By Philip Woodward, NCCDD Systems Change Manager

“Let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down,” President George H.W. Bush proclaimed as he signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) into law on July 26th, 1990. The ADA recognized that “the Nation's proper goals regarding individuals with disabilities are to assure equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for such individuals.”

Philip C. Woodward at the National ADA Symposium last year in ChicagoMillions of Americans who Americans with disabilities who were excluded from mainstream would now have an equal opportunity to actively participate in their communities. People with mobility disabilities would gain better access to government facilities, museums, stores, sporting venues and more. Deaf and Hard of Hearing individuals would be able to go to a movie theater and access captions on the movie screen as well as captions on TV and sign language interpreters and Assistive Listening Devices at plays and other performances. They along with people with speech disabilities would also benefit from the Relay system allowing them to make phone calls to family members and friends or just to order a pizza. Individuals with vision loss could expect to access more information through Braille, audio recordings and large print. Individuals with all types of disabilities could apply for a job and secure accommodations to have an equal chance to perform their job duties successfully.

As the coordinator for the NC ADA Network, I invite you and your agency or organization to celebrate the strides we have made for people with disabilities over the past 28 years. Think about what your agency or organization has done to make its facilities, programs and services (including its website and social media posts) accessible to people who otherwise might not be able to access them without the ADA’s protections. Think about what additional steps your agency or organization can take to ensure that all people, regardless of their ability level, can have equal access and an equal opportunity to participate.

For more information on celebrating and recognizing the ADA’s 28th anniversary, including a tool kit, please visit: www.adaanniversary.org/. Tag your ADA-related social media posts with the hashtag #ADA28. Please let NCCDD know if you are organizing an ADA celebration by e-mailing [email protected], and we will add it to our official list of ADA events occurring in North Carolina https://nccdd.org/general-content/692-celebrating-the-28th-anniversary-of-the-ada.html. Also, please feel free to share your pictures and event write-up from your event after it occurs so that we can stay informed on what North Carolinians did to celebrate the ADA’s anniversary.

Please visit NCCDD’s website during the month of July to see a new blog post daily related to the ADA and its positive impact on our society. Also, you can learn more about NCCDD’s NC ADA Network initiative at: www.nccdd.org/nc-ada-network.html. Thank you very much for all that you do to help people with disabilities realize the American dream!