|
Home
Contents
Governance
Organizations
Sports
Competitions
Classification
Coaching
Research
Issues
Laws
Links
Michigan
MSU
Webmaster
| |
Americans with Disabilities Act
The Americans with Disabilities Act (Public Law
101-336), also known by its acronym ADA, was enacted in 1990. The
purpose of ADA was to end discrimination against persons with disabilities
and to bring them into the economic and social mainstream of American life.
Titles
The ADA has five titles: employment, transportation, public
accommodations, state and local government, and telecommunications.
|
Title |
Major Provisions |
| Employment |
Employers may not discriminate against a
person with a disability in hiring or promotion if the person is
qualified for the job. |
| Transportation |
Public transportation services such as
buses, commuter rail, trains, and airlines must accommodate persons with
a disability with specified deadlines for compliance. |
Public
Accommodations |
Public businesses such as restaurants,
hotels, retail stores, and places of exercise may not discriminate
against persons with a disability. |
State and Local
Government |
Government facilities, services, and
communications must be accessible to persons with a disability. |
| Telecommunications |
Companies offering telephone service to the
general public must offer relay services to individuals who use
telecommunication devices for persons who are deaf (TDD devices). |
Implications for Sport Programs
Each of the provisions of ADA has implications for physical activity and
sport programs. For example, qualified persons with a disability must be
considered for employment in places of exercise (employment), public
transportation should be available to facilitate participation in sports and
exercise programs (transportation), places of exercise should make
reasonable accommodations for persons with a disability (public
accommodations), and places of exercise should be accessible through relay
phone services (telecommunications). School, university, and community
sports programs all must comply with ADA provisions.
The public accommodations title has the most implications for physical
activity and sport programs. Five concepts are especially important:
 | Qualified individual. A qualified individual is a person who
has the prerequisite skills for participation in the physical activity
program. Programs may not impose eligibility criteria that discriminate
against persons with a disability; however, they may impose requirements
that protect the safety of participants. Safety requirements must be based
on individual assessment and actual risks, not speculation,
prejudice, stereotypes, or unfounded fears. Some experts advise the use
of informed consent statements as a way of educating participants about
the activity when there is no adequate way to conduct an individual
assessment or when there are no data to substantiate safety risks. |
| Full and equal enjoyment. The qualified person with a
disability is entitled to equal opportunity to participate in all
activities associated with the selected physical activity or sports
program. For example, a competitive sports team that organizes social
activities for its members must make the social activities accessible in
addition to practices and competitions. |
| Reasonable accommodations. The place of exercise must make
common-sense changes to programs and facilities that enable participation
by qualified persons with a disability. Reasonable accommodations include
removing architectural barriers that limit physical accessibility of the
facility, adapting instructional methods and equipment, and providing
alternate communication methods that facilitate participation. Program
changes might involve accommodations such as providing a buddy for a
person with mental retardation, providing an interpreter for a person who
is deaf, changing the activity schedule consistent with availability of
public transportation, or in-service training
for program staff. Facility accommodations might include
Braille labels on equipment, lowering shower
controls in a locker room, or adding a ramp so that wheelchair users can
enter the building. Low-cost, practical solutions usually are possible
when athletes, coaches, and program administrators
work together. |
| Undue hardship. The place of exercise is required to make
reasonable accommodations that facilitate participation by persons with a
disability unless those accommodations pose an undue hardship upon the
business or agency. An undue hardship exists when the cost of the
accommodation exceeds available resources in a significant way. For
example, a youth sports club that relies upon member dues for income and
which has significant expenditures for coach salaries and facility rental
might be faced with an undue hardship if an athlete who is deaf demands
constant interpreting services (asking the coach to enroll in a survival
sign language course might be a reasonable accommodation in this case). |
| Fundamental alteration. The place of exercise is not required
to change the fundamental nature of the services offered. For example, a
competitive swimming program would not be required to offer learn-to-swim
lessons. |
Individualized Assessment/Safety
The concept of individualized assessment to determine the
qualifications of persons to participate in physical activity and sport
programs deserves more attention. First, the agencies that offer a physical
activity or sport program must be careful to specify the criteria (e.g.,
age, knowledge, skill level) for entry into the program. Individualized
assessment should focus on whether the person with a disability satisfies
those criteria. Furthermore, the agency must be prepared to demonstrate that
the criteria were fairly applied to all potential participants with and
without disabilities. Another purpose of individualized assessment is to
determine whether the person with a disability can participate safely. Three
issues have emerged in the case law related to ADA:
| Special risk to self as a spectator or patron. Examples of this
concern include the need for emergency action plans to facilitate
emergency evacuation from sports stadiums, whether persons who need help
transferring from wheelchairs should be allowed to use amusement park
rides, and whether protective screening or alternative seating is
available at sports stadiums for persons with limited mobility. |
| Special risk to self as a participant. Examples of this concern
include situations where persons with an impaired/absent organ (e.g.,
impaired heart function, one eye, one kidney) should be allowed to
participate in selected sports or whether persons with conditions such as
seizures or hemophilia should be allowed to participate in sports. Should
a person with Down syndrome (possibility of atlantoaxial instability) be
permitted to participate in a Go-Kart activity? Should a person who is
blind be permitted to participate in springboard diving or gymnastics?
Should a player with a hearing impairment be required to wear a
double-flap helmet in youth baseball? Should a wheelchair user be allowed
to coach third base? |
| Special risk to others as participants. A place of exercise is
not required to make accommodations for a person with a disability when
that person presents a significant risk to the health or safety of others
that cannot be eliminated by modification of policies, practices, or
procedures, or the provision of auxiliary aids. Should a person with a
below-the-knee amputation be allowed to play football or soccer? Should a
person with Down syndrome (questionable ability to make safe judgments
when driving) be permitted to participate in a Go-Kart activity? Should a
wheelchair user be allowed to coach 3rd base? |
Informed Consent
One practical outcome of discussions related to ADA and sports is a
greater emphasis on informed consent. Because valid and reliable methods of
individualized assessment have not been developed for many of the unique
situations encountered in disability sports, program and agency directors
may find it difficult to prove whether a person is qualified to participate
or whether a person may participate safely. Written informed consent shifts
some responsibility to the participant for making appropriate choices, and
may protect program and agency directors against liability actions to some
degree (especially when participants are mentally competent adults).
More Information
The ADA Home Page, operated
by the U.S. Department of Justice, can be accessed at
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/adahom1.htm. The ADA Home Page
provides access to technical materials including the text of the law,
technical assistance programs such as standards for accessible facility
design, enforcement programs, mediation programs, results of recent ADA
lawsuits, and access to a toll-free ADA information line. Give special
attention to “ADA Regulations for Title III” in
the technical assistance materials section. |
|
