Has The Americans With Disabilities Act Made Us Complacent

As Disability Pride month winds down, I find myself reflecting on the 34th anniversary of our Americans with Disabilities Act.
When I compare my accomplishments after my 2010 spinal cord injury to where I would be without the ADA, I feel grateful. I can work, play tennis, eat out and have a social life, travel (sort of), be paid competitive wages, and so on.

But I also feel anxiety.

This is a time to celebrate the ADA. But we must remember we are not celebrating that we were given rights. Rather, we are celebrating that they recognized some of our rights.

While we celebrate, we cannot lose sight of the fact that the disability community continues to be one of the most segregated minorities in this country. We cannot go everywhere nondisabled citizens go or do everything they can do because of persistent inaccessibility and stigma. There is still a lot of work to ensure we get the place in society that we deserve and earn.

Sometimes, I wonder if the ADA, in a way, has made us all-disabled and nondisabled-complacent. Society interprets the ADA as a pass to do the minimum. Tech-based industries made it about merely website compliance. But doing the minimum to barely comply with our civil rights law is not enough to stop this segregation. We deserve more than a minimum effort.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion efforts are under attack, and often when we push for our rights, so are we. But this is not about an acronym that has fallen out of favor. It's about making sure we get what we deserve, what we earn. Call it DEI. Call it belonging. It does not matter, because whatever we call it, the reality is we are segregated.

And why? I pay taxes, as do most of us. Part of that money is supposed to be set aside for the benefit of our community. And yet we still must fight for our rights to go where we want and do what we want.

Here at United Spinal Association, we celebrate and fight for our integration every day. Our Accessibility Services program guides businesses and government entities to go beyond disability laws and regulations. And our Grassroots Advocacy Network has a presence in every Congressional district in our nation. Our Working Groups are making a difference in the Home Care Crisis, emergency planning and our right to adaptive recreation.

Sign up for our newsletters, become a grassroots advocate, learn about our programs and help us build a more inclusive world. Let's stop accepting the minimum and fight for what we deserve.