0:00:00.000,0:00:02.393 Hi, I'm Beth Haller. 0:00:02.393,0:00:08.413 I'm a professor of Mass Communication[br]at Towsen University in Maryland. 0:00:08.413,0:00:12.872 I also teach Disability Studies there[br]and at several other campuses. 0:00:14.344,0:00:18.643 I teach at City University of New York[br]and their Disability Studies program; 0:00:18.643,0:00:23.049 I teach at York University in Toronto[br]and their Disability Studies program; 0:00:23.049,0:00:26.990 I teach at University of Texas, Arlington[br]and their Disability Studies minor. 0:00:28.290,0:00:32.698 So I've been doing research since[br]the early 90's 0:00:32.698,0:00:35.579 about media representations of people[br]with disabilities. 0:00:36.247,0:00:39.178 So I have a kind of unique[br]relationship to the ADA 0:00:39.178,0:00:44.070 because I did my dissertation on[br]how the news media covered it. 0:00:44.070,0:00:48.464 So before I went to Temple University[br]in Philadelphia to get my PhD, 0:00:48.464,0:00:52.963 I was at University of Maryland College[br]Park getting my Masters and 0:00:55.266,0:00:57.762 I started that in 1989, 0:00:57.762,0:01:01.182 and there's a reason for all these numbers[br](laughs) these dates, 0:01:01.182,0:01:05.527 and in 1988 is when the Deaf President[br]Now movement happened 0:01:05.527,0:01:10.648 at Gallaudet University in DC, and I think[br]somewhere in the back of my mind 0:01:10.648,0:01:17.289 I knew about what was happening because I[br]was a journalist before I became academic. 0:01:17.289,0:01:24.733 So when I started at College Park in 1989[br]I ended up doing an article for a class 0:01:24.733,0:01:29.529 about a deaf student at Gallaudet and I[br]got very interested in the deaf community, 0:01:29.529,0:01:31.760 there's a huge deaf community[br]in the DC area. 0:01:31.760,0:01:36.009 Ended up doing my Masters thesis on[br]how the deaf community was represented 0:01:36.009,0:01:38.832 before, during and after [br]Deaf President Now 0:01:38.832,0:01:41.907 in the New York Times and the[br]Washington Post, and it kind of 0:01:41.907,0:01:44.621 that was a jumping-off point. 0:01:44.621,0:01:50.551 When I left College Park it was 1991[br]and so the ADA had just been passed 0:01:50.551,0:01:54.002 and when I got to Temple to start [br]working on my PhD 0:01:54.002,0:01:57.167 I knew that I wanted to still work in[br]the area of disability 0:01:57.167,0:02:00.720 and we just had this major disability[br]rights law passed. 0:02:01.930,0:02:05.766 I remember it more as a focus[br]of my research 0:02:05.766,0:02:11.423 cause I don't necessarily remember seeing[br]the actual coverage on the day it happened 0:02:11.423,0:02:16.773 in 1990, but I do remember looking at all[br]the coverage because that was the subject 0:02:16.773,0:02:18.663 of my dissertation. 0:02:19.463,0:02:23.705 So it was really interesting to look[br]at it as an academic 0:02:23.705,0:02:28.530 and to kind of watch it happen and[br]then not happen (laughs) 0:02:28.530,0:02:30.463 as it moved into the future. 0:02:30.464,0:02:36.014 So my dissertation looked at how the[br]mainstream news media, 0:02:36.014,0:02:40.762 you know, all the big news magazines[br]and the major newspapers back then. 0:02:41.792,0:02:45.607 So I finished my dissertation in '94,[br]graduated in '95 0:02:45.607,0:02:53.294 so it was very early days of the ADA and [br]so it wasn't really being implemented yet 0:02:53.294,0:02:57.769 because they gave several years for[br]people to get into compliance 0:02:57.769,0:03:04.221 but as the years have passed it's been[br]very interesting to watch how things 0:03:04.221,0:03:06.389 weren't happening. 0:03:06.389,0:03:09.005 And I think what we all thought was[br]going to happen was: 0:03:09.005,0:03:12.420 Congress passes this major[br]disability rights law and 0:03:12.420,0:03:16.351 then people would follow it[br]because it's now federal law 0:03:16.351,0:03:18.833 not to discriminate based on disability 0:03:18.833,0:03:21.979 but that isn't what happened (laughs). 