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To: The Honorable Arthur Broadhurst, Representative of Methuen
The Honorable Marty Meehan, Congressman of Methuen
The Honorable Steven Baddour, Senator of Methuen
His Excellence Mitt Romney, Governor of Massachusetts
His Excellence Dick Chenny, Vice President of the United States
His Excellence George W. Bush, President and Commander in Chief of the United States Arms Forces

 

To the Afore mentioned;

Concerns About The ADA and The Protection The Disabled Is Supposed To Be Guaranteed Under The Law

I am writing to express some concerns I have with regard to the current Americans With Disabilities Act that is now on the books. It is still true that a lot of us disabled citizens are still facing discrimination of some form or another when we are trying to find work, shop in stores, go into public places and look for housing. I am concerned that the current law that is out there today does not do enough to protect us from the biases and the fears of others in our culture as it is intended to.

The Workforce

One of the places where I see that we are not thoroughly protected is in the work force. Example. When we go to interviews for jobs. I went on some interviews for jobs dealing with computer related work. When I told the interviewer that I needed to use a special screen magnification/screen reading software which I provided on my own the interviewer blamed my software for putting lines in the computer when in fact, it might have been a video card issue or more memory that might have made the program work more effectively. I had also had interviewers express concern on my doing the job with the equipment that I need to use in order to do the job like that of a person who can see.

This all comes down to the issue of them not being well trained in disability related issues and the prospective employers being able to use this as an excuse to not hire a well qualified disabled individual for the job. The ADA does not allow for training as a buyable defense in discrimination cases. This needs to be changed in that ignorance should not be an excuse for violating the ADA. What I mean is that the unacceptable loop hole on the training and educating issue of disability awareness needs to be closed in to fill that gap due to its abuse and misuse by those who hold down positions in assisting the disabled. I am asking the legislature in this open letter to please do something about the issues that I mentioned above. More specifically I would like to see the individuals who use training as an excuse not to comply and also those who go along with such an excuse be held to liability and if they are themselves in the fields that work with the disabled population they be required to step aside or the persons responsible for their hire face some form of quasi criminal penalties once he/she has been made aware that such worker pampered the "ignorance excuse"and they themselves defend it.

Furthermore in the wake of incidences of hazing on college campuses or where college students hold down responsible positions as camp counselors at camps for the disabled for example, the law needs to address that end to let these people in responsible positions such as camp counselors and program directors and also residence hall assistants and resident directors know that going to college and going home to "Mom and Dad for Apple Pie and ice-cream"is no license for discriminatory behavior or allowing such to take place. To put it briefly I had attended a private catholic college between September of 1990 till May 1993. Because of my equipment the college had recommended that I live in the handicap accessible apartments. During the first two years in the apartments on the campus I was hazed by students who were supposed to be my roommates and who were bigger than my size.

It was my feeling that their going to college gave them the license to behave this way towards a disabled student and furthermore the college did not have any set policies to deal with handicap accessible areas other than to use a room lottery system or a system based on how many peers one could find in their same class, (meritocracy system). Should someone use going to college as an excuse or should it ever be implied as a used excuse I'd like to see legislation enacted that would allow for the government to withhold the federal grants and loans of the students until they had gone through some rigid handicap awareness training, graduated from such course of training and that they sign some form of paper that they will not engage in any discriminatory behavior. The training should include experiencing disabilities.

Examples would include blindfolding, (Enable, 1999). Furthermore any organizations religious or non religious who use the "college" excuse to perpetuate discrimination or allowing of discrimination should be required to forfeit any state, local and federal moneys that are used as grants or loans for purposes such as operation, construction and activities until all of the "college student" workers had gone through rigid disability awareness training and can show certificates of completion.

Employment and Housing and Reporting Requirement Being Proposed

In the area of employment and housing, I would like to see the law require known cases of discrimination and known cases of ignorant treatment towards the disabled be mandated to be reported to the appropriate state and federal agencies dealing with discrimination. I would like to see the legislature treat that type of reporting requirement the same way as the law does with child and elderly abuse cases. That is if someone tells someone about a case of discrimination or an employer comes across it, it would be his/her professional obligation to report it or face some penalties. I would also like to see the law mandate that people who engage in such oppressive conduct, be made to loose their jobs or if employers and colleagues defend their wrong actions of oppression, they face some form of penalties as well.

