[R-Fristrom]

It's apparent that many people in society are insensitive to the needs of people who are physically challenged. The Federal Government created laws to correct this issue. So why is it that the laws are not implemented?

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Name : R-Fristrom, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 46, City : Fairview, State : TN Country : United States, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 

[Augustine23640]

It seems as though you are asking two questions: first, why are people insensitive, and second, why are laws not implemented? Two separate issues. I don't know why the laws are not implemented. But as far as people being insensitive, it is because the law has done nothing to change their minds, nor can it. You can legislate fair treatment, but you cannot make people like it or understand it, and you cannot make people think right by enacting laws. Act right, perhaps. Think right, not necessarily.

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[D. Walter]

As with other laws, sometimes people will not follow them unless forced to do so. As a disability rights activist and someone with a disability, I have seen at times that the Americans with Disabilities Act is not followed until a person makes it an issue. Example: You need a place to stay, and for whatever reason the motel does not provide access for someone with a disability, and they cannot enter or exit safely. So you explain the law to the ower, and they still do not fix the problem - until you talk about getting the legal system involved. Things are improving because buildings are being made with the ADA in mind.

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[David25864]

While everyone had sympathy for somebody with a disability, the 'Civil Rights' model for the law was odd. Unlike being black, being disabled is actually having a legitimate differance. When a hotel owner bars a black person, they are excluding him from something he could perfectly well otherwise enjoy, i.e. he could use the hotel room as well as any white person, it is the hotel owner's prejudice that bars him. If the hotel owner removes that barrier of prejudice, it costs him 0$. You are actually open to use the hotel, if you CAN, but unlike the black person, you can't. To remove this 'discrimination' in the ADA causes the private owner to pay for the public good of charity to the disabled thru his private funds. Well, naturally the owner is reluctant to spend his own money when he dosn't get the benefit. If the government wants this, it should pay for it.

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[M-H]

In addition to the issue cited by D. Walter, which is unfortunately absolutely true, it is entirely possible that the people in question are ignorant of the needs of the physically challenged. I don't know if this issue is confined to the South, but I know that V.D. took a more prominent place in my high school education than how to politely encounter a person with a disability in a public setting. I'm lucky I stumbled across a handful of correct answers on the internet. For instance, it would likely not have ocurred to me without reading an article on the subject that often the differently abled resent being offered assistance. I now know to resist the subconscious urge that most people feel to raise their voices to someone who is not hard of hearing. (I would not have realized such a tendency existed!) In short, ignorance of what the needs are and how to meet them may be the culprit of this insensitivity. As my father has said on numerous occasions- never attribute to malice that which can be explained by stupidity.

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[Christy]

I can't answer your question but I can say that it truthfully enrages me that the ADA isn't enforced as much. I'm an American Sign Language interpretation/Deaf education major and when people find out, they often try to get me to come interpret for free so that they dont have to pay for an actual interpretor.

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