This is from my friend, Joelle Brouner, who posted it as a note on Facebook. She’s the executive director of the State of Washington’s Rehab Council, and also is a woman with CP. Enjoy, and please feel free to add your own.
July 26th marks the twentieth anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, landmark civil rights legislation. It has not made the U.S. fully accessible. The struggle continues. But part of the world is more open. Whether you have a disability or not, you are invited to join in a year of celebration. There are reasons to celebrate. Progress is undeniable. Things that previous generations could hardly imagine are reality. The impacts are many. Here are some examples of why I am grateful or the law:
For every day I have made it to work on the bus;
For the accessible hiring processes and workplaces that make it possible to earn a living;
For the three phone calls I've enjoyed recently from Jonah, my nephew who is Deaf;
For accessible public toilet stalls (need I say more);
For receiving reasonable accommodation on standardized testing that allows me to compensate for poor coordination;
For accessible bars;
For physically accessible polling places;
For being able to fly without being barred to: Yakima, Boise, Salt Lake, Las Vegas, San Antonio, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, Boston and DC;
For the accessible apartment we lived in for five years;
For being able to use sidewalks;
For hotel rooms with enough access for me to seduce someone by surprise;
For being able to live on campus;
For the ramp that allowed me to cross the stage at graduation;
For hotel bathrooms with wide doorways, grab bars, and roll in showers;
For the access created for friends;
For being able to see national parks and monuments;
For knowing that when people acquire disabilities in stupid accidents, they can still have fun;
For crossing paths with other people with obvious disabilities who are out in the world doing their thing and not feeling that we have to acknowledge each other unless we have something else in common;
For alternatives to turnstiles;
For hope or aging people;
For audible signals;
For accessible teller windows at banks, and;
For the next generation who will know we cared about their futures.
