Op Ed with Bob Branco – How Do You Feel About the ADA?
Last month marked the twentieth anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act into law by former President George Bush. When the former President passed this law, which is quite lengthy to read, I felt that persons with disabilities took a major step toward equality with everyone else. Despite its complexities, the entire focus of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) is for all persons with disabilities to be treated exactly the same way as persons who are able bodied.
In my city, New Bedford, Massachusetts, we have a bus company that offers fixed route as well as door to door service. The door to door service is specifically for passengers with disabilities, who can book their ride ahead of time and have the bus driver pick them up at their homes. This bus company abides by the ADA completely. It doesn’t allow its bus drivers to help a passenger with a disability once he’s off the bus and on the sidewalk. The logic in this is that regular busses for everyone else offers curb to curb service, so the special busses should offer the same service, even though the passengers on these busses have special needs. I know several bus drivers who want to help their disabled passengers beyond what the company requires, such as bringing the passenger to the doorway of the building. Despite the driver’s kindness, he could find himself in a great deal of trouble with his company if it is learned what he did. There are those who get angry when they see a bus driver take off on a blind person. However, advocates who push for equality between the disabled and nondisabled may want to be careful of what they ask for, if they are the ones getting upset at this bus driver.
The point to this discussion is quite simple. How do you feel about the Americans with Disabilities Act? Do you think the past twenty years have served persons with disabilities in a favorable manor as a direct result of this legislation?