25 Years On, Disabilities Act Has Changed Lives Of Millions - The Courier
NEW YORK (AP) — Five days before he was to start college, Fred Maahs’ world turned upside down. Off the Delaware coast in 1980, on the last day of summer vacation, the 18-year-old took a dive from his family’s boat into an unseen sandbar barely a foot below the surface, sustaining injuries that paralyzed him from the chest down. After months of medical care, he had to find a new college to attend — the one at which he enrolled said its campus was not accessible to wheelchairs. “For those first couple of years, I was really dependent on family or friends,” said Maahs. A blind or deaf person, or anyone with a host of other disabilities, also would find accommodations enhancing their independence and engagement — all of this the legacy of the sweeping Americans with Disabilities Act, which was signed into law 25... Some 2,000 people with disabilities — elated after years of activism — gathered outside the White House for the ceremony. The act is monumental in scope, intended to protect people with disabilities from discrimination and enable them to participate fully in the workforce and their communities. Source: thecourier.com