In the area of housing, I would like to see the legislature take the stand that applications for such cannot ask about one's disabilities unless it guarantees that it is not meant to engage in oppressive behavior by landlords and realtors or other tenants. As to the real estate profession, I would like to propose the idea that should disabled people even those who receive housing assistance wish to see them regarding rental properties or their own property that the law work it in some way that the real estate profession or landlords cannot assume that a disabled person be not "otherwise qualified" to do so. What this means is requiring that persons in such minority be afforded an informational interview to let them see what is available. This would include that others in the neighborhood could not vote disabled persons out of living in that neighborhood unless they were not "otherwise qualified" to do by reason of committing serious criminal acts such as child molestation. Should those laws be breached I would like to see the legislature set up a requirement that such acts of discrimination be reported by people who know about it to the housing authorities and to HUD. Failure to report such acts of oppression should lead to some criminal consequences such as forfeiture of real estate licenses or termination of employment in  housing authorities.

The Public Arena: Reporting Requirements

In the areas of public places such as restaurants, retail stores, movie theaters and entertainment centers and amusement facilities I would like to see the legislature crack down on discrimination of the disabled in the following way. In cases where ignorance is the excuse the ignorant personnel or employer be held both criminally and civilly liable. Once again should acts be noticed, these establishments should be required by law to report it to the appropriate state or federal agency and failure to report such acts of discriminatory or suspected discriminatory behavior should result in some criminal penalties such as forfeiture of employment, revocation of license to operate the establishment and loss of any and all government funding until all parties involved have gone through and can demonstrate certificates of completion of disability awareness training programs.

Furthermore those who are in the capacity of assisting the disabled whether it be on a permanent basis or temporarily employed in doing so should be required to report such incidences and not be allowed to excuse such conduct unless they are legal representatives of the entities and are using buyable defenses required by law and excluding ignorance and or lack of training. Unauthorized professionals who fail to report such situations and who do not have the authority to act in a representative capacity should be held highly liable on a professional basis and face the outlined sanctions below in this open letter. I would also like to propose that the definition of authorized representatives be defined in the following manner. "Authorized representatives shall be defined to include and be limited to attorneys with a law degree and have passed the Bar Exam and who specializes in cases of discrimination and civil rights and or their paralegal." Those in the disability profession who identify themselves as having the capacity to be an authorized representative to actions of discrimination shall be required to furnish proof of such training and completion of licensure exams where appropriate. Persons working in the field of helping the disabled who do not furnish such proof and or if it is ever found out that they lied about their training shall be subject to the consequences of state and federal fraud statutes where applicable and to the whim of the proposed discrimination reporting requirements.

Role of The Disability Field In Assisting Clients

In the area of the disability field, pertaining to caseworkers, accommodations specialists, State Rehabilitation Counselors and social workers and trainers, I would like to see the legislature add clauses into the ADA that holds them to a very high standard of care when it comes to the ADA and its enforcement.

In particular I would like to see legislation enacted that would impose heavy penalties on individuals who work in the disability field who A. Fail to report known or suspected cases of discrimination to the appropriate agencies for investigation. B. Aiding and abetting in such behavior. C. Defending such conduct. D. Excusing such conduct. It is my feeling that such reportation would lead to necessary training in cases where need be. To not require reportation by such specialized personnel would undermine the disability profession. Thus consequences need to be established to uphold the integrity of the tribulations that disabled individuals face. In particular I would like to see the legislature consider the following suggestion as the consequences. First offense would include a suspension of their right to practice in the field of serving the disabled for two years. They should also be required to undergo rigid disability awareness training and show proof of completion of such.

The second offense would include suspension of rights to practice in the disability field for five years and a mandatory sentence of three years imprisonment.

The third offense should carry with it a permanent revocation of right to work and practice in the disability field and a mandatory sentence of five-10-years imprisonment.

Places like the American Counseling Association and the state boards that license psychologists and psychiatrists do levy their own sanctions if it is ever found out that people in the respective mentioned professions do not report cases of child abuse for instance.

In fact these agencies levy heavy fines or revoke their licenses to practice for not following through with reporting requirements. I would like to see the same done with professionals who work in the disability field when they know of acts of discrimination whether the person doing the act is new to disability situations and in need of training or not.

To keep using the old, "they're new" excuse for not giving a disabled person an opportunity severely undermines the process of disability awareness education and education about diversity as a whole.

Furthermore for someone working in the disability field or their co-workers to suggest that it is "unprofessional" to undertake such legal remedies afforded by law against discrimination should render itself to the professional scrutiny of the integrity of the disability profession. Enacting mandatory reporting requirements by members of the disability profession and their co-workers would uphold the integrity of both the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 and the disability profession itself where the true intention of the law signed in 1990 is to protect the disabled from facing discrimination based on disability and it was also designed to knock down the stereotypical barriers used in such discrimination, (Supra).

As to the issue of ignorance and lack of training, there is nowhere in the law that allows for such to be used to defend against discrimination.

The law only allows defenses such as undue hardship in the case of employment and for public accommodations, one has to show that it is not readily achievable to remove barriers or provide reasonable accommodations, (Supra).

Overuse of such ignorance and educational excuses by persons who are not truly qualified in representing in discrimination cases renders itself to the derailment of enforcement of existing laws and also abuses the true rights one has under it.

