15 Years Later, Disabilities Law Praised for Transforming Lives

July 26, 2005 — -- Nancy Starnes was 30, working for a brokerage firm and was almost done earning her stockbroker's license when a horrible accident changed the course of her life.

Starnes sustained a spinal cord injury in a small plane crash in 1973, and she has used a wheelchair ever since. Because the testing site for her stockbroker's license was not wheelchair accessible, she was unable to complete her license requirements and was forced to change careers.

Had the accident occurred after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the testing site would have been required to accommodate her or provide an alternate location. "I'd be in the financial business right now," Starnes said.

Today marks 15 years since President George H.W. Bush signed the ADA into law, guaranteeing equal opportunity for people with disabilities in public accommodations, commercial facilities, employment, transportation, state and local government services and telecommunications.

"It is the most significant civil rights statute since the Civil Rights Act was passed," said Michael Deland, chairman and president of the National Organization on Disability in Washington, D.C.

While the ADA did not pass without controversy -- particularly from small business owners concerned about the cost of implementing the law's requirements -- it is clear 15 years later that the law changed the lives of many people with disabilities, some of whom are too young to remember life without its provisions.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, there are more than 37.5 million Americans with at least one disability. This includes 23.6 million with a condition limiting basic physical activities, such as walking, climbing stairs, reaching, lifting or carrying.

Without the ADA, they might not be able to work, visit friends and family, go to the movies or participate in their community activities.

"Before, [many believed] people with disabilities need to be cared for, and they probably were not expected to be productive members of society," Starnes said. "Many of the stereotypes about people with disabilities have been struck down. But with every convert that we gain in this country, it seems like there's a new person who needs to be educated about it."

Some of the more public changes provided by the ADA include things like ramps and curb cuts in sidewalks and by stores, which some businesses had worried would be too expensive, Deland said.