0:03:21.979,0:03:29.607 And from a media standpoint, that really[br]kind of hurt the ADA because- 0:03:29.607,0:03:33.744 and I've even had this conversation with[br]Disability Studies scholars and 0:03:33.744,0:03:37.525 disability rights activists-[br]because they I think thought 0:03:37.525,0:03:41.134 in that same way that it's now law[br]and everything will be fine, 0:03:41.134,0:03:48.242 and there was such a history of being[br]covered in the media so badly 0:03:48.246,0:03:54.176 that the activists thought they could get[br]this past and everything would be fine 0:03:54.176,0:03:56.410 and they didn't need the[br]media for anything. 0:03:57.150,0:04:01.212 So I come onto the scene, I start going[br]to Society for Disability Studies 0:04:01.212,0:04:06.553 meetings in the early 90's,[br]started presenting my research 0:04:06.553,0:04:10.330 and even the disability community in those[br]first early years right after the ADA 0:04:10.330,0:04:14.487 didn't understand why the[br]media was important. 0:04:14.487,0:04:16.853 Because I remember presenting[br]at a conference, 0:04:16.853,0:04:21.244 at a Disability Studies conference,[br]and people coming up to me and saying 0:04:21.244,0:04:26.255 "That's really nice that you do work on[br]media, but we have bigger things we 0:04:26.255,0:04:30.885 need to be dealing with: getting people[br]jobs, getting people proper education 0:04:30.885,0:04:34.858 getting people out of nursing homes."[br]My response to everybody was 0:04:34.858,0:04:40.890 "How do you think you're going to do that[br]if you're not getting out information 0:04:40.890,0:04:44.310 into public opinion, so if you're not[br]able to change public opinion 0:04:44.310,0:04:47.396 how can you get these[br]things accomplished? 0:04:47.396,0:04:52.040 And how do you get public opinion[br]changed? You get a proper narrative 0:04:52.040,0:04:58.878 going in the media." And now there's[br]actual Disability Studies research 0:04:58.878,0:05:04.157 and disability activists who've talked[br]about this in the early 2000's 0:05:04.157,0:05:07.821 about, they took the wrong tactic[br]after the ADA was passed 0:05:07.821,0:05:12.400 and decided that, it was passed[br]it would get enforced. 0:05:12.400,0:05:18.741 "Yay we can move on." But[br]Unfortunately the business kind of 0:05:18.741,0:05:23.811 narrative came into the mix and they[br]controlled the message that was in the 0:05:23.811,0:05:28.348 media and so from quite a number of[br]years after the ADA was passed, 0:05:28.348,0:05:34.372 it wasn't being enforced because there[br]was this narrative in the news media 0:05:34.372,0:05:38.559 that it was an unfunded mandate and[br]"Well, we never saw a person with a 0:05:38.559,0:05:41.518 disability in our store, why do [br]we have to do all this stuff?" 0:05:41.518,0:05:45.336 Well of course, the reason they didn't see[br]a person with a dis- a wheelchair user 0:05:45.336,0:05:48.651 in their store is because it wasn't[br]accessible or nobody came to their 0:05:48.651,0:05:51.933 website because it was inaccessible[br](laughs) but they didn't get that. 0:05:51.933,0:05:56.570 A lot of the journalists didn't know[br]people in the disability community 0:05:56.570,0:06:00.621 and the disability community was[br]very wary of the news media 0:06:00.621,0:06:06.628 because they'd done such a bad job, but[br]any news coverage in my opinion is better 0:06:06.628,0:06:08.681 than no news coverage usually (laughs). 0:06:08.681,0:06:14.475 And so the business community really took[br]over the narrative and had this really 0:06:14.475,0:06:20.431 negative perception of the ADA[br]that was funnelling into the media, 0:06:20.431,0:06:24.412 and then people just didn't know about it[br]cause it wasn't getting covered that much. 0:06:24.412,0:06:30.271 There was a national poll done, I believe[br]in, like, 1995, of Americans 0:06:30.271,0:06:35.133 about what they knew about the ADA[br]and other disability rights issues. 0:06:35.793,0:06:41.938 Only 18% of Americans in 1995 had even[br]heard of the American Disabilities Act 0:06:41.938,0:06:43.909 if I'm remembering the stats right. and 0:06:45.090,0:06:51.859 So to me that is the fault of not engaging[br]with media to do stories about that, 0:06:51.859,0:06:53.359 and I know it's very difficult. 0:06:53.359,0:06:58.523 Even today it's very difficult to get[br]the media to do a more complex, policy, 0:06:58.523,0:07:02.523 legal, government related[br]story about disability 0:07:02.523,0:07:06.875 and not one of those [br]inspiration narrative stories, 0:07:06.875,0:07:12.652 but it's still worth fighting to try to[br]get those stories into the media. 