Overview

This unique guidebook presents a comprehensive analysis of the new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the most significant federal civil rights law in almost 30 years, and its impact on over four million American businesses, state and local governments, nonprofit associations, 87 percent of America's private sector jobs, and 22.7 million working-age people with disabilities. Written by two Washington-based experts on the new federal mandate, the book relies on extensive interviews with federal officials and the expert opinion of business leaders, leaders in the disability community, and the authors of the legislation. Fersh and Thomas provide a clear analysis of the final federal regulations and their implications for businesses, nonprofit associations, state and local governments, and managers and employers who need to make modifications to physical barriers in places of public accommodation, such as stores and restaurants, and in barriers to equal employment in the workplace. The book uses case histories and Congressional reports and testimony to illustrate new employment procedures--from applications, testing, and insurance benefits to job descriptions, reasonable accommodation, and new rights in telecommunications and public ground transportation. The social, legislative, and economic history that led to the law's enactment is illustrated through photographs and 18 tables. Included are specific guidelines on how to interview and work with people with disabilities, containing specific sections on people who use wheelchairs, and people with mental retardation, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, hearing and visual impairments, AIDS, speech impairments, learning disabilities, and mental illness. Also featured are how to sections for developing a compliance plan, implementing reasonable accommodation, and how to create an ADA awareness program for employees. The book explores the successful use of workers with disabilities in companies over the last twenty years, and the high costs of unemployment among working-age people with disabilities in tax revenues and lost productivity. Leaders and experts, such as I. King Jordan, Ph.D., president of Gallaudet University, provide short articles on their perspective of the ADA.

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9780899307145

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Reviews

This guidebook presents clear, concise information about the totality of the Americans with Disabilities Act--from inception to implementation. It is a useful resource for rehabilitation professionals, business leaders, and human resource managers. Interesting reading for all citizens who want to know more about the whys, whats, whens, and hows of the ADA. -Ann Ward Tourigny, Ph.D., CAE Executive Director National Rehabilitation Association

Author Information

DON FERSH is a medical writer in Washington, D.C., and former public affairs project director for the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, the National Rehabilitation Association, and NIH's National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research. Mr. Fersh has contributed articles to The Washington Post, wrote Heart in Government for the American Heart Association in 1984 and, more recently, is the senior editor of The Alcohol Fact Book for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (1993). PETER W. THOMAS, ESQ. is an attorney with the Washington, D.C. law firm of White, Verville, Fulton, and Saner. Mr. Thomas is the General Counsel of the American State of the Art Prosthetic Association, an advisory board member of the NIH's National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research, and Legislative Director of the Amputee Coalition of America.

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