ADA's 20th Anniversary
Video of the Signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act
Reflections of the Past, Present, and Future
Proclamation of Recommitment to the Mission of the ADA by the 20th Anniversary of the ADA
ADA 20th Anniversary Toolkit
History of the Americans with Disabilities Act
ADA Amendments Act of 2008
Signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act
In the Summer 2010 issue of our In Focus Newsletter: Marian Vessels, Director of DBTAC: Mid-Atlantic ADA Center, shares her feelings about the 20th anniversary of the signing of the American with Disabilities Act into law.
Mrs. Vessels also offers a very personal view on the importance of such a momentous event in a short video (different from above) published in YouTube. The clip is from a 22 minute video, "Reflections of a Promise" which is available for loan from the Center.
Check out these other videos:
ADA National Network Anniversary Video
History of the Disability Movement and anniversary of the ADA
Senator Harkin celebrating the Anniversary of the ADA
Epilepsy ADA Anniversary Video
Together with national, regional, and local Affiliate Networks and Partners, significant results have been accomplished toward voluntary ADA compliance.
For more information, contact your regional ADA Center at (800) 949-4232 [voice/tty].
Visit www.adaanniversary.org to access the 2010 ADA Anniversary Toolkit, and other information related to the anniversary.
History of the ADA
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's gave rise to other civil rights movements, most notably the Women's Rights Movement and the Disability Rights Movement. While minorities and women were protected by civil rights legislation passed by the United States Congress during the 1960's, the rights of people with disabilities were not protected by federal legislation until much later.
The ADA grew out of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's. During that decade, three major pieces of civil rights legislation were passed by the United States Congress. These three major pieces of civil rights legislation are the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Read more on the history of the ADA.
ADA Amendments Act of 2008
On September 25, 2008, the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) was signed into law. It became effective on January 1, 2009. The U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives both unanimously passed the ADAAA.
The ADAAA focuses on the discrimination at issue instead of the individual's disability. It makes important changes to the definition of the term "disability" by rejecting the holdings in several Supreme Court decisions and portions of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's (EEOC) ADA regulations. The Act retains the ADA's basic definition of "disability" as an impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a record of such an impairment, or being regarded as having such an impairment. However, it changes the way that the statutory terms should be interpreted. Read more on the ADA Amendments Act.
Proclamation of Recommitment to the Mission of the ADA by the 20th Anniversary of the ADA
The National ADA Symposium is sponsoring a unique project that recognizes the progress made toward the mission of the ADA--inclusion of people with disabilities into all aspects of American life while addressing that there is still much work to be done: The 2010 by 2010 Campaign!
Our goal is to have 2,010 public entities, businesses, and organizations submit a "Proclamation of Recommitment to the Mission of the ADA" by the 20th anniversary of the ADA.