0:07:14.181,0:07:19.691 And the other kind of like data point I [br]would say, what I always tell my students 0:07:19.691,0:07:23.380 when we're talking about the ADA: the [br]ADA enforcement depends on who's 0:07:23.380,0:07:24.286 in the White House. 0:07:24.286,0:07:28.825 So we had quite a number of[br]Republican Presidents 0:07:28.831,0:07:34.821 who did not care about the ADA being[br]enforced for, like, 8 years, 0:07:34.821,0:07:39.840 so that is why it really only got more[br]enforced once Barack Obama became 0:07:41.357,0:07:45.357 president. There's a lot of external[br]factors that meant that the ADA 0:07:45.357,0:07:49.791 was not going to be changing things[br]as radically as we would have hoped, 0:07:49.791,0:07:52.664 or what we were thinking back in 1990. 0:07:53.754,0:07:59.921 The ADA has had impact in more recent[br]years like I said since President Obama 0:07:59.921,0:08:02.584 came into office and it was[br]just getting enforced. 0:08:02.584,0:08:09.732 I use a lot of these examples in my class,[br]of news stories about the ADA 0:08:09.732,0:08:11.733 finally being implemented. 0:08:14.173,0:08:18.179 A couple that I use, one is about a[br]little city in Pennsylvania. 0:08:18.184,0:08:26.094 The headlines of a lot of ADA stories,[br]still, are kind of I say they have this 0:08:26.094,0:08:31.382 blaming tone. "Things are expensive[br]because of the ADA things are closing 0:08:31.382,0:08:35.233 because of the ADA." I always tell my [br]students that narrative should be flipped. 0:08:35.233,0:08:40.890 The story really is, "Why didn't this town[br]in Pennsylvania comply with the ADA 0:08:40.890,0:08:50.260 for however many years, 20 years."[br]So that, to me is the real story. 0:08:50.260,0:08:56.028 This one headline was about this town, I[br]believe was Logansport, Pennsylvania, 0:08:56.028,0:09:02.501 the headline was, "They must pay $8[br]million" for some kind of ADA compliance 0:09:02.501,0:09:06.569 that they were finally going to do, I[br]think in, like, 2008 or something. 0:09:06.569,0:09:11.536 And I'm like, okay that $8 million[br]would have been a lot less 0:09:11.536,0:09:16.347 if they'd just been compliant back in 1992[br]when they were supposed to be compliant, 0:09:16.347,0:09:19.168 but they're still blaming the ADA. 0:09:19.168,0:09:24.433 But now I think people, the general[br]public now knows a lot more 0:09:24.433,0:09:27.539 and I actually chalk a lot[br]up to social media, 0:09:27.539,0:09:33.620 because now people are getting, not a [br]mediated story through the news media 0:09:33.620,0:09:35.784 and some journalist or some newscaster. 0:09:35.784,0:09:39.632 They're actually on social media[br]with people with disabilities 0:09:39.632,0:09:41.826 and see what their life is like. 0:09:41.826,0:09:45.937 And I know in the last couple of years[br]when there was an assault on the ADA 0:09:45.937,0:09:50.104 and people in Congress were thinking about[br]and the President was thinking about 0:09:50.104,0:09:52.621 figuring out a way to knock it out. 0:09:53.964,0:09:59.270 I saw lots of allies on social media[br]because they were finally aware that there 0:09:59.270,0:10:04.919 was a disability rights law and they said[br]it should stay, it should not be repealed, 0:10:04.919,0:10:08.034 and so I think the media[br]have a lot of power, 0:10:08.034,0:10:10.942 and now that we have this very[br]personal media of social media, 0:10:10.942,0:10:15.522 people get to know actual people with[br]disabilities in their community 0:10:15.522,0:10:20.698 and they see the benefits of having[br]things in braille or having captioning 0:10:20.698,0:10:26.268 or having wheelchair ramps, or just[br]thinking about asking somebody before 0:10:26.268,0:10:30.351 you barrel ahead and create something[br]that may be inaccessible. 