Mental Disabilities And The Americans With Disabilities Act

An evaluation of the current efforts under the ADA in the area of psychiatric disabilities & employment, & a review of the data that may assist future implementation. Conclusion is that the current level of guidance, technical assistance, & research activities are unlikely to optimally assist employers & people with psychiatric disabilities in exercising their rights & responsibilities under the law. Describes a variety of workplace accommodations that may be useful to people with psychiatric disabilities. Glossary. Illustrated.

A pioneering reference for the community of people with mental retardation, their families, employers, lawyers, researchers, and policy makers. Based on empirical research and legal analysis, examines the antidiscrimination protections set out in the US act regarding employment. Especially considers

This report is based on the public hearing on the Americans with Disabilities Act which the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights held on November 12-13, 1998 to "investigate how the ADA was accomplishing its objectives of ensuring equality, independence, and freedom for people with disabilities"--P iii

Looks at how the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) addresses or fails to address the world of discrimination for 2 groups of individuals with mental disabilities: (1) those who are part of mainstream America--successful actors, politicians, lawyers, and writers who report that other people minimize or refuse to believe their struggles and symptoms; and (2) those who are publicly identified as "mentally ill" by being institutionalized or on public disability benefits who report that they are considered totally incapable of any kind of achievement. The author examines ADA cases in a variety of areas, from private insurance and professional discipline to disability benefits and institutionalization. The common thread underlying discrimination is the failure to recognize that mental disabilities involve a continuing struggle that can--and often does--coexist with achievement and success. This book is a resource for lawyers, people with mental disabilities, therapists, and anyone who seeks to understand the full impact of disability law. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2004 APA, all rights reserved).

The Americans with Disabilities Act was heralded by its congressional sponsors as an emancipation proclamation for people with disabilities and as the most important civil rights legislation passed in a generation. This book offers an assessment of what has actually occurred since the ADA's enactment in 1990. In empirically based articles, contributors from the fields of law, health policy, government, and business reveal the unsoundness of charges from the right that the ADA will bankrupt industry, and assumptions on the left that the ADA will prove ineffective in helping people with disabilities enter and remain in the workforce.