Activity
Disability Awareness: Unfair Treatment and the Law
Est. Time: 50 Minutes
Objective
Understand how personal experiences influence perceptions, specifically regarding people with disabilities, and the laws established to protect them from unfair treatment.
Overview
Our background experiences influence the way we think about technology, food, religion, and family, and they can equally influence how we regard people with disabilities. Oftentimes, we can develop uninformed, negative opinions of individuals based on our experiences. Laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) have been enacted to protect individuals with disabilities; however, there are still negative views regarding providing accommodations that allow individuals with disabilities the same access to education, employment, and community engagement as individuals without disabilities.
For Your Information
Americans with Disabilities (ADA): Federal antidiscrimination legislation passed in 1990 that guarantees basic civil rights to people with disabilities, which include equal opportunities in areas of employment, transportation, government services, telecommunications, and public accommodations.
Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA): Name given in 1990 to the Education for All Handicapped Children Act (EHA) and used for all reauthorizations of the law, which guarantees students with disabilities the right to a free appropriate public education in the least restrictive environment.
Activity
As a whole group or in small groups, discuss the following.
- What common uninformed views about people with disabilities still exist today? How might these be eliminated?
- What specific concerns compel some people to view special education as too costly, burdensome, or ineffective?
- Why do you think many people consider special education a civil rights issue? Do you agree or disagree?
- How do ADA and IDEA protect the civil rights of individual with disabilities?
- When President George H. W. Bush signed ADA into law on July 26, 1990, he stated, “Let the shameful walls of exclusion finally come tumbling down.” Do you think this has been accomplished? Justify your response.