I realize that it might cost money and necessitation of budgets to set up watchdog agencies to oversee the conduct of the disability profession. I would like to see the federal government enact funding which is earmarked for the task of overseeing the disability profession, be given to the state agencies against discrimination or the U.S Department of Justice.

In order to uphold what the ADA is meant to protect I feel as though there needs to be some way that the disability profession can be overseen to ensure that they follow through with the mandated reporting requirements that I am requesting be enacted.

In cases where grants are given to such people in the respective field mentioned above to assist disabled persons in looking for jobs, housing and their rights under the law I would like to see the legislature also hold those people accountable to the whim of such reporting requirements and face the same consequences for not doing so.

In addition they should be compelled to forfeit their grants.

For a colleague to suggest that one would be hurting one who is not following through professionally should automatically be grounds for complaint and investigation for not following through with reporting requirements and or the ADA. I would also like to request that the legislature consider subjecting any outside consultants, trainers and specialist who work with the disabled and who are hired by places that fall under the realm of coverage of the ADA and any other antidiscrimination law be held to the same scrutiny of such laws. I am also requesting that any entity hiring such outside personnel and the colleagues be held to the same scrutiny of reporting requirements of discrimination or suspected discrimination that the outside firm has engaged in.

Failure to do so should also lead to the same consequences of the reporting requirements mentioned above.

Finally I am requesting that the legislature make it clear to any persons not authorized to represent any party in cases of discrimination have no authority to discourage, retaliate, or threaten anyone who brings a charge of discrimination.

What I am saying here is that no one should have the authority to discourage legal action on the basis of professionalism. Furthermore, such legal action for discrimination should be the record of the party guilty of such conduct and should remain so without any regard to the person filing it. A person should not have to loose their job, housing or place in the public arena because of a rightful legal action.

Disability professionals who use professionalism, threat of loss of job or housing or place in the public arena as a deterrent for someone bringing a rightful legal action for discrimination should be permanently disallowed from working with or assisting disabled individuals on a professional basis. Lastly, I would like to ask that the legislature adopt the following definition of disability professionals in the following manner.

Definition of Disability Professionals

The definition of disability professional be construed to mean the following: "A person who is trained and has received a degree and who has taken the appropriate licensure examination as required by law and who are qualified to be vocational rehabilitation counselors, case managers and caseworkers who work in state, federal and local government agencies and in elementary, secondary and higher educational institutions, Accommodations Specialist, Learning Disability Specialist, Assistive Technology Specialist and Assistants, Special education teachers, Directors of disability services or offices that manage reasonable accommodations, temporary employees such as camp counselors and activities/program coordinators/directors at facilities which accept the disabled, camp directors of camps that accept the disabled and directors of special educational institutions and their employees, Rehabilitation teachers, job coaches, physical and occupational therapists and speech and language therapist."

It is the definition of these professionals I had just listed that I am requesting fall to the whim of reporting requirements in dealing with discrimination against the disabled and to the consequences for violation of such.

The next section of the ADA that I see needs to be worked on is the area, which allows for companies to make their own policies relating to reasonable accommodations for disabled individuals. 1. I would like to see the legislature make clauses in the ADA that would deem policies, which prohibit someone, who is disabled from bringing and using in A. the work Place. B. The public Sector, their own equipment or adaptive software in the case of computer related tasks, discriminatory presuming that the disabled person is "otherwise qualified" to do or be admitted to such employment, educational institution, housing and in the public. Such policies which prohibits someone from using their own adaptive equipment/software should be looked at and regarded as discriminatory policies. Furthermore, people who work with the disabled or in conjunction with the disabled whether it be in providing services, training, or accommodations should be dealt with strictly by mandatory disability awareness training or loose the right to hold down employment with disabled individuals for refusing to use or incorporate such Assistive technology unless the professional can demonstrate that it would substantially interfere with such training, services or accommodations. Here, I am suggesting that mere discomfort with such Assistive technology or perceptions of such Assistive technology should not be an excuse not to use it when providing such training, services or accommodations. While disabling conditions cannot be cured or a person restored to their fullest health due to medical technology, which is not advanced enough to do so, it is not fair to leave a disabled person out of the game. What I am referring to here ladies and gentlemen of respective leadership is when one brings their own equipment into the public forum that the disabled person purchased him/herself or obtained through assistance, should make obsolete the excuse of budget hardship and any excuse what so ever whether it be training, newness and or discomfort to provide the reasonable accommodation to the individual.

Why, when one brings into the forum his/her own Assistive technology this would than make it easier for the hiring company or whatever the situation is. Thus, the company or place of public use would not need to spend any money to provide reasonable accommodations. The ADA was intended to protect individuals who have disabilities and or those who are perceived to have disabilities, (Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990).

