25 Years of the Americans with Disabilities Act

In 1990, Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public.

The ADA is one of the most ground breaking pieces of civil rights legislation since the Civil Rights Act of 1964. For people who are hard of hearing, ADA made many public and private spaces accessible. ADA required that auxiliary aids and services be provided for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Now, nearly a quarter decade later, why are a large number of people who are deaf and hard of hearing fighting to be heard?

Discrimination against Deaf & Hard of Hearing People

In March 2016, The New York Times reported on a growing trend of discrimination against deaf and hard of hearing people. The struggle was spotlighted, in part, because of Lydia Callis, a sign-language interpreter for the former Mayor Bloomberg. Ms. Callis discusses that a health club in Arizona refused sign-language interpretation for her mother, who is deaf, when she wanted to sign up for a membership. Ms. Callis informed the health club that sign-language interpretation was required by law, under the ADA, but the health club refused.

Across the country, similar cases have been reported: cases in which deaf and hard of hearing people are denied basic services as required by ADA law. In New York City, a deaf woman from Staten Island was arrested and denied a sign-language interpreter. The Eisenberg & Baum Law Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing says that it has “litigated about 100 deaf discrimination cases, roughly half in the New York metropolitan area, many dealing with a failure to provide interpreters.”

Lawyer Eric Baum lists police departments, hospitals, schools, government agencies, and businesses are common violators of ADA legislation.

Fighting for Recognition

On the upside, Ms. Callis says, “Deaf people are becoming more aware of their rights and are learning to stand up for themselves.” Her firm offers “cultural competency training to help businesses integrate their deaf employees.”

In the past few years, there has been an increase of lawsuits against businesses and entities that violate ADA legislation. In 2011, for example, UPS settled a lawsuit with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for failing to provide deaf and hard of hearing employees with the appropriate resources. In February 2016, the National Association of the Deaf and deaf residents in Arizona filed a lawsuit against 9-1-1 services in Arizona. The lawsuit brought to light that 9-1-1 services were incapable of meeting the needs of deaf and hard of hearing residents in life-threatening situations.

Know Your Rights

According to the ADA National Network, the following is required for people who are deaf/hard of hearing:

“Appropriate auxiliary aids and services for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing may include services and devices such as qualified interpreters on-site or through video remote interpreting (VRI) services; note takers; real-time computer-aided transcription services; written materials; exchange of written notes; telephone handset amplifiers; assistive listening devices; assistive listening systems; telephones compatible with hearing aids; closed caption decoders; open and closed captioning, including real-time captioning; voice, text, and video-based telecommunications products and systems, including text telephones (TTYs), videophones, and captioned telephones, or equally effective telecommunications devices; videotext displays; accessible electronic and information technology; or other effective methods of making aurally delivered information available to individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing.”

(Source: https://adata.org/publication/ADA-faq-booklet)

For more information, visit the American with Disabilities website (www.ada.gov).