ADA Gets a Touch-Up

Despite not yet signing on with the United Nations Treaty on Disabilities, the U.S. House of Representatives this past week succeeded in improving and defining the language of the Americans with Disabilities Act, first signed into law under President George Bush Sr.

The improvements have many ramifications, most notable among them is expanded legal protection afforded by courtroom-interpretation-bypassing steps like further defining what constitutes a disability. Why?

Lawmakers said Wednesday that people with epilepsy, diabetes, cancer, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis and other ailments had been improperly denied protection because their conditions could be controlled by medication or were in remission. In a Texas case, for example, a federal judge said a worker with epilepsy could not be considered disabled because he was taking medications that reduced the frequency of seizures.

The next step is for the Senate to adopt a similar measure. And with Sen. Tom Harkin on the case (considering his overall zeal for the cause of people with disabilities), I am sure they will act "in the near future."

Kennedy Family Member Almost Gets it

According to a new story in the Boston Globe, hundreds of thousands of refugees are not getting the care and oportunities they need for a simple reason: they're disabled.

Jean Kennedy Smith (a former U.S. ambassador to Ireland) does an admirable job of pointing attention to this plight, but she misses something that a lot of people miss. Read this excerpt and see if you notice it too:

We know from witnessing many examples of remarkable people who have overcome the barriers surrounding disabilities that they, too, possess skills, knowledge, and experience that can help them remake their lives and rebuild their communities.

Now, let's not be unfair, because she comes so much farther in her article than many people. Most folks think of people with disabilities as "those people" eligible for little more than pity. Ms. Kennedy Smith apparently knows the reality (that people with disabilities are valuable), because she had an immediate family member with a disability, her sister, Rosemary.

But we're still missing that last little step in realizing the worth of people with disabilities. Ms. Kennedy Smith believes that they are valuable because 'they too, possess skills, knowledge, and experience.' Oh, she comes close. But truth is truth: people with disabilities are not valuable because of the things they can do (nor are we), nor are they valuable just because they're disabled. They are valuable because they reflect the image of God and thereby have an equal and immeasurable capacity to reflect His love and grace, to be living testimonies, just as we are called to be.

But let's not quibble too much, for Ms. Kennedy Smith's got a big head start on most of us. Most folks don't even realize that there's any value at all to the life of someone who's disabled. Not only has Ms. Kennedy Smith realized this truth, she's passed it on to her son William, who started the International Disability Rights Monitor. Not only that, but she herself started a group called VSA Arts. We can learn a lot from the Kennedy family.

Oh, and William's work on the International Disability Rights Monitor reminds me about the UN Treaty on Disabilities. Click here to read about it, and click here to get your legislative representatives to get the United States signed up. We STILL haven't signed on. Let's get this done!

Disabled? Kick Him Off the Plane!

A mother and her young son with autism were kicked off an American Airlines flight in North Carolina on Monday. The fracas escalated from a flight attendant's insistence to the pilot turning around the plane, including, according to the mother:

"The pilot made an announcement that there was a woman and her child on the plane and the child is uncontrollable. And at that point I just broke down," Farrell said.

The full story is available by clicking here.

So, we have two points of view here, but the questions are still pretty fundamental. How should the airline staff have handled this
situation? What should the mom have done differently?

Ask these questions in light of this basic philosophy: People with disabilities require different interaction, but deserve the same respect and opportunities as anyone else. Moreover, if we truly value people with disabilities as 'co-heirs with Christ,' then how would you handle this situation as a flight attendant or pilot?