Disabilities Act has an anniversary

And it may be short-lived.

This should be a momentous occasion.

As the nation marks the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act on Monday, a new survey finds that the law has not made meaningful progress in improving the quality of life for people with disabilities.

Many social and economic gaps still exist between the 54 million Americans with disabilities and those without, according to a survey conducted by the Kessler Foundation/National Organization on Disability. The report found that the disabled still lag in key areas such as employment, access to health care and socializing.

But the way things are going, it’s about to get worse.

This is beyond comprehension.  Plans are apparently afoot to gut NHS services and more strictly ration care.

And the recess appointment President Obama just made to run things like this in the States is in love with that system.

Wesley Smith, who knows this stuff better than most anyone, warns we’re heading for a meltdown.

We are at jarring odds with human rights and the protection of human dignity in this country.

For Eric Wright, 25, the ADA has been a factor for almost his entire life. He was born with cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair to get to his job at the Internal Revenue Service in Washington, D.C., where he helps the agency comply with federal requirements for making the agency’s electronic and information technology accessible to the disabled.

Wright participated in individual education plans (IEPs) throughout grade school, and in college he used a note taker in classes and was given extra time on tests because it took him longer to type.

“There was never a point in my life where, if you saw me outside my home, that you wouldn’t know I had a disability,” Wright said. “But, thanks to the ADA, the people around me — including my family, teachers and employers — knew that I shouldn’t be excluded from a normal life.”

Pray that doesn’t change.