The language of the ADA so states that individuals who are "otherwise qualified," (Supra) for the position or whatever the situation is comes under protection against discrimination whether or not a reasonable accommodation is needed.

Due to the biases and unfound concerns that the ADA is supposed to guard against. In retrospect of the way that companies and the public sector has handled this compounded by the many excuses offered to disabled persons by respective members in the disability profession itself, the ADA has been diverted from its true intentions. I can think of many of times I was left out of the game because I was sight impaired and had a hearing loss.

This was all because the public was unfamiliar with the use of my software or anything I needed to use to do the job the same way as a sighted person would otherwise do. The excuses being offered for the discrimination did not help either.

It is a shame. It is especially a shame on us to be in a new millennium and this kind of behavior and ignorance still persisting and thus, using the reasonable accommodation and or not being educated as the excuse.

My fellow legislators, governor, vice president and president of our nation, what I am asking of you is to consider tightening up the loopholes in the existing laws so that fear of lawsuits that might arise from a disabled employee when on the job and in fact the same would arise for any other worker who got hurt on the job be no excuse not to hire a disabled person. I am asking you to make it clear in the law that fear of suits or ignorance of Assistive technology and or disability related matter is no excuse for oppressive and discriminatory behavior. If the case be that someone needs training I am requesting that you do see that they get it. This is the purpose of the must report clause I am asking for in the revised law. Rehabilitation counselors, Case managers, Accommodation managers and other professionals making excuses such as "they're new" or "they need training" allows for this behavior to continue as opposed to requiring professionals to report suspected discriminatory behavior which would nip it in the bud. My fellow leaders it would be inferior and preposterous to conduct ADA training at the peril of someone's dignity and self-esteem. This is my reason to calling for this open letter. If we could have the "almighty cure for our afflictions we would not need these laws. The reality is we do need to be protected against the biases and the discomforts of our peers and unfortunately from those in the disability profession itself as the purpose of these professionals is intended to assist the disabled in meeting their goals and objectives and not using their degrees to create underground warehousing of the disabled by making excuses for the oppressive conduct of others.

Inappropriate Training and Reporting Requirements of Such

I am also requesting in whatever revised edition of the Americans With Disability Act that you may ever consider that the issue of people who practice ADA or Disability related law who contradict what they practice while giving training also be addressed.

The idea I would like to propose in dealing with this issue is having those individuals excluded from giving any kind of ADA training in the future and that it be done permanently.

The ideal way to enforce this rule I am suggesting is that once someone knows that such contradictory acts has occurred and or if they are in a professional capacity or those who work in the disability field as described earlier in this letter know of such acts these professionals who know of such contradictory conduct should be required to report the incidents of training to: A. The American Bar Association when it comes to attorneys. B. The appropriate governing board of the respective discipline or professional board. And C. The State and Federal discrimination agencies.

At the present time there are inmates who are in prison and who are at the end of their sentences. While they are in prison they are training dogs to help the disabled be able to live independent lives. (New England Prime Time News, March 14, 2000). I bring this up as an option to consider for people who are incarcerated for crimes that occur in a discriminatory manner against the disabled.

Over the past week I had watch television specials on Cerebral Palsy. The special, Building Bridges which aired on channel five showed how the disabled population is leading productive lives such as working, being able to pursue education and disabled people having their own apartments or houses which I cannot seem to achieve. A tightening up of the ADA would help to make that possible so that the American dream can be achieved by all. Tightening up loopholes in the present anti discrimination laws that are out there today would make productive citizenship a reality and not just what you see on a telethon. (Building Bridges Aired on March 12, 2000)

I am asking and requesting that my fellow lawmakers, governor, Vice- president and president take this open letter into consideration in order that the disabled community may be afforded more opportunities to be treated and respected in the same way to that of our non disabled peers as the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 had intended.

People like myself have been struggling to try to gain our employment, self-esteem, independence and most of all, our dignity. Discrimination in and of itself hurts self-esteem and motivation. To allow people who assist the disabled to discourage legal remedies, use excuses for this type of behavior and for them to have no accountability for their own actions hurts a disabled person's self-esteem even more and further undermines trustworthiness. I invite any opportunity that await me and any opportunity to share with my fellow legislatures the story of oppression that any disabled citizens and I still face. Thank you very much for your time, consideration and understanding.

Yours Truly,
Brian J. Coppola
Brian J. Coppola,
Assistive Technology Assistant

To learn more about this web presentation go to the Reason for Symbolic Background Page. I am hoping that this will make you understand the dilemma and to do something as our elected officials to rectify it.

To see the brief stories of oppression that I had faced go to the Discrimination Page.

To see a list of sources go to the Bibliography Page

To give your opinion on the matter at hand go to the input page. Back to Top of page.

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This page was last revised on April 13, 2003