Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), 17th anniversary (July 26, 2007)

The Columbia Encyclopedia says that the Americans with Disabilities Act is a "U.S. civil-rights law, enacted 1990, that forbids discrimination of various sorts against persons with physical or mental handicaps. Its primary emphasis is on enabling these persons to enter the job market and remain employed, but it also outlaws most physical barriers in public accommodations, transportation, telecommunications, and government services." For an overview, watch the short film Nobody is Burning Wheelchairs that explains what the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is, explores attitudes toward people with disabilities, and shows that disabled persons can make contributions in mainstream society.

For more understanding of the experiences of people with disabilities, watch a movie or read a novel featuring characters with disabilities. Use the Movies & TV Programs (fiction video) Media Finder or the Fiction & Literature Media Finder and select "people with disabilities" from the type of character pulldown menu.

Movies (including many biopics)

• The Miracle Worker dramatizes the story of the young Helen Keller, a blind, deaf, and mute girl who is isolated in her own world until Annie Sullivan, her teacher, leads her into awareness.


• My Left Foot relates the story of Christy Brown who, with his mother's help, realized his creative potential and overcame his cerebral palsy to become an internationally-renowned painter and writer.


• Ray profiles the life of the musician Ray Charles who became blind at age seven and whose mother insisted that he find his own way in life and not accept handouts.


• In the Japanese samurai movie Zatoichi, a nomadic, blind masseur and gambler wanders into a town and befriends a pair of geishas. Soon Zatoichi reveals that behind his humble facade, he is a master swordsman who can hold his own with criminals and gang members.

Novels range from John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men and Daniel Keyes' Flowers for Algernon to Dean Koontz' One Door Away from Heaven. We have children's fiction, too.

Other media materials about the ADA and the experiences of the disabled (select "disability studies" from the selected interdisciplinary studies pulldown menu on the Mega Media Finder) include:

Nonfiction videos

• The Ten Commandments of Communicating with People with Disabilities


• HBO's Without Pity: A Film about Abilities features a cross section of disabled Americans who live full, productive lives despite their disabilities. Narrated by Christopher Reeve.


• A Little History Worth Knowing traces the history of people with disabilities, including historical discrimination and the movement for civil rights for people with disabilities in the United States. Reviews stereotypes, media images, and the effect of today's technology on people's ability to work and live independently.


• Designing for Accessibility: An Overview of the ADA Standards for Accessible Design presents the requirements of the ADA standards for physical and communications accessibility in public buildings and commercial, state, and local government facilities by topic for architects and other.


• In the Land of the Deaf explores deaf life and culture in France and the growing controversy involving "curing" deafness. Includes portraits of a charismatic sign language teacher and a woman treated as mentally ill because her hearing problem was misdiagnosed.


• Vital Signs: Crip Culture Talks Back is a documentary about a national disability arts community that explores disability as the experience of a politically disenfranchised constituency. Consists of interviews and clips of performance pieces from a variety of artistic formats including: performance art, fiction, poetry, stand-up comedy, drama, personal anecdotes, and scholarly research.


• Dancing from the Inside Out: Three Stories from AXIS Dance Troupe tells the stories of three dancers from the Axis Dance Troupe who became injured and what it means to them to be able to express themselves through dance with the use of wheelchairs.

Pictures

Software, including RSS: Ready, Set, Sign for learning American Sign Language (ASL).

Dolls and puppets with various disabilities to help children better understand and relate to people with disabilities

We also have many materials for the blind and visually-impaired (choose "materials for the blind and visually-impaired" under the specific materials menu on the Mega Media Finder), including audio-described videos (where onscreen action is narrated during gaps in the original dialog) and other materials, including games (such as Monopoly and scrabble), tactile maps, and Braille rulers and writing slates. For the deaf and hearing-impaired we have many videos with closed-captioning.