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Hi, I'm Beth Haller.

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I'm a professor of Mass Communication[br]at Towsen University in Maryland.

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I also teach Disability Studies there[br]and at several other campuses.

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I teach at City University of New York[br]and their Disability Studies programme;

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I teach at York University in Toronto[br]and their Disability Studies programme;

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I teach at University of Texas, Arlington[br]and their Disability Studies minor.

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So I've been doing research since[br]the early 90's

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about media representations of people[br]with disabilities.

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So I have a kind of unique[br]relationship to the ADA

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because I did my dissertation on[br]how the news media covered it.

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So before I went to Temple University[br]in Philadelphia to get my PhD,

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I was at University of Maryland College[br]Park getting my Masters.

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I started that in 1989,

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and there's a reason for all these numbers[br](laughs) these dates,

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and in 1988 is when the Deaf President[br]Now movement happened

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that gathered at university in DC, and I[br]think somewhere in the back of my mind

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I knew about what was happening because I[br]was a journalist before I became academic.

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So when I started at College Park in 1989[br]I ended up doing an article for a class

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about a deaf student at Gallaudet and I[br]got very interested in the deaf community,

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there's a huge deaf community[br]in the DC area.

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Doing my Masters thesis on how the[br]deaf community was represented

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before, during and after [br]Deaf President Now

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in the New York Times and the[br]Washington Post,

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that was a jumping-off point.

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When I left College Park it was 1991[br]and so the ADA had just been passed

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and when I got to Temple to start [br]working on my PhD

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I knew that I wanted to still work in[br]the area of disability

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and we just had this major disability[br]rights law passed.

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I remember it more as a focus[br]of my research

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cause I don't necessarily remember seeing[br]the actual coverage on the day it happened

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in 1990, but I do remember looking at all[br]the coverage cause that was the subject

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of my dissertation.

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So it was really interesting to look[br]at it as an academic

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and to kind of watch it happen and[br]then not happen (laughs)

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as it moved into the future.

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So my dissertation looked at how the[br]mainstream news media,

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you know, all the big news magazines[br]and the major newspapers back then.

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So I finished my dissertation in '94,[br]graduated in '95

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so it was very early days of the ADA so it[br]wasn't really being implemented yet

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because they gave several years for[br]people to get into compliance

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but as the years have passed it's been[br]very interesting to watch how things

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weren't happening.

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And I think what we all thought was[br]going to happen was:

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Congress was going to pass this major[br]disability rights law

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and people would then follow it[br]because it's now federal law

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not to discriminate based on disability

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but that isn't what happened (laughs).

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And from a media standpoint, that really[br]kind of hurt ADA because-

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and I've even had this conversation with[br]disability rights scholars and

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disability rights activists-[br]because they I think thought

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in that same way that it's now law[br]and everything will be fine,

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and there was such a history of being[br]covered in the media so badly

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that the activists thought they could get[br]this past and everything would be fine

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and they didn't need the[br]media for anything.

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So I come onto the scene, I start going[br]to Society for Disability studies,

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meetings in the early 90's,[br]started presenting my research

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and even the disability community in those[br]first early years right after the ADA

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didn't understand why the[br]media was important.

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Because I remember presenting[br]at a conference,

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at a Disability Studies conference,[br]and people coming up to me and saying

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"That's really nice that you do work on[br]media, but we have bigger things we

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need to be dealing with: getting people[br]jobs, getting people proper education

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getting people out of nursing homes."[br]My response to everybody was

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"How do you think you're going to do that[br]if you're not getting out information

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into public opinion, so if you're not[br]able to change public opinion

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how can you get these[br]things accomplished?

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And how do you get public opinion[br]changed? You get a proper narrative

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going in the media." And now there's[br]actual disability studies, research

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and disability activists who've talked[br]about this in the early 2000's

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about how they took the wrong tactic[br]after the ADA was passed

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and decided that when it was passed[br]it would get enforced.

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"Yay we can move on."[br]Unfortunately the business narrative

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came into the mix and they controlled[br]the message that was in the media.

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And so from quite a number of[br]years after the ADA was passed,

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it wasn't being enforced because there[br]was this narrative in the news media

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that it was an unfunded mandate and[br]"Well, we never saw a person with a

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disability in our store, why do [br]we have to do all this stuff?"

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Well of course, the reason they didn't see[br]a person with a dis- as a wheelchair user

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in their store is because it wasn't[br]accessible, or nobody came to their

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website because it was inaccessible[br](laughs) but they didn't get that.

