Op-ed: ADA restoration is crucial
March 31st, 2008‘Now is the time to act to protect the disabled’
From the Chicago Tribune:
Lynne Landsberg, a rabbi who sustained a traumatic brain injury in a car accident, urges speedy action on the ADA Restoration Act of 2007. It is needed to close loopholes in the ADA and ensure the comprehensive civil rights protections the 1990 bill was meant to provide, she writes.
Before my brain injury, I belonged to one minority that was strong and articulate — the American Jewish community. Now, I belong to a second minority that is daily the victim of discrimination yet remains powerless and barely heard — people with disabilities.
… Even with résumés that indicate they are qualified for the job, [people with disabilities] must convince employers that the discomfort disability engenders will not impede their work ethic.
Unfortunately, thousands of Americans face unconscionable acts of disability-related discrimination in the workplace every day.
… We must encourage Congress to recognize that people with disabilities are human beings with full civil rights who want to work, support their families and live their lives.
More on Lynne Landsberg from Washington Jewish Week.

