Disabling Interpretations

Disabling Interpretations

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990 was intended to send a clear message to society that discrimination on the basis of disability is unacceptable. As with most civil rights laws, the courts were given primary responsibility for implementing disability rights policy.Mezey argues that the act has not fulfilled its potential primarily because of the judiciary's "disabling interpretations" in adjudicating ADA claims. In the decade of litigation following the enactment of the ADA, judicial interpretation of the law has largely constricted the parameters of disability rights and excluded large numbers of claimants from the reach of the law. The Supreme Court has not interpreted the act broadly, as was intended by Congress, and this method of decision making was for the most part mirrored by the courts below. The high court's rulings to expand state sovereign immunity and insulate states from liability in damage suits has also caused claimants to become enmeshed in litigation and has encouraged defendants to challenge other laws affecting disability rights. Despite the law's strong civil rights rhetoric, disability rights remain an imperfectly realized goal.

Disabling Barriers, Enabling Environments

`The strengths of this text are many. It has breadth and diversity in its content yet is presented in bite-size chapters. For those wishing to know more, it offers signposts to the relevant literature. The contributors have been carefully selected for their specific perspective yet these have been skilfully inter-related by the editors. It is now some 11 years since the first edition of this text was published. In my view, this second edition was worth the wait' - SCOLAG Journal `This has been a ground-breaking book...and I whole-heartedly welcome a new edition'- Professor Len Barton, School of Education, The University of Sheffield `It is a really well-structured book which has been very popular and widely used by students...Its great qualities are accessibility and diversity of contributors' - Jenny Corbett, Institute of Education, University of London `This book would be a valuable resource to students of disability studies and to health and social care staff and other professionals who work with disabled people'- Disability and Rehabilitation The Second Edition of this landmark text has been revised to provide an up-to-date accessible introductory text to the field of disability studies. In addition to analysing the barriers that disabled people encounter in education, housing, leisure and employment, the revised edition has new chapters on: · international issues · diversity among disabled people · sexuality · bioethics. Written by disabled people who are leading academics in the field, the text comprises 45 short and engaging chapters, to provide a broad-ranging and accessible introduction to disability issues. Disabling Barriers, Enabling Environments is an invaluable resource for both students and practitioners alike. It is an ideal text for undergraduates and postgraduates taking courses in disability studies, as well as disability courses in social work, education, health studies, sociology and social policy.

Interpretation for Disabled Visitors in the National Park System