ADA spurs worldwide disability-rights movement

By Steve Lash The Daily Record Newswire BALTIMORE - The Americans with Disabilities Act has not only empowered millions in the United States during the past quarter century but has spurred global movements to help liberate people imprisoned by physical barriers and change attitudes of those who believe the disabled cannot succeed, a leading disability-rights advocate said Wednesday. The international attention accompanying ADA's implementation led to adoption in 2006 of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, a treaty signed by more than 150 countries, including the United States, said David Morrissey, executive director of the Washington-based U.S. International Council on Disabilities. Ironically, however, legislators in the nation that helped launch this global rights movement have yet to ratify the treaty; the U.S. Senate fell five votes short of ratifying the convention in 2012, Morrissey said at a conference on advocating for the disabled. Morrissey urged those in attendance to join USICD, a non-governmental organization, in pressing the Senate to ratify the accord. "A world movement was really born" with the ADA's 1990 enactment, Morrissey said. "We have much to be proud of. We still have much to do." He said opposition to the disability-rights treaty is rooted in "myths," such as it will infringe on U.S. sovereignty by enabling a world body to dictate what laws and regulations the United States must adopt on behalf of the disabled. A misperception also persists that the treaty will interfere with the freedom of parents to decide what is in the best interest of their children with disabilities, Morrissey said. In reality, the treaty mirrors the ADA in its call for an end to job bias and for architectural changes in public accommodations; the convention imposes no additional requirements on the United States and does not restrain parents in the upbringing of their children, he added. The one-day conference, "ADA25: Lessons in Leadership and Legacy," celebrated the 25th anniversary of the ADA, which then-President George H.W. Bush signed into law on July 26, 1990. The Daily Record and WYPR served as media sponsors of the conference at the Constitution Center building. In keeping with the conference's theme, Morrissey urged disability-rights advocates to reignite on a global level the movement that led to the ADA's enactment with bipartisan congressional support. Back in 1990, the Senate's liberal lion, Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts, and conservative stalwart Orrin G. Hatch of Utah united behind the ADA to ensure equal rights in employment and public accommodations for people with disabilities. During floor debate on the ADA, both senators gave moving speeches on how disabled relatives had been not a burden but a guiding influence in their lives. The challenge now is assisting the disabled in countries where their rights movements are either unborn or in their infancy, Morrissey said. In these nations, many people still believe a disabled person is "bad luck" and a "curse" on their families, he added. "People with disabilities globally are overly, disproportionately represented in poverty," Morrissey said. "We have to be a leader in the world to tear down those barriers," he added. "This is the moment to empower our brothers and sisters with disabilities." Published: Tue, Jul 14, 2015