Americans with Disabilities Act: meeting the requirements.

1. Title I of the Americans With Disabilities Act prohibits workplace discrimination on the basis of disability. 2. An employer is required to provide reasonable accommodation so that an otherwise qualified employee can do the job. 3. Physical examinations that seek to determine whether a person has a disability are prohibited. 4. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will serve as the enforcement agency for the employment requirements of the American With Disabilities Act.     

The Americans with Disabilities Act: More Rights for People with Disabilities

Another milestone in the quest for equal rights for people with disabilities occurred with the passage of PL101‐336, the Americans with Disabilities Act. Though some controversy surrounded the passage of this legislation, the bill had clear bipartisan endorsement, as well as the support of President George Bush. The basis of the law was introduced in the Senate May 9, 1989, as Bill S933 by Senator Thomas Harkin (D‐IA). A similar bill, HR2273, was introduced the same day in the House of Representatives by Rep. Anthony Coehlo (D‐CA). The process by which the House and Senate bills became the final Americans with Disabilities Act was lively. Understanding the law and its provisions is important for rehabilitation nurses who are healthcare providers infrequent contact with people with disabilities.     

Assessing paratransit eligibility under the Americans With Disabilities Act in the rehabilitation setting

OBJECTIVE: To assess the usefulness of a rehabilitation-based assessment program designed to determine the eligibility, according to Americans With Disabilities Act criteria, of applicants for paratransit bus services. DESIGN: Retrospective summary statistics on 500 consecutive paratransit evaluations. SETTING: Outpatient physical medicine and rehabilitation center. PARTICIPANTS: Applicants for a community paratransit bus service. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Clinical assessment of each applicants functional physical and cognitive ability to ride a fixed-route or paratransit bus system. RESULTS: Of the 500 applicants for specialized paratransit services, 38 (8%) were found to be ineligible, based on rehabilitation professionals evaluations of their physical and cognitive abilities. CONCLUSIONS: Mass transit organizations must adjust to the rapidly growing demand for paratransit services. Rehabilitation-based assessment programs, because of the expertise they provide in assessing functional abilities, are uniquely qualified to provide objective determinations of paratransit eligibility.     

Legal Qs & As ... Americans with Disabilities Act

The questions and answers in this column have been drawn from Legal Memorandum Number Fifteen, The Americans with Disabilities Act: A Practical Guide for Hospitals, prepared by the ADA Task Force of the American Hospital Association's Labor Relations Advisory Committee and published by AHA's Office of Legal and Regulatory Affairs. This material has been included for information only; it should not be viewed as legal advice or used as such.     

Integrating the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 into client intervention.

Testimony provided by Kemp (1991) before the Subcommittee on Employment Opportunities of the U.S. House of Representatives provided occupational therapists with an open invitation to become involved with the implementation of the ADA: [The] EEOC's [Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's] Office of General Counsel anticipates that a significant portion of the ADA cases will require the use of medical, architectural, ergonomics or vocational specialists. These experts will be called on to provide advice and guidance on general and specific ADA issues and to provide specific advice and testimony in certain cases. (Kemp, 1991 [no page no.]) We need to rally to this opportunity. Occupational therapists' knowledge and understanding of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 is an important component to providing comprehensive services to clients. It is crucial that we as occupational therapists become sophisticated regarding the implications of the ADA and advocate for its implementation for our clients.     

Implementing the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 in higher education.

The purpose of this paper is to provide educators and administrators in higher education with a greater understanding of how the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) (Public Law 101-336) may affect institutions of higher education and to suggest ways that occupational therapists can assist institutions of higher education to comply with the ADA. When educators attempt to comply with the ADA in systems of higher education, the complexity of universities calls for a model reflective of that complexity. The systems approach to higher education, a model based on the general systems theory, is suggested as such a model. The three essential components of the model--input (i.e., applicants to a university), throughput (i.e., enrolled university student), and output (i.e., the student being graduated)--are acted on by many subsystems of the university. Some of those likely to be affected are application procedures, transportation, housing, dining facilities, and curricula. In planning ways to comply with the ADA, educators in higher education may find that many of these subsystems are required to adapt and make reasonable accommodations for the student with a disability. The model can be used to help identify those subsystems that will be affected by the law and to facilitate planning to comply with the law. Although occupational therapists most often work with persons to help them adapt to change in their lives, they can also work in systems of higher education and help the systems to plan and implement programs related to the ADA. The most effective programs are usually those that are well planned and designed from a holistic perspective, rather than those that are developed as a reaction to a specific situation or incident, that is, programs that are proactive rather than reactive. By using the systems approach to higher education, occupational therapists can focus on those components and subsystems within a university that may be affected by the ADA and meet the individual needs of a university.