0:10:30.351,0:10:35.330 So I think the general public is a lot[br]more aware than they were in 1995 0:10:35.330,0:10:38.330 when only 18% of people had[br]even heard of the ADA. 0:10:38.330,0:10:43.012 And even if they haven't heard of the ADA,[br]they're in favour of disability rights, 0:10:43.012,0:10:47.802 and I think that one thing that came out[br]of that survey, even back in 1995, 0:10:47.802,0:10:53.430 is that, they might have never heard of[br]the ADA, but if you pose to Americans 0:10:53.430,0:10:57.946 the concept of disability rights[br]then they agree with that. 0:10:57.946,0:11:01.598 They don't think people should be[br]discriminated against just because they 0:11:01.598,0:11:06.648 need a ramp to get into a building or[br]need a sign language interpreter 0:11:06.648,0:11:08.218 to apply for a job. 0:11:08.218,0:11:14.778 So I think there's a better feeling among[br]the American public in terms of 0:11:14.778,0:11:20.941 understanding disability rights and making[br]sure that everybody has equal access. 0:11:20.941,0:11:26.284 And also I think people now understand[br]people with disabilities are them, 0:11:26.284,0:11:33.455 are their friends, are their family [br]members, and so a lot of the hidden stuff 0:11:33.455,0:11:37.205 that was happening before the ADA where[br]people with disabilities were being 0:11:37.205,0:11:39.849 hidden in their families, where[br]nobody talked about it, 0:11:39.849,0:11:44.713 I even noticed that, when I started[br]teaching at Temple when I was a grad 0:11:44.713,0:11:48.836 student, that the younger generation,[br]because a lot of them had grown up 0:11:48.836,0:11:53.948 in inclusive education, there was no shame[br]they were proud to talk about their own 0:11:53.948,0:11:58.054 disability, their parent's disability,[br]their sibling's disability. 0:11:58.054,0:12:01.780 I still remember a student, we had a [br]discussion, actually one of my journalism 0:12:01.780,0:12:06.240 classes, and one student, she was talking[br]about, her mother was fluent in sign 0:12:06.240,0:12:11.040 language cause both of her grandparents[br]were deaf, so her mother's first language 0:12:11.040,0:12:13.202 was sign language even[br]though she was hearing. 0:12:13.202,0:12:15.812 Another kid was like, "My brother[br]has Down's Syndrome" 0:12:15.812,0:12:17.335 and he said it with pride. 0:12:17.335,0:12:23.227 So I think the cultural change that the[br]ADA brought was really powerful too, 0:12:23.227,0:12:28.511 cause that is what gets you to the[br]place, if you're a business person, 0:12:28.511,0:12:34.758 "Oh okay, maybe I should be more open to[br]hiring somebody with Down's Syndrome 0:12:34.758,0:12:36.921 to work in my grocery store, or whatever." 0:12:36.921,0:12:43.238 So I think having that cultural change[br]where people are now including 0:12:43.238,0:12:47.028 the disability community as[br]part of the American citizenry, 0:12:47.028,0:12:50.824 then that is a very powerful thing, I[br]think that the ADA did. 0:12:51.343,0:12:57.193 Yeah. If the ADA stays around, I think[br]that's a really good part of our future 0:12:57.193,0:13:00.668 because it's a really good law.[br]It was written really well, 0:13:00.668,0:13:05.278 and it just needs to be[br]enforced at all times. 0:13:05.278,0:13:10.648 We learned about how it could be enforced[br]in those 8 years that President Obama 0:13:10.648,0:13:14.858 was in office, and I think we[br]can continue to learn that. 0:13:14.858,0:13:19.018 And the Justice Department and Department[br]of Ed. and all the other federal agencies 0:13:19.018,0:13:23.018 that enforce it, I think the[br]community knows how to reach them 0:13:23.018,0:13:24.588 and tell them to enforce things, 0:13:24.588,0:13:29.708 and people are even getting a little bit[br]better, even the business community 0:13:29.708,0:13:35.208 understands now that people with[br]disabilities are a major part of our 0:13:35.208,0:13:41.780 consumer culture, and now with the[br]pandemic and everybody working online, 0:13:41.780,0:13:44.594 people with disabilities have[br]been, can be the leaders. 0:13:44.594,0:13:49.370 They're the ones that have been doing the[br]workaround to try to make a living 0:13:49.370,0:13:53.167 when they've not been able to go[br]to an inaccessible building. 