Help! Call the ADA!

Or: My Struggles with ADA Enforcement

Image Description: Author attempting tough guy enforcement pose with arms folded and snarling face. She has short brown hair and is wearing glasses and a brown flecked sweater.

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I’ll never forget the time a friend approached me and said: “I need to call the ADA, do you have their number?” First, I loved that they had observed some sort of disability access issue and thought it should be reported and resolved. Second, it conjured a fantastic image in my head of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson (a personal hero of mine) wearing a tight (of course) black T-shirt over his enormous muscles with writing in white: The ADA.

Pushing the fantasy aside and laughing to myself, I explained to my well-meaning friend that “The ADA” as an organization doesn’t exist. There is no police force (or A-Team) patrolling accessibility, righting disability discrimination wrongs, and making the world a more inclusive place for disabled folks. I wish it were so, but alas it is not. 

No ADA Enforcement Agency

Not only is there no “ADA Emergency” number to call, there is no proactive bureau for enforcement. There is no one looking for accessibility barriers and fixing them. In fact, a lot of barriers continue actively being built with approval from uneducated building inspectors across the country when plans are submitted for review.

And don’t get me started about the general lack of education and awareness, not just about physical accessibility, but about how to be inclusive of disabled people in general. Stigma and ableism are alive and well in everyday interactions. They are too many to report, such as employment discrimination, exclusion from businesses, bad treatment in health care, and so forth. And even if we could fathom (the time and energy) making complaints about all of these daily violations, where would they be reported to anyway?

The ADA Turned from Baseline to Unachievable

It is my understanding that the Americans with Disabilities Act was planned as the baseline, as a place to build from when it came to accessibility and inclusion of disabled people. Instead, in reality it is now treated as a lofty and often unachievable standard: “we can’t change that building, its historic!” or “we can’t possibly build a ramp, it is too expensive” or “why do you expect equal treatment when you are disabled?”

The history is that the bill was approved using many compromises, one of them being a lack of clear (and sufficient, in my opinion) enforcement mechanism. As I wrote before, there is no agency proactively seeking enforcement for meeting the requirements of the ADA. The law stipulates that enforcement relies on individuals to register complaints (such as with a local or state agency or with the federal Department of Justice). Or (if they have money to afford it), the person can file a lawsuit to pursue rectifying an ADA violation.

Enforcement Relies on the People Being Oppressed

As you may imagine, this makes true enforcement of the ADA very, very difficult. I have years old complaints still languishing in some bureaucratic dungeon. For example, one clear cut complaint that could be solved by installing an inexpensive ramp (literally a portable ramp you can buy online) in a location with plenty of space to rectify an inaccessible business remains unresolved 21 months (and counting) after I filed it. 

Additionally, it requires me to provide the proof and do the research to demonstrate the issue, suggest a remedy, cite the law or specific regulations, and so forth. It is a heckuva lot of unpaid work and time spent for an individual to personally achieve ADA enforcement. To me, this is the equivalent of me performing a citizen’s arrest on a mugger — very hard to do and not really an individual’s job.

I also cannot begin to describe the emotional toll, stress, and anxiety. Proving inaccessibility feels like having to prove to others that I am human and deserving of equal treatment. It harms my heart to wage each and every battle.

This is just one of about a zillion examples. And I think it explains why so many places remain inaccessible, are not concerned about meeting the baseline requirements of the law, and have no fear of it. 

Fighting Discrimination Takes a Lot of Grit 

Frankly, it’s terribly disheartening. I have learned after many decades (sometimes I am a slow learner or more optimistic about people than they deserve) that I can ask nicely for access until I am blue in the face and most of the time will be ignored and denied. The myth of asking nicely for inclusion and access is often just that, something people falsely believe in. “Just ask” they say. But I have been smacked in the face enough now to know that many times it does not work.

I learned this from years long battles with businesses and neighbors, from people who I mistakenly thought wanted to include me, liked me, respected me. I have learned that I can ask nicely to start the conversation for making actual change, but then I have to take out my bludgeon to actually get it done. I have to choose my battles carefully because I have many already on my plate and only so much energy and time (and hard objects) to spare.

Right now, I have several complaints heading to legal action because my efforts to ask nicely were ignored and repudiated. It is a toss-up whether I will eventually win the access and inclusion that I deserve, even though I know the law and ethics are on my side. 

This month’s newsletter series will probe the issue of enforcement on the ADA and disability rights in general. It is an especially hard one to write when I feel so down about my chances in receiving justice and equality, despite knowing what is good and right. 

I keep hanging onto that image of The Rock, wishing there was an enforcement brigade for disabled people that was rooting out accessibility barriers and ableist bigots, that was paving the way for a more inclusive world for all. It keeps me going and hoping to think there are others out there like me filing those impossible complaints, climbing the Everest-sized mountains of indifference, and working to carve accessible paths for others to follow into a more inclusive future.

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