Earlier today (5/20), I went to visit a deaf person in a hospital. When I arrived, there was a sign-language interpreter there. On the patient's night stand, there was a tty next to the phone. The interpreter was very skilled in making the communication between the patient and the doctor clear and accurate for both people.
Twenty-five years ago, a young deaf man was injured in an auto accident on the southside of Chicago. The paramedics brought him to a hospital emergency room. The young man pleaded for a sign-language interpreter. The hospital told him that he appeared to be okay, and that an interpreter was not needed. The hospital sent him home. He died six hours later from internal bleeding. The family sued the hospital and eventually got a settlement of over 5 million dollars.
The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) has been a great benefit for deaf people, persons with disabilities, and the larger community. (The interpreter and tty in the hospital room today are a result of the ADA.) The ADA has helped people get jobs; prevented people with disabilities from being arrested, tried and convicted unjustly; and has allowed deaf people to have access to the SAME medical services as non-disabled persons. At the same time, the ADA has saved businesses and organizations from costly law suits based on discrimination and the myths tied to people with disabilities.
The ADA is an incredible sign of hope to people in other countries. When I have explained the law in places such as Venezuela, Ecuador, Italy, deaf people and people with disabilities have said that such a law in their countries would change forever their lives for the better. The ADA is something that everyone - EVERYONE - in our country should prize and fight to maintain. People who claim that the law is an unfair or costly burden on society simply do not know what they are talking about.