20 Years! Two decades. 240 months. 7,300 days. It doesn’t matter how you add it up, slice or dice it: 20 years is a significant period of time.

In the 20 years since the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law, there have been many positive changes. Why is it then that, two decades after the passage of that landmark civil rights law, we are still struggling to get it recognized and implemented--and even enforced--by those who are important to making equal access a reality?

Like many of my peers, I am celebrating the 20th anniversary by gathering in Washington, DC to listen to illustrious speakers and dance the night away to raise funds for a newly formed Political Action Committee that will support disability-friendly candidates. My friends across the country may be attending different celebrations, but the cause is the same. We live at a time that has witnessed passage of the greatest disability civil rights legislation of all time, and some of us have been fortunate enough to play a part in getting it written, passed or implemented. Millions more have benefitted through the opening of employment opportunities, the elimination of architectural barriers, and a commitment to a world of communication that includes those who have the most difficulty communicating.

I was injured in 1988, pre-ADA, and immediately faced obstacles and challenges that I didn’t know existed prior to my injury. The ADA promised the end to those frustrations. My battles with the local transit agency over inaccessible service would soon be unecessary because of requirements for wheelchair lifts on all new buses. The need to roll down the streets because of impassable curbs and sidewalks would also come to an end. Communities were putting curb ramps in place for the enjoyment of not only people in wheelchairs, but mothers with strollers and teenagers on skateboards. There have been exceptions of course. Despite such clear-cut mandates, it has still been necessary for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to sue several state and local governments in order to get them to install those curb ramps and operate their transit systems in a manner that is required by the ADA.

As we reflect on the great accomplishments and positive changes that have occurred since July 26,1990, it is impossible to ignore the work that lies ahead. The Supreme Court upheld the purpose of the ADA in its Olmstead decision over a decade ago, yet states have failed to make life in the community their preferred option over institutionalization—even though there are proven cost savings by doing so. Money can’t follow the person when states facing ongoing financial crises want to cut off the funding altogether to balance their budgets. Thousands who rely on Medicaid-funded homecare are at risk of losing it altogether as long as it remains a state option. The Department of Homeland Security and DOJ have each emphasized the requirement for emergency preparedness planning and response to include people with disabilities, yet that input is lacking in many communities across the country.

In 2008, Congress reconfirmed the intent of the ADA by reminding America that the law covers even those of us who have less obvious disabilities. While many of us are hopeful that this will eventually result in greater numbers of employed Americans with disabilities, the nation’s unemployment rate remains at an all-time high and businesses struggle with the impact of an ongoing recession instead of seeking new employees. It is doubtful that people with disabilities, even the most highly qualified ones, will be given a place at the head of the line when the economy finally picks up and businesses start hiring again.

This anniversary is an important one, but most importantly we should be recommitting to the promise of the ADA by pushing for the components that will make our dreams of true independence a reality. Simple steps like passage of the Community Choice Act, stepped up enforcement on the part of DOJ when local governments fail to follow the law and cutting off federal funding for entities that fail to comply with the ADA could make that happen.

We need to support the new leadership at the federal Office of Personnel Management as they seek to finally make the federal government a model employer of people with disabilities after two decades of failing to make that happen. We also need to seek changes that will allow thousands of unemployed people with disabilities to reenter the labor pool and begin working without risk of losing critical health care coverage and similar benefits.

Remind yourselves, and everyone else, that we only seek equal access and opportunity—not “special treatment.” To settle for anything less is not what the “fathers” of the ADA intended.

©2010 Michael Collins