Has your community changed its street corners to ramps with tactile warning devices (i.e., the “bumps” on the ramps)? This is a visible implementation of the Americans With Disabilities Act. Accessible building entrances are another. When observing a wheelchair user access a building or a visually impaired person pause at a corner when recognizing the tactile warning devices, the effect of the policy mandating these accommodations is clear.
But how visible is a learning disability if you do not know how to recognize it? How could other conditions in persons with disabilities not easily seen be treated by society? In this Discussion, you explore these issues.
To Prepare
· Focus on Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
· Reflect on the types of disabilities that are difficult to identify but need some type of accommodation.
· Reflect on the background you have discovered leading up to this act—the history or the prevailing societal attitudes at a given time, for example—and determine how to sum up what is most relevant in 2–3 sentences.
ASSIGNMENT BELOW
Post a response to the following:
· Describe the historical context of the policy in a few sentences.
· Describe the population the policy serves.
· Explain how the visibility of a disability (i.e., one that is easy to see vs. one that is not physically evident) may affect society’s perception of the need for and the acceptance of policies to help those with disabilities.