0:13:53.167,0:13:57.598 So I think the future is bright if we[br]will listen to disabled people about 0:13:57.598,0:14:03.482 what the world needs to basically embrace[br]everyone and accommodate everyone, 0:14:03.482,0:14:10.173 and it'll be a better future for everyone[br]because we talk about the hidden benefits 0:14:10.173,0:14:15.803 of access for everyone, so think about[br]all the people that use curb cuts 0:14:15.803,0:14:20.428 for their wheelie luggage and[br]all the UPS guys that use curb cuts 0:14:20.428,0:14:26.639 for rolling their hand carts. All the bars[br]that use closed caption cause they're loud 0:14:26.639,0:14:34.148 So everybody gets benefits from disability[br]related access and I think it can only get 0:14:34.148,0:14:39.206 better, if people learn to trust that the[br]disability community can lead us, 0:14:39.206,0:14:43.763 because they're the ones who are most[br]innovative and entrepreneurial 0:14:43.763,0:14:51.329 about making sure that they can move[br]forward in the most access-friendly ways. 0:14:51.741,0:14:55.860 I think there should be a lot more[br]listening to people with disabilities 0:14:55.860,0:15:01.179 in the future cause they've[br]already worked out the problems 0:15:01.179,0:15:03.977 that we're now dealing with in a pandemic. 0:15:05.530,0:15:10.088 I think they can help us build a[br]future that's better for everyone, 0:15:10.088,0:15:11.856 whether you have a disability or not. 0:15:14.072,0:15:16.217 What steps can we take right now? 0:15:16.217,0:15:20.989 I think if you're not a person with[br]a disability, being a good ally. 0:15:20.989,0:15:27.339 If you're a family member, being- [br]helping to make sure that the person 0:15:27.339,0:15:31.382 in your family with a disability is[br]empowered to be independent, 0:15:31.382,0:15:34.423 and giving them all the support they need. 0:15:34.423,0:15:38.116 If you're a person with a disability,[br]making sure that the world 0:15:38.116,0:15:40.306 is accommodating to you. 0:15:40.306,0:15:50.287 And everybody needs to focus on making[br]the world completely accessible. 0:15:50.287,0:15:54.623 A lot of people live in houses that[br]cannot be made accessible, 0:15:54.623,0:15:59.431 and a lot of things are grandfathered[br]into the ADA because they were built long 0:15:59.431,0:16:02.844 before the ADA existed,[br]but there's other locations. 0:16:02.844,0:16:06.984 There's online, there's video chatting,[br]there's all kinds of workarounds 0:16:06.984,0:16:12.074 that I think we can all embrace, and we[br]got to quit whining about this stuff 0:16:12.074,0:16:15.719 because, I'm talking to you in the[br]middle of a pandemic (laughs). 0:16:15.719,0:16:21.167 But I hear so many people complaining[br]about things that I'm like, you know, 0:16:21.167,0:16:25.634 this is all good, we can all[br]still be connected, it's fine, 0:16:25.634,0:16:30.075 and things are going to change,[br]we need to learn to adapt. 0:16:30.075,0:16:36.404 People with disabilities can teach us how[br]to adapt, and they have a major disability 0:16:36.404,0:16:39.184 rights organisation called[br]Adapt as well (laughs). 0:16:39.184,0:16:46.560 So I think that's the key for all of us,[br]is to start learning to roll with it, 0:16:46.560,0:16:51.230 learning to adapt and make sure[br]that we're bringing everyone along 0:16:51.230,0:16:54.625 into this new world that we're going to[br]have to fashion post-pandemic, 0:16:54.625,0:17:00.237 and that it's accessible to[br]everyone, that we're all equal, 0:17:00.237,0:17:05.046 that we're making sure that supports[br]and what people need are in place, 0:17:05.046,0:17:08.819 and then we can be a better community. 0:17:09.680,0:17:12.674 It's kind of a weird time to be[br]talking about all this (laughs). 0:17:12.674,0:17:17.764 I mean, I know it's the ADA's 30th[br]anniversary, I'm very glad that it's here 0:17:17.764,0:17:22.144 and still exists, but I really feel like[br]we can use the model of the ADA 0:17:22.144,0:17:25.438 from 30 years ago as we move forward. 0:17:25.438,0:17:29.517 We're going to have to [br]restructure so much of our world, 0:17:29.517,0:17:32.369 why not do it accessibly this time? 0:17:33.567,0:17:37.567 And I think the ADA can still give us[br]guidance even though it's 30 years old, 0:17:37.567,0:17:41.460 I think it can, it was built to lead us[br]into the future just like a lot of our 0:17:41.460,0:17:47.390 founding documents were, and I think if[br]we look at the spirit of everything that's 0:17:47.390,0:17:51.300 been passed in the good way of[br]giving people rights in this country 0:17:51.300,0:17:58.674 and we follow them, we will fashion the[br]future of a place that's hopefully very 0:17:58.674,0:18:04.565 accessible and make sure that everybody[br]has equal access to our world.