Synergy: Americans with Disabilities Act

The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. The ADA requires reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities and accessibility to public spaces. Before the act was passed, disabilities rights activists shed their assistive devices and crawled up the 100 steps of the Capitol to show support for the bill.

ALL THE WAY TO THE TOP by Annette Bay Pimentel tells the true story of Jennifer Keelan, a second grader with cerebral palsy who participated in the “Capitol Crawl” and other activities to promote awareness of disabilities.

Jennifer Keelan describes her experience climbing the Capitol Steps in a YouTube video. Learn about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) at the US Department of Justice website.

It’s Our Story: Jennifer Keelan
https://youtu.be/HesvwnM-0nE
https://youtu.be/qThC79iYs1U

ADA Website
https://www.ada.gov/

ARC courtesy of Sourcebooks Explore.

Website Review: Americans with Disabilities Act 25th Anniversary

Celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26, 2015.

To learn about the Americans with Disability Act (ADA), go to the government website at http://www.ada.gov/.

The ADA Anniversary Tool Kit website at http://www.adaanniversary.org/provides lots of resources to support this important anniversary. The ADA25 Pledge page focuses on ways to celebrate and recommit to the ADA. The ADA Anniversary Publications page provides definitions, history, statistics, and the official proclamation. The ADA Resources page provides information about history, technology, laws, and the impact of ADA on business, employment, and government. The ADA Videos page provides informational and educational videos about ADA and disabilities.

Also, check out the ADA Legacy Project at http://adalegacy.org/ This website is intended to preserve, celebrate, and educate people about the disability rights movement.

Librarians may wish to set up a display featuring both fiction and nonfiction works related to people with disabilities. Use the ADA Anniversary media kit for lots of ideas.

To download the media kit, go to http://www.adaanniversary.org/media-kit.

To learn more about how the American Library Association is celebrating this anniversary, go to http://www.ala.org/…/ascla-celebrates-25th-anniversary-amer….