controlled by medication. The Court also ruled that people infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) are considered disabled under the ADA and thus are eligible for protection from discrimination based on their condition.

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