A Victory for the Disabled

http://mobile.nytimes.com/article?a=175391&f=19

Kudos to the Justice Dept for finally giving some teeth to the Americans with Disabilities Act. While some things may seem silly - half of mini golf homes must be wheel chair accessible - these things are non trivial for the 4-5% of Americans with mobility impairments that have to stay behind or just watch when their friends and family go out to have fun.

Perhaps it is just a gambit, but that a rule aimed at helping 1 in 6 Americans has to be couched in 'support the troops' rhetoric shows how far we still have to go until people with disabilities are granted their full dignity by society.

We went to see Kung fu panda this weekend (awesome by the way) and there was a young man there in a wheel chair with cognitive issues. My first thought was to be surprised to see someone with such significant handicaps at the theater. But in retrospect I think my surprise is not seeing more people with disabilities out and about. Hopefully these rules will survive hitting by the Chamber of Commerce and help a few more people get out and have a good time.