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A lot of the journalists didn't know[br]people in the disability community

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and the disability community was[br]very wary of the news media

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because they'd done such a bad job, but[br]any news coverage in my opinion is better

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than no news coverage usually (laughs).

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And so the business community really took[br]over the narrative and had this really

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negative perception of the ADA[br]that was funnelling into the media,

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and then people just didn't know about it[br]cause it wasn't getting covered that much.

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There was a national poll done, I believe[br]in, like, 1995, of Americans

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about what they knew about the ADA[br]and other disability rights issues.

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Only 18% of Americans in 1995 had even[br]heard of the American Disabilities Act

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if I'm remembering the stats right.

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To me, that is the fault of not engaging[br]with media to do stories about that,

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and I know it's very difficult.

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Even today I know it's difficult to get[br]the media to do a more complex, policy,

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legal, government related[br]story about disability

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and not one of those [br]inspiration narrative stories,

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but it's still worth fighting to try to[br]get those stories into the media.

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And the other data point I would say,[br]what I always tell my students when we're

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talking about the ADA: the ADA's[br]enforcement depends on who's

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in the White House.

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So we had quite a number of[br]Republican Presidents

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who did not care about the ADA being[br]enforced for, like, 8 years,

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so that is why it really only got more[br]enforced when Obama became President.

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There's a lot of external factors[br]that meant that the ADA

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was not going to be changing things[br]as radically as we would have hoped,

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or what we were thinking back in 1990.

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The ADA has had impact in more recent[br]years since President Obama

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came into office and it was[br]just getting enforced.

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I use a lot of these example in my class,[br]of news stories about the ADA

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finally being implemented.

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A couple that I use, one is about a[br]little city in Pennsylvania.

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The headlines of a lot of ADA stories,[br]still, I say they have this blaming tone.

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"Things are expensive because of the ADA;[br]things are closing because of the ADA."

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I always tell my students that[br]narrative should be flipped.

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The story really is, "Why didn't this town[br]in Pennsylvania comply with the ADA

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for however many years, 20 years."[br]So that, to me is the real story.

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This one headline was about this town, I[br]believe was Logansport, Pennsylvania,

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the headline was, "They must pay $8[br]million" for some kind of ADA compliance

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that they were finally going to do, I[br]think in, like, 2008 or something.

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And I'm like, okay that $8 million[br]would have been a lot less

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if they'd just been compliant back in 1992[br]like they were supposed to be compliant,

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but they're still blaming the ADA.

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But now I think people, the general[br]public now knows a lot more

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and I actually chalk a lot of it[br]up to social media,

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because now people are getting, not a [br]mediated story through the news media

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and some journalist or some newscaster.

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They're actually on social media[br]with people with disabilities

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and see what their life is like.

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And I know in the last couple of years[br]when there was an assault on the ADA

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and people in Congress were thinking about[br]and the President was thinking about

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figuring out a way to knock it out.

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I saw lots of allies on social media[br]because they were finally aware that there

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was a disability rights law and they said[br]it should stay, it should not be repealed,

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and so I think the media[br]have a lot of power,

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and now that we have this very[br]personal media of social media,

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people get to know actual people with[br]disabilities in their community

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and they see the benefits of having[br]things in braille or having captioning

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or having wheelchair ramps, or just[br]thinking about asking somebody before

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you barrel ahead and create something[br]that may be inaccessible.

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So I think the general public is a lot[br]more aware than they were in 1995

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when only 18% of people had[br]even heard of the ADA.

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And even if they haven't heard of the ADA,[br]they're in favour of disability rights,

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and I think that one thing that came out[br]of that survey, even back in 1995,

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is that, they might have never heard of[br]the ADA, but if you pose to Americans

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the concept of disability rights[br]then they agree with that.

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They don't think people should be[br]discriminated against just because they

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need a ramp to get into a building or[br]need a sign language interpreter

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to apply for a job.

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So I think there's a better feeling among[br]the American public in terms of

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understanding disability rights and making[br]sure that everybody has equal access.

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And also I think people now understand[br]people with disabilities are them,

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are their friends, are their family [br]members, and so a lot of the hidden stuff

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that was happening before the ADA where[br]people with disabilities were being

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hidden in their families, where[br]nobody talked about it,

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I even noticed that, in my teaching at[br]Temple when I was a grad student,

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that the younger generation, because[br]a lot of them had grown up

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in inclusive education, there was no shame[br]they were proud to talk about their own

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disability, their parent's disability,[br]their sibling's disability.

