Marilyn from Florida

How has the ADA impacted your life regarding travel/mobility, education, employment, or any other aspect?

I am a retired Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor who contracted polio at age 2. Since the ADA, employer sites have to be accessible so I can go with my disabled clients to help them get a job.

Can you share a “before and after” experience; e.g., before the ADA I couldn’t do X or was denied access to Y, and thanks to the ADA I can do Z.

Before the ADA, I could not go out to dinner without checking in advance to see if the place had parking so my van could let the ramp out, or a restroom I could go inside with my Amigo wheelchair and shut the door for privacy.

What advances in disability rights would you like to see in the next 30 years?

I live in an over-55 community and ADA freedom dies at the gate entrance. They follow fair housing rules so they provide buses for entertainment, but they refuse to put a wheelchair lift on it. There are 5,260 units here and the lift bus costs $52 a month more. Make Uber, Lyft, and rental cars provide vehicles that you can stay in your wheelchair. Society is continuously changing and growing, so the equal access needs to keep up with these changes and grow with the needs.