About the Book
This unique guidebook presents a comprehensive analysis of the new Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the most significant federal civil rights law in almost 30 years, and its impact on over four million American businesses, state and local governments, nonprofit associations, 87 percent of America's private sector jobs, and 22.7 million working-age people with disabilities.
Written by two Washington-based experts on the new federal mandate, the book relies on extensive interviews with federal officials and the expert opinion of business leaders, leaders in the disability community, and the authors of the legislation. Fersh and Thomas provide a clear analysis of the final federal regulations and their implications for businesses, nonprofit associations, state and local governments, and managers and employers who need to make modifications to physical barriers in places of public accommodation, such as stores and restaurants, and in barriers to equal employment in the workplace. The book uses case histories and Congressional reports and testimony to illustrate new employment procedures--from applications, testing, and insurance benefits to job descriptions, reasonable accommodation, and new rights in telecommunications and public ground transportation. The social, legislative, and economic history that led to the law's enactment is illustrated through photographs and 18 tables. Included are specific guidelines on how to interview and work with people with disabilities, containing specific sections on people who use wheelchairs, and people with mental retardation, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, hearing and visual impairments, AIDS, speech impairments, learning disabilities, and mental illness. Also featured are how to sections for developing a compliance plan, implementing reasonable accommodation, and how to create an ADA awareness program for employees. The book explores the successful use of workers with disabilities in companies over the last twenty years, and the high costs of unemployment among working-age people with disabilities in tax revenues and lost productivity. Leaders and experts, such as I. King Jordan, Ph.D., president of Gallaudet University, provide short articles on their perspective of the ADA.
Table of Contents:
Foreword by Senator J. Robert Kerrey
The Disabled Become Enabled
The Purpose and Provisions of the Americans with Disabilitiess Act
A Blueprint for Change
The Principal Employment Concepts of the ADA
The ADA Mandate for Nondiscrimination
Requirements of Places of Public Accommodation and State and Local Governments
The Role of the Employer and Human Resource Manager
Gaining a Better Awareness of the Applicant and the New Employee
The Age of Reason--Reasonable Accommodation
New Rights of People with Disabilities
ADA Enforcement: The Employer's Defenses and Employee's Remedies
Perspectives on the ADA
Appendix: Federal and National Association Resources
Notes
Select Bibliography
Index
About the Author :
DON FERSH is a medical writer in Washington, D.C., and former public affairs project director for the President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, the National Rehabilitation Association, and NIH's National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research. Mr. Fersh has contributed articles to The Washington Post, wrote Heart in Government for the American Heart Association in 1984 and, more recently, is the senior editor of The Alcohol Fact Book for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (1993).
PETER W. THOMAS, ESQ. is an attorney with the Washington, D.C. law firm of White, Verville, Fulton, and Saner. Mr. Thomas is the General Counsel of the American State of the Art Prosthetic Association, an advisory board member of the NIH's National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research, and Legislative Director of the Amputee Coalition of America.
Review :
"Complying with the Americans with Disabilities Act is an invaluable reference book for anyone affected by the legislation. It provides insight and guidance in an understandable and interesting format."-William H. Kolberg, President The National Alliance of Business
"This guidebook is designed to address the interests of people with disabilities, the concerns of business, and the questions of the general public about the ADA. It is a useful book because it is written in non-legal terms and is designed to be easily understood by anyone with an interest in the legislation."-From the Foreword by Senator J. Robert Kerrey
"This guidebook on the Americans with Disabilities Act bridges the gap between the Act itself and the implementation of the Act. It breathes life into the words of the law . . . If there is one essential resource about the ADA that belongs on all our desks, this is the one."-Bernard Posner Former Executive Director, President's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities
"This guidebook presents clear, concise information about the totality of the Americans with Disabilities Act--from inception to implementation. It is a useful resource for rehabilitation professionals, business leaders, and human resource managers. Interesting reading for all citizens who want to know more about the whys, whats, whens, and hows of the ADA."-Ann Ward Tourigny, Ph.D., CAE Executive Director National Rehabilitation Association
.,."For those directly affected, this book is a useful resource that interprets the law for them and, in the case of reluctant employers, dispel some of the fears they may have about implementing it. People who dread wading through the reams of legal and bureaucratic language in the Federal Register to find out what they need to do to comply with the ADA wll be especially appeciative of this plain-English guide."-Health Conquering Disabilities
?. . . provides detailed information on how managers and employers can implement the new law, how to interview, and how to enhance working relationships with employees with disabilities.?-AVDECIBEL
?...For those directly affected, this book is a useful resource that interprets the law for them and, in the case of reluctant employers, dispel some of the fears they may have about implementing it. People who dread wading through the reams of legal and bureaucratic language in the Federal Register to find out what they need to do to comply with the ADA wll be especially appeciative of this plain-English guide.?-Health Conquering Disabilities
?Fersh, a Washington medical writer, and Thomas, a lawyer, addresses the concerns of people with disabilities, the responsibilities and concerns of business, and the questions of the general public about ADA. Providing insight and considerable economic, legislative, and social history leading to the law's enactment, this useful resource is written in nonlegal terms and can easily be understood by anyone interested in the legislation. The work details how managers and employers can implement the law, how to interview and work better with employees with disabilities, and what the implications of the final federal regulations are. Included are tables, notes and appendix of federal and National Association Resources, and a selected bibliography. The book is similar but more expansive than Jeffrey Allen's Complying with the ADA.?-Library Journal
..."For those directly affected, this book is a useful resource that interprets the law for them and, in the case of reluctant employers, dispel some of the fears they may have about implementing it. People who dread wading through the reams of legal and bureaucratic language in the Federal Register to find out what they need to do to comply with the ADA wll be especially appeciative of this plain-English guide."-Health Conquering Disabilities
." . . provides detailed information on how managers and employers can implement the new law, how to interview, and how to enhance working relationships with employees with disabilities."-AVDECIBEL
"Fersh, a Washington medical writer, and Thomas, a lawyer, addresses the concerns of people with disabilities, the responsibilities and concerns of business, and the questions of the general public about ADA. Providing insight and considerable economic, legislative, and social history leading to the law's enactment, this useful resource is written in nonlegal terms and can easily be understood by anyone interested in the legislation. The work details how managers and employers can implement the law, how to interview and work better with employees with disabilities, and what the implications of the final federal regulations are. Included are tables, notes and appendix of federal and National Association Resources, and a selected bibliography. The book is similar but more expansive than Jeffrey Allen's Complying with the ADA."-Library Journal
