Social Policy and Social Determinants

Policy Definition

Social Issue: Discrimination against People with Disability

For many years, people with disability have always been discriminated against in society for their conditions. These discrimination forms affect people of all ages, races, and genders. Many studies suggest that those with mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression seem to be discriminated against even more than other people with disability (Bonaccio et al., 2020). Even though many strategies have been implemented to address this rising trend, many barriers have deterred progress. According to Ocran (2022), one of the places where people with disability encounter significant discrimination is the education sector. Learners with different kinds of disabilities face many challenges in their learning environments, such as lack of support, inaccessible facilities, and inadequate resources. Students with mental health conditions, like children with autism in school and teens with anxiety problems, often require additional support from their educators, such as therapy, counseling, and accommodations. However, many schools lack the necessary resources to offer these services, which leaves these students in a disadvantaged position and deprives them of their right to education.

The transportation sector is another area in which people with disability encounter many forms of discrimination. Many people with disabilities cannot travel alone and need to be offered specialized transportation, like paratransit services and wheelchair-accessible vehicles (Remillard et al., 2022). However, the transport sector has inadequate resources to provide these services, and in some areas, they are available but expensive or completely unavailable. As a result, people with disabilities remain isolated and unable to access essential services and opportunities like others. Additionally, in workplaces, people with disability also encounter significant discrimination. For instance, some employers, especially those with fewer resources and equipment, seem to hold negative attitudes toward those with disability and fail to offer them employment opportunities (Bonaccio et al., 2020). Lastly, accessing healthcare services has proven a challenge to many people with disability. For instance, many insurances fail to cover their treatment’s total cost, increasing their financial burdens.

Americans with Disability Act (ADA)

The US Congress enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. ADA is a civil rights law prohibiting discrimination against people with disabilities in all areas of public life. These areas include employment, education, telecommunications, public transit, state, and local government services, and businesses open to the public. According to FEMA’s report, this civil rights law applies to public and private institutions in various sectors (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2020). The law guarantees all individuals with disability of equal opportunities like any other person to participate in state and local government projects and programs, buy goods and services, and enjoy employment opportunities. For one to be covered and protected by this law, they must file a complaint immediately because they feel like they have been subjected to discrimination due to their condition.

The main aim of this law is to protect everyone with a disability. It notes that someone with a disability is physically or mentally impaired in a way that significantly limits them from performing daily activities such as seeing, walking, hearing, working, or speaking (US Department of Labor). Someone with a disability may also have a record or history of a chronic disease linked to some impairment, like remitting cancer. Another category involves an individual perceived to have other types of impairment, like a severe burn. Examples of disabilities covered by ADA include PTSD, autism, deafness or hearing loss, epilepsy, blindness or low vision, cancer, diabetes, traumatic brain injury, HIV, intellectual disability, and many others (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2020). The community and family need to support and protect people with disability because discrimination puts them in a more complicated situation.

The States Objectives of Americans with Disabilities Act

The ADA primarily aims to eliminate discrimination against people with disabilities. They try to ensure that everyone with a disability has equal opportunities to participate in all parts of society without feeling isolated or secluded, like employment, education, transportation, and public accommodations. One of the law’s objectives includes prohibiting discrimination against everyone with disabilities at work (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2020). This objective includes compelling all employers to offer the necessary accommodations to employees with disabilities that would allow them to perform the functions of their jobs effectively. The law ensures that if a person with a disability does not feel equal at work, the employer faces the consequences.

Secondly, the law aims at ensuring that everyone with a disability can equally access public accommodations like those without a disability. This objective necessitates government entities, business organizations, and other organizations to ensure that all areas meant to be accessed by the public, like public washrooms, restaurants, movie theaters, and many others, have what it takes to accommodate people with disability. Thirdly, the ADA ensures that all people with disability have equal access to transportation. This objective includes requiring public transportation providers to make their services accessible to individuals with disabilities (Federal Emergency Management Agency, 2020). Those that do not comply have severe consequences awaiting them. Fourthly, this law prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in state and local government programs and activities (Rauenzahn et al., 2020). This objective includes necessitating the state and local government to ensure their programs and services are accessible to individuals with disabilities. Lastly, ADA provides that people with disabilities have equal access to telecommunications. This objective includes necessitating telecommunications providers to make their services accessible to individuals with disabilities.

