RESEARCH INFORMATION ON INDEPENDENT LIVING
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Volume 1, Issue 10

ADA Literature Review

Many ADA publications concentrate on its five titles, while others look at the act's implementation in specific instances such as gasoline stations, the adoption of children, or recreation.

ADA has been formally measured by Lou Harris surveys and its impact critiqued by advocates, opponents, scientific researchers, and, to a far lesser extent, the general press. Throughout these analyses is the perception that ADA is a laudatory tool to contest discrimination and has forced society to view disability as a civil rights issue, but active enforcement and much more change is needed for the full participation of people with disabilities in their communities.

The federal government through its offices (e.g., The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. General Accounting Office) and grant projects has been the source of much ADA information. The government's publication goal has been to make ADA and its provisions understandable and known to the public.

For example, the President's Committee on the Employment of People With Disabilities offers "Focus on" ADA brochures with information on telecommunications, disabled veterans, transportation, and other applicable subjects.

The U.S. Department of Justice also provides ADA documents such as regulations, guides, and technical assistance manuals with spotlight, too, on specialized subjects.

The country's ten Disability and Business Technical Peer Assistance Centers, funded by the National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation Research, have generated their own relevant publications and pulled together ADA information from many sources for their audiences. Of special note are each of the center's newsletters with timely information about ADA cases, settlements, and local resources.

Disability organizations, some funded all or in part by the government, too, have produced ADA information materials, often in relation to specific populations. For example, the and Family Training Network Project publishes the ADA Guide for Families and the American Foundation for the Blind & the National Center on Law and Deafness offers the "Obligations" series (e.g., Obligations of Nursing Homes to Hearing Impaired Patients, etc.). One of the most vocal publishers has been the National Council on Disability, a co-writer of the ADA, which has monitored the ADA in reports, including the recent titled Promises to Keep: A Decade of Federal Enforcement of the Americans with Disabilities Act that decries lack of enforcement and unified vision by federal agencies.

Researchers, once again many funded by government grants, have written extensively about ADA as it has been tested in daily living and shaped by court cases. In articles on employment, housing, or other relevant topics, ADA may appear as a reference in progress measurement.

As for the general media, commercial publishers, for the most part, have produced technical, "how-to" books. A quick scan of www.Amazon.com turns up more than a hundred titles, the majority about compliance issues and specific guidelines.

Newspapers tend to report on U.S. Supreme Court and other federal and state court rulings and their effect on ADA implementation and compliance such as the recent setback case of Chevron v. Echazabal.  On the business and trade magazine front, interestingly articles have commonly reported surprise at how painless ADA compliance has been and how to ensure compliancy.

Often, the most cutting-edge, concise, and intriguing reports come from the disability press and newsletters. The answer to "what does this really mean?" is found in these publications as is related, practical information. —  Cindy Higgins, The Research and Training Center on Independent Living, The University of Kansas. This project funded by National Institute on Disability Rehabilitation Research grant  #H133A980048.

A version of this publication also appeared in SCI/Life.

Information for this review came from the interactive Research Information on Independent Living (RIIL) database at www.GetRiil.org, which contains research summaries related to independent living with disabilities. A special effort has been made to include information that independent leaders in the field said they wanted, namely topics regarding accessible, affordable housing, effective advocacy for rural areas, effective transition from schools and nursing homes, accessible, affordable transportation, reaching underserved populations, policies that impede independent living, rural health care services, and Medicaid/Medicare regulations for durable equipment.

RIIL is a joint effort of the Research and Training Center on Independent Living at the University of Kansas and the Independent Living Research Utilization (ILRU) Program of TIRR.

Journal articles studying ADA often point out its barriers. A common discovery has been that a variety of people impacted by ADA are ignorant or confused by its contents.

“The Americans With Disabilities Act has proven to be an excellent example of a civil rights approach—one that encompasses a level playing field, the removal of physical and societal barriers, universal design, and a supportive government ready to enforce penalties to those who refuse to cooperate—to disability policy.

Source: Zeitzer, I (1999, June). Civil rights for people with disabilities: A new paradigm for the last half century.  International Rehabilitation Review 49 (1&2).