American Disability Act

American Disability Act (ADA) and Workers' Issues



American Disability Act (ADA) and Workers' Issues

In the United States understood that such a disability, legal definitions of relevant terms and the general attitude towards disability and disabled people have changed over time. Traditionally, disability is seen as a flaw, not allowing a person to participate in "normal" life. Disability can be physical or mental disabilities that may hit man "for life", can be congenital or acquired as a result of accident or illness in adulthood. Attitudes toward people with disabilities, which ranged from the desire to protect the fear that if, because of disability human capabilities are limited, its value goes down, and himself an invalid and his family should feel shame and guilt. In many cases, a person isolated at home or in an institution, it has little interacted with society. In most cases, disability was considered permanent state, which exhausts and depletes a person, and it was assumed that the situation can not improve treatment or help with adaptations (Acemoglu and Angrist, 2001). In the United States, the first legal definition of disability was given when a Civil War (1861-1865) returned a lot of injured soldiers. According to the law on pensions for Civil War invalids from among Union Army veterans (northern) appointed by the pension based on their "inability to engage in physical labor." This model, in essence, defines disability as a physical disability that excludes equal participation in society and an opportunity to earn a living. However, not all types of disabilities treated equally, and some disorders that are branded as "disgraceful", behavioral abnormalities and infectious diseases are often considered unworthy of care, and persons with disabilities were discriminated against.

Changes in attitude towards persons with disabilities In the 70 years of last century with disabilities were viewed as social minority - a group of people who have civil rights that should be protected just as other minority groups seeking equality. The system of disability rights provided Disabilities Act, works successfully.

In the United States Disabilities Act helps Americans to reduce discrimination and encourage employers to create specially equipped workstations. The 2004 National Organization on Disability and the Institute for Harris poll Americans with Disabilities found that over the previous four years, while the share of persons with disabilities who report discrimination at work. It confirmed the economic benefits to companies that hire people with disabilities and provide them with specially equipped workstations.

With introduction of ADA, people started to not only make it easy to get to the persons with disabilities, but also look for ways to help disabled people to liaise with others and participate fully in all areas of life. This law generally has a significant impact. It is distributed to schools, businesses, communities and public places, as well as covering all branches of government, health and social services. New awareness led to practical steps. Changed the terminology - instead of "disabled person" began to use the term "person with physical or mental ...