The Covert Objectives of Americans with Disabilities Act

ADA prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in different areas of life, including employment, education, telecommunications, public transit, state and local government services, and businesses open to the public. Primarily, this law ensures that those with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else. Generally, the US Congress designed this law to promote equality, inclusion, and accessibility for people with disabilities and ensure that they feel part of the community like others (Remillard et al., 2022). The first covert objective of this law is to eliminate discrimination. People with disability are frequently facing discrimination, and without protection, it would challenging for them to feel like part of the community. It aims at ensuring that people with disability feel like they have equal opportunities to other individuals to participate in state and local government projects and programs, buy goods and services, and enjoy employment opportunities.

The second covert objective of the Americans with Disabilities Act is to ensure the accessibility of relevant services. The ADA notes that people with disability should be allowed to access necessary services such as counseling services, wheelchair-accessible vehicles, insurance coverage, and many others in the transportation sector, public places, communication systems, healthcare, and schools. These services are meant to help people with disability feel equal and accepted (Rauenzahn et al., 2020). The other covert objective of this law is promoting independence. Studies indicate that people with disability face significant challenges when it comes to handling their activities on their own. However, with the availability of ADA, people with disabilities by requiring reasonable accommodations in the workplace and other areas of public life. The ADA also aims to raise awareness about people with disability and the challenges they are encountering, and the importance of inclusion and accessibility.

Policy Proposal

If I were advising a policymaker, my suggestions regarding the amendment or implementation of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) would include the following:

• Strengthening the enforcement mechanisms of the ADA ensures that business organizations, governments, and other entities comply with its provisions.
• Encouraging public awareness and education campaigns ensures the public understands and accepts people with disabilities and their rights.
• Encourage private business organizations and public entities like governments to proactively identify and address accessibility barriers before receiving complaints or legal action. This would ensure that people with disability can easily access all the services they require.
• Expanding the scope of ADA to cover emerging technologies and digital platforms to ensure that individuals with disabilities have equal access to online resources and services that would help the train to live and operate independently.
• Expand the definition of “disability” to include different impairments and conditions, and ensure that the definition remains consistent with the evolving medical and scientific understanding of disability.
• Support programs that offer training, education, and employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities to promote their inclusion at work
• Provide tax incentives for businesses that comply with ADA accessibility standards.
• Increase funding for research and development of assistive technology to improve accessibility for people with disabilities and new ways to help the public work best with these individuals.
• Increase funding for disability services and supports to enable individuals with disabilities to live independently and participate fully in their communities without feeling like they do not belong there.
• Increase accessibility standards for public facilities, transportation, the healthcare sector, communication technology, and education to ensure that people with disabilities can fully participate in society and feel part of it.
• Address the unique needs and challenges that people with disabilities from marginalized communities face, like those from minor races like Blacks, LGBTQIA+ individuals, and the poor. This will ensure that ADA protects them equally and they can easily access their services.

References

Bonaccio, S., Connelly, C. E., Gellatly, I. R., Jetha, A., & Ginis, a. K. (2020). The participation of people with disabilities in the workplace across the employment cycle: Employer concerns and research evidence. Journal of Business and Psychology, 35, 135-158. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-018-9602-5

Federal Emergency Management Agency. (2020, July 22). Retrieved from Americans with Disabilities Act Opens Doors for All: Retrieved 23 March 2023 from https://www.fema.gov/blog/americans-disabilities-act-opens-doors-all

Ocran, J. (2022). “There is something like a barrier”: Disability stigma, structural discrimination and middle-class persons with disability in Ghana. Cogent Social Sciences, 8(1), 2084893. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2022.2084893

Rauenzahn, B., Chung, J., & Kaufman, a. A. (2020, July 25). The Americans with disabilities Act thirty years later. Retrieved 23 March 2023 from https://www.theregreview.org/2020/07/25/saturday-seminar-americans-disabilities-act-thirty-years-later/

Remillard, E. T., Campbell, M. L., Koon, L. M., & Rogers, a. W. (2022). Transportation challenges for persons aging with mobility disability: Qualitative insights and policy implications. Disability and Health Journal, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dhjo.2021.101209