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01 November 2006
About This Issue
A disability can directly or indirectly limit a person’s ability to engage in normal life experiences. The direct effects are fairly easy to identify—an inability to see, for example, affects personal mobility and the ability to read regular print or to watch television. But the indirect effects are sometimes less easily identified, or compensated for, and just as debilitating. A disability can make getting an education more difficult, so that some people with no intellectual or cognitive disability still may be less educated than others. Depending on the disability, and access to support, other indirect effects can include reduced mobility, limited social access, more difficulty finding a job (or being able to get to work or to do the job physically), and difficulty taking care of health and fitness and nutritional needs. Recognizing that people with disabilities, as a group, tend to be less educated, have higher unemployment, and are frequently in poorer health—often for reasons not resulting directly from their disability—the United States has developed programs and legal protections to begin addressing these issues.
In researching this topic, we found that everywhere we turned someone was taking credit for or giving someone else credit for the Americans with Disabilities Act. It became clear that, rather than indicating a conflict, these seemingly contradictory claims were, in fact, illustrating the amazing cooperation and collaboration it took for this legislation to come to pass.
From presidents and members of Congress to civil rights organizations and agencies serving people with disabilities to attorneys, business people, philanthropists, medical and technical researchers, and grass-roots activists, innumerable people contributed ideas, examples, inspiration, and support for the law and, more than that, for the cultural value that it represents—that every person has a combination of abilities and disabilities.
With support, people can overcome even severe disabilities while maximizing their abilities and lead fulfilling and productive lives, not only contributing to their own welfare, but also enriching the rest of society in innumerable ways.
This journal presents some of the aspects of that effort. We hope you will enjoy reading about the Americans with Disabilities law and about the programs underway to help turn disabilities into abilities, from accommodation to technology and medical research. In particular, we hope you will be as inspired as we have been to read about the individuals and groups who show—every day—that amazing gifts can come from those too easily overlooked. Opening opportunities and removing barriers to people with disabilities is a work in progress, and we also address some of the gaps that still exist and discuss efforts to bridge them.
Some of the programs presented in the journal, such as the tips on searching for employment, were created originally to help people inside the United States. We have included information about them, however, because they help illustrate the wide range of issues involved in the implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act and because they may prove useful in designing programs in other locales.
In researching the journal, we came across reports of individuals, organizations, and governments around the world engaged in important work on behalf of those with disabilities. We hope information about programs in the United States will prove as interesting and useful to them as learning about their inspiring work has been for us.
The Editors
