ection 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 After being vetoed twice by President Nixon, Congress passed Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 as the first disability civil rights law in the United States. Until this point, it was not considered discrimination for people with disabilities to be excluded or segregated. This Act also recognized for the first time that people with disabilities were a minority class with civil rights (https://drc.ucsc.edu/about/more-history.html). Section 504 protected people with disabilities from exclusion and unequal treatment in schools, jobs, and the community by prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability in public or private programs and activities that receive federal aid. It read,
Three laws that have shaped and resolved the rights and services available to the students with disabilities will be discussed in this section. Section 504 of Rehabilitation Act of 1973, the Individuals with Disabilities Act( IDEA )and The Americans Disabilities Act( ADA). The IDEA is the major federal statute providing educational rights to students with disabilities. Even so, two other statutes, Section 504 of the rehabilitation Act and ADA which was modified recently (ADA,2006,2008), also have implication for the disciplinary process when it involves students with disabilities ( Russo & Osborne, 2009). Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act is the first federal civil rights law protecting the rights of persons with disabilities.
Throughout the course of history, federal legislation and Supreme Court decisions have empowered the evolution of rights for Americans With Disabilities. Milestones made by both branches of government have efficiently modernized and safeguarded this marginalized group of people. For instance, discrimination against these individuals is prohibited, in manners such as, education, public transportation, and employment. However, in the free country of America, their freedom wasn’t granted. Restaurants were able to refuse service to people with disabilities and people confined to wheelchairs were forced to leave them behind to be able to ride a bus or a train.
Thus employment for this part of the population was very hard. What this act implemented was that there should be the same opportunities in the workplace for people with disabilities as well. This however was supposed to have already been covered by the Civil Rights Act of 1964. One of the problems faced with the addition of having disabled people in the workplace would be that there would be a lot of potential risks not only to that person but as well as to the rest of the workers if someone disabled would have a job in a specific area of work. Therefore, there would have to be some small things worked out such giving people with disabilities part-time or having to modify the equipment used in the workplace.
Throughout history the government has passed legislation that impacts people with disabilities. Those acts and laws created exist only to improve people’s standards of living. The Poor Relief Act of 1601 was extremely important because it was the first piece of legislation that tried to help people with disabilities. In this act, the government was basically recognizing that they had a responsibility with people with disabilities. Even though this was in England and it actually did not work, it has great significance because it was the first step.
This allowed those with disabilities to get the help they needed and were protected by the law. The Rehabilitation Act allowed equal opportunities for employment for those with disabilities, representing equality. “The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Section 504) provided equal opportunity for employment within the federal government and in federally funded programs, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of either physical or mental disability.” Before this era, individuals with disabilities faced institutionalization, segregation, and discrimination in all aspects of life. Similarly, the civil rights struggles of the 1960s and 1970s inspired the Native Americans to demand their sovereignty and rights.
In this time period, many individuals were also forced to live in a mental institution. The 1940s and 1950s had a significant impact on working with individuals who had a disability. Many World War II veterans returned home with disabilities, placing pressure on the government to assist them with rehabilitation and vocational training. Although this was good, there was still not
However, there are other documents that support the needs of these students, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the Assistive technology act. Section 504 focal point is to prohibit discrimination of a student with disabilities on the basis of the student’s disability (ED). This is a federal law intended to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities in programs and activities that receive Federal financial assistance from the U.S. Department of Education (ED). Section 504 states: "No otherwise qualified individual with a disability in the United States . . . shall, solely by reason of her or his disability, be excluded from the participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance" (ED).
The section 504 of the rehabilitation Acts of 1973 is a civil rights law that does not allow discrimination against people that are living with disabilities. It gives them the right to receive federal financial assistance, this includes federal funds. In addition, section 504 also supply that, no qualified disabled individual that is living in the United States of America should by any cause of their disability, be prohibited from the participation in, be denied the advantages of, or to be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance (ED. GOV, 2010).
According to adata.org, it says “ The ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life, including jobs, schools, transportation, and all public and private places that are open to the general public. The purpose of the law is to make sure that people with disabilities have the same rights and opportunities as everyone else.” I am very glad that the ADA finally became a law and people have changed the way they treated the
According to the Ability Center, The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) makes it unlawful to discriminate in employment against a qualified individual with a disability. The ADA also, outlaw’s discrimination against individuals with disabilities in State and local government services, public accommodations, transportation and telecommunications (Blanck 5). This document explains the part of the ADA that prohibits job discrimination. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission along with State and local civil rights enforcement agencies, work to enforce this part on the law (Blanck). The law unquestionably improved the lives of people with disabilities in many ways, especially by enhancing their access to businesses and public places.
In 1975, The Education of the Handicapped Act was passed and Occupational Therapy was included in the schools as a “Related
As the first legislation to bring full legal citizenship to Americans with disabilities, the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) was signed in 1990. It essentially protects citizens with physical disabilities, intellectual disabilities, sensory disabilities, and mental health disabilities. It mandates local, state, and federal governments and programs to be easily accessible. Companies are required to provide reasonable accommodations for disabled workers. Many restaurants and stores are required to provide reasonable modifications to ensure accessibility.
Throughout the 20th century, federal and local legislation in the U.S. codified rights and mandated services for disabled people, eventually including the intellectually disabled. In the early 1960s, President Kennedy established the President's
The purpose of educators is to provide an equal opportunity education to all students, regardless of his or her ability. The IDEA lists specific disabilities that include intellectual and specific learning disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, speech or language impairments, emotional disturbances, deaf-blindness, hearing, and other health impairments. Additional disabilities include visual and orthopedic impairments, traumatic brain injury, and multiple disabilities. The provisions in section 504 of the Vocational Rehabilitation Act of 1973 guard against discrimination and covers disabilities that are not listed under the IDEA, which include medical and health ailments, learning difficulties, and attention deficit-hyperactive disorder (ADHD)
