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Thu July 26, 2007

Landmark ADA legislation makes certain that everyone benefits

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LIFTS Jason Price, who has cerebral palsy, backs his wheelchair into a Metro Transit shuttle van driven by Jackie Gritz. Price rides to and from work at Shepherd Mall in Oklahoma City. He's a Social Security Administration vocational-rehabilitation coordinator. BY NATE BILLINGS, THE OKLAHOMAN
What the ADA provided
Conditions that constitute a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act:

Amputations, arthritis, autism, blindness and visual impairment, severe burns, cancer, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, deafness and hearing impairments, brain injury, spinal cord injury, mental illnesses, mental retardation, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, hemophilia, respiratory diseases, muscular dystrophy, musculoskeletal and neurological disorders, and stroke.

To get help
The state Department of Rehabilitation Services provides rehabilitation, employment and educational services for Oklahomans with disabilities. The agency also helps employers recruit qualified employees with disabilities and advises on workplace accessibility, assistive technology and tax incentives for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

For information on services go to www.okrehab.org, or call (800) 845-8476. The number is accessible by telecommunications equipment for the deaf.

What the ADA provided to the disabled and recognizable items for all Oklahomans:
PLUS

•Raised toilets

•Elevator controls in braille, lowered panels, and audible signals

•Braille, large-print and pictorial signage in public places

•Wider doors

•Wider shopping aisles

•Curb cuts at walkways

•Wheelchair seating

•Roll-under sinks

•Lower paper towels and soap dispenser

•And more

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By Jim Killackey
Staff Writer
Born in 1950 with muscular dystrophy and wheelchair-bound, a hungry Bill Austin frequently utilized a quirky tactic for getting into his favorite Oklahoma City restaurant for a meal.

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He'd go to the back of the establishment, push himself up the restaurant's only ramp used for food deliveries, cut through the restaurant's kitchen amid stares, frowns and groans, and then quickly get a table in the dining area.

Austin's past dilemma — denied access to a restaurant because he uses a wheelchair — underscores just how far Oklahoma has come since 1990, when then-President Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act, extending civil rights protections to an estimated 54 million Americans — and about 600,000 Oklahomans — with disabilities.

Today is the signing's 17th anniversary.

"The Americans with Disabilities Act has helped everyone because everyone benefits when qualified people with disabilities go to work and participate fully in their communities,” said Linda Parker, sta