Americans With Disabilities

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has been considered by many to be the "most far-reaching civil-rights legislation to come down in 25 years" (Peak, 1991). The Act forbids discrimination against the physically and mentally disabled in employment, public services, transportation, public accommodation, and telecommunication.

While it has the potential to alter negative attitudes toward and perceptions of the disabled, it will also affect the way in which American businesses are conducted. Even though the legislation became effective for most companies on July 26 1992, some firms are still struggling to ensure that they are in compliance with the law (Scott & Baun, 1992).

The ADA defines an individual with a disability as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a record or history of such an impairment, or is perceived to have such an impairment (Scott & Baun, 1992). In response to various accounts of discrimination against the disabled in employment, education, and daily life, Congress passed the ADA to expand the limited provisions that previously applied only to the federal sector (Bishop & Jones, 199

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yers and relevant others such as personnel managers. According to an article published in HR Focus (March, 1993), it is stereotypical attitudes, often compounded by fear, that usually keep many managers from hiring job applicants who have disabilities; however, in addition to legislation such as the ADA, there are other ways to reduce these fears and increase the rate at which the disabled are hired. Specifically, the article notes that once people verbalize and discuss their fears, research indicates that they are better able to understand those disabilities. It is recommended that both employers and those charged with hiring responsibilities take classes designed to better inform them about the capabilities and potentials of the disabled. Surprisingly, there has not been much research conducted that specifically examined the attitudes of people (employers and others) toward the hiring of the disabled. Rather, most studies have examined problems faced by the disabled once they are hired. However, Smith (1992) reports that according to a survey conducted by the Bureau of National Affairs, attitudes of employees toward the hiring of the disabled are relatively positive. In this regard, Smith states that survey findings reve
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Approximate Word count = 2471
Approximate Pages = 10 (250 words per page)

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