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I still remember a student, we had a [br]discussion, actually one of my journalism

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classes, and one student, she was talking[br]about, her mother was fluent in sign

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language cause both of her grandparents[br]were deaf, so her mother's first language

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was sign language even[br]though she was hearing.

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Another kid was like, "My brother[br]has Down's Syndrome"

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and he said it with pride.

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So I think the cultural change that the[br]ADA brought was really powerful too,

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cause that is what gets you to the[br]place, if you're a business person,

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"Oh okay, maybe I should be more open to[br]hiring somebody with Down's Syndrome

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to work in my grocery store, or whatever."

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So I think having that cultural change[br]where people are now including

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the disability community as[br]part of the American citizenry,

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then that is a very powerful thing, I[br]think that the ADA did.

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Yeah. If the ADA stays around, I think[br]that's a really good part of our future

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because it's a really good law.[br]It was written really well,

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and it just needs to be[br]enforced at all times.

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We learned about how it could be enforced[br]in those 8 years that President Obama

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was in office, and I think we[br]can continue to learn that.

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And the Justice Department and Department[br]of Ed. and all the other federal agencies

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that enforce it, I think the[br]community knows how to reach them

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and tell them to enforce things,

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and people are even getting a little bit[br]better, even the business community

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understands now that people with[br]disabilities are a major part of our

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consumer culture, and now with the[br]pandemic and everybody working online,

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people with disabilities have[br]been, can be the leaders.

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They're the ones that have been doing the[br]workaround to try to make a living

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when they've not been able to go[br]to an inaccessible building.

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So I think the future is bright if we[br]will listen to disabled people about

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what the world needs to basically embrace[br]everyone and accommodate everyone,

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and it'll be a better future for everyone[br]because we talk about the hidden benefits

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of access for everyone, so think about[br]all the people that use curb cuts

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for their wheelie luggage and[br]all the UPS guys that use curb cuts

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for rolling their hand carts. All the bars[br]that use closed caption cause they're loud

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So everybody gets benefits from disability[br]related access and I think it can only get

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better, if people learn to trust that the[br]disability community can lead us,

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because they're the ones who are most[br]innovative and entrepreneurial

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about making sure that they can move[br]forward in the most access-friendly ways.

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I think there should be a lot more[br]listening to people with disabilities

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in the future cause they've[br]already worked out the problems

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that we're now dealing with in a pandemic.

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I think they can help us build a[br]future that's better for everyone,

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whether you have a disability or not.

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What steps can we take right now?

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I think if you're not a person with[br]a disability, being a good ally.

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If you're a family member, being- [br]helping to make sure that the person

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in your family with a disability is[br]empowered to be independent,

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and giving them all the support they need.

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If you're a person with a disability,[br]making sure that the world

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is accommodating to you.

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And everybody needs to focus on making[br]the world completely accessible.

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A lot of people live in houses that[br]cannot be made accessible,

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and a lot of things were grandfathered[br]into the ADA because they were built long

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before the ADA existed,[br]but there's other locations.

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There's online, there's video chatting,[br]there's all kinds of workarounds

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that I think we can all embrace, and we[br]got to quit whining about this stuff

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because, I'm talking to you in the[br]middle of a pandemic (laughs).

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But I hear so many people complaining[br]about things that I'm like, you know,

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this is all good, we can all[br]still be connected, it's fine,

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and things are going to change,[br]we need to learn to adapt.

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People with disabilities can teach us how[br]to adapt, and they have a major disability

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rights organisation called[br]Adapt as well (laughs).

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So I think that's the key for all of us,[br]is to start learning to roll with it,

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learning to adapt and make sure[br]that we're bringing everyone along

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into this new world that we're going to[br]have to fashion post-pandemic,

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and that it's accessible to[br]everyone, that we're all equal,

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that we're making sure that supports[br]and what people need are in place,

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and then we can be a better community.

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It's kind of a weird time to be[br]talking about all this (laughs).

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I mean, I know it's the ADA's 30th[br]anniversary, I'm very glad that it's here

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
and still exists, but I really feel like[br]we can use the model of the ADA

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from 30 years ago as we move forward.

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We're going to have to [br]restructure so much of our world,

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why not do it accessibly this time?

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And I think the ADA can still give us[br]guidance even though it's 30 years old,

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I think it can, it was built to lead us[br]into the future just like a lot of our

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
founding documents were, and I think if[br]we look at the spirit of everything that's

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been passed in the good way of[br]giving people rights in this country

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and we follow them, we will fashion the[br]future of a place that's hopefully very

9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
accessible and make sure that everybody[br]has equal access to our world.