Today marks the 35th anniversary of Americans with Disabilities Act. It was passed by President Bush to grant equal rights for people with disabilities. It’s still a very important law, because not everyone knows about integrating disabled people into the community especially when COVID-19 messed everything up. It forced them to be sent to nursing homes and lose American’s dreams. I feel that we should educate people about the law, because it means a lot to us. Self advocacy begins when a disabled child turns 16 and he/she learns about having a disability(is). Then Individual Education Plan starts at the early age, but when someone with any type of disability turns 18, it doesn’t matter anymore. Thus, he/she gets transition from high school to real world early as 14yrs old. Some of them goes to disability conferences to learn from others prior 18 or 21 in certain circumstances. I traveled to Washington DC a few times and National Council on Independent Living taught me a lot. I was a member of Family Voices which is a nonprofit organization that helps with any type of resources that parents, educators, or people with disabilities get assistance. ADAPT is also a very good resource, because it was created and run by people with and without disabilities way back in the 1960s. It expanded across the country and the largest ones are in Denver, Colorado and Rochester, NY.
To learn more on ADA, go to www.ada.gov