Americans with Disabilities Act

Who is Disabled?

Members of the general public who are able-bodied might not consider that they could become disabled; however, people do not always become disabled at birth. It can happen from accidents, diseases, or aging. Disabilities occur in all races, ethnicities, religions, ages, and social classes. Just as members of racial/ethnic minorities and women are often faced with unequal opportunities, so too are people with disabilities.

The disabled community has many diverse components. Just as “Hispanic” or “Asian American” brings together a variety of different social groups under the same label, “being disabled” is a broad term. The link among people with mental, physical, or sensory disabilities is not so much the similarity between their impairments as it is their common social experience of oppression, exclusion, and discrimination.

Under the ADA, the definition of disability has three parts. The first part applies to a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits at least one major life activity. Major life activities include walking, hearing, seeing, speaking, learning, and performing manual tasks. The second part covers a person who has a history of impairment. This applies to someone who has had cancer, mental illness, or a heart condition. The third part relates to someone who is regarded as having such impairment. In other words, a person may have scars on his or her face but have no physical or mental limitations and no history of having any impairment. The definition of disability is broad; however, some people have encountered discrimination simply because they have a history of disability or because their appearance leads people to perceive that they have a disability.

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