Officials join residents to mark
25th anniversary of the Americans
with Disabilities Act
BY TODD LUCK
THE CHRONiri P
Hundreds came togeth
er to celebrate the 25th
anniversary of the
Americans with
Disabilities Act at Triad
Park in Kernersville on
Friday, July 24.
The ADA ensured the
rights of disabled
Americans, giving them
accessibility and protecting
them from discrimination.
More than 50 million
Americans have a disabili
ty, making them the largest
minority group in the coun
try.
Maybe that's why
Winston-Salem Assistant
to the Mayor Linda
Jackson-Barnes and
Kernersville Mayor Dawn
Morgan could so easily
think of people that had
been affected by the act,
which they mentioned
before reading their
?prospective proclamations
for the event.
; Jackson-Barnes
recalled taking her late
mother, who was in a
?wheelchair, to New York
tCity to see the play "The
Color Purple" in 2006. She
[said without federal acces
sibility requirements, she
wouldn't have been able to
spend that wonderful week
in the Big Apple with her
?mother, who passed away
the following year.
Morgan recalled Peggy
Sue MacKenzie, a young
woman in a wheelchair
;with muscular dystrophy,
who she attended middle
and high school with
before the ADA passed.
MacKenzie had rubbed
shoulders with politicians
iand celebrities at only 7
years old when she was the
1972 poster child of the
Muscular Dystrophy
Association. But she still
faced many barriers as a
teen. Whenever
MacKenzie and Morgan
went to see a movie, they
had to wait for the theater
manager to let them in
through the fire exit. There
were only six steps
between MacKenzie and
her access to the high
school auditorium where
graduation was held.
Morgan said classmates
had to carry MacKenzie up
the steps so she wouldn't
miss the big day.
The event took place
?under two large picnic shel
ters with various groups '
that serve those with dis
abilities using tables to tout
?their services. There was a
talso a presentation on the
ihistory of disability rights
by Mark Steele, the execu
tive director of The
lAdaptables, a local Center
for Independent Living that
advocates for all disabili
ties. All presentations
where translated into sign
?language and typed on a
screen using CART
(Communication Access
Realtime Translation) for
the hearing impaired.
"The ADA just puts
things on a level playing
field," said Steele. "It does
n't put people with a dis
ability at an advantage; it
just asks for things to be
accessible and level."
Steele has been using a
wheel chair since a 1981
spinal cord injury. He said
the passage of the ADA
made buildings and trans
portation accessible for
him.
"All aspects of my life I
can say changed for the
better because of the
ADA," he said.
While the ADA protects
employees from being fired
for a disability and requires
employers to make reason
able accommodations for
an employee's disability,
it's getting those with dis
abilities hired that remains
the problem. Seventy per
cent of those with a disabil
ity are not part of the work
force.
"There's been a lot of
advances in public accom
modation and accessibility
features with buses and
interpreters and making the
world accessible, but the
employment piece still
needs a lot of work," Steele
said.
Winston-Salem
Industries for the Blind, the
largest employer of blind or
visually impaired people in
the country, had various
sporting equipment for the
blind and visually impaired
there, including a talking
dart board. IFB hosted a
national dart tournament in
2013 and will do so again
in 2016.
Among those challeng
ing sighted people to try
using the dart board blind
folded was Anastasia
Powell. She started losing
her vision at 14 years old
and was completely blind
when she was 21. She
started at IFB in 2005
working on a sewing
machine and is now adult
program coordinator for
IFB's Brighter Path out
reach program.
Powell said ADA bene
fits places like IFB by
requiring federal agencies
to purchase AbilityOne
products made by people
who are blind or have
another significant disabili
ty. Powell said obstacles
remain for the blind locally.
She said there needs to be
more sidewalks on streets
and more beeping cross
walks that let the blind and
visually impaired know
when it's safe to cross the
street.
A Brighter Path is
involved in many activities
for the blind and visually
impaired, including the
Blind Idol singing contest
and the After Dark
fundraiser, where blind
people like Powell are
teamed with a local artist to
create artwork that'll be
auctioned off. "People
think because we're blind,
we're not capable of X, Y,
Z," she said.
"Just know we're very
capable, especially when
provided with the proper
tools."
David Litman, a hard of
hearing services specialist
from Greensboro, says the
same thing about deaf peo
ple. He lost his hearing at
26, so he can speak despite
being completely deaf.
Even so, he says that peo
ple talk to him on the phone
without ever realizing he
can't hear a word they're
saying because his phone
connects him to live video
feed of a sign language
interpreter who translates
the call for him.
It's one of many gadg
ets that deaf people can use
and the state's Division of
Services for the Deaf and
Hard of Hearing, which he
works for, had several on
display at its table. They
included a telephone that'll
show what's being said as
text and a device that'll
make lights blink if a door
bell rings and shake the bed
when an alarm clock goes
off.
He said the ADA
helped him go to college
shortly after losing his
hearing by letting him get a
CART interpreter, which
essentially close-captioned
his classes, until he became
comfortable enough with
sign language to have a
signing interpreter.
He said though it can be
challenging to communi
cate sometimes when he's
out and about, advancing
technology and the ADA
have improved his life
greatly. He said thanks to
the ADA, he can even go
see a movie with closed
captioning in a theater,
using special glasses to see
the text.
"1 have said I became
deaf at the best possible
time," he said.
Photos by Tcxkl Luck
Above Some of the gadgets that help the hearing impaired on display at last
week's ADA anniversary celebration. Daniel Moody assists young Jame Malik in
trying out his basketball wheelchair.
Have an Opinion?
Let usJCnow letters@wschronicle.com
The Chronicle (USPS 067-910) was established by Ernest
H. Pitt and Ndubisi Egemonye in 1974 and is published
every Thursday by Winston-Salem Chronicle Publishing
Co. Inc., 617 N. Liberty Street, Winston-Salem, N.C.
27101. Periodicals postage paid at Winston-Salem, N.C.
Annual subscription price is $30.72.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to:
The Chronicle, P.O. Box 1636
Winston-Salem, NC 27102-1636
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