The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA): Honoring 30 Years of Civil Rights Protections
July 26, 2020 will mark the 30th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush in 1990. The ADA National Network, which provides information, guidance, and training on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), is celebrating the act’s 30th anniversary with programs and events throughout the year and on its actual anniversary in July. Read this article to learn more about the ADA 2020 anniversary event and other resources.
Toward True Equity: A Call for Further Revisions to the ADA
In a timely and important editorial, Jamie Fleshman, SPT calls for new amendments to the Americans with Disabilities Act. She identifies a critical contributor to American disability: the continued inaccessibility of public spaces. Attention must be drawn, she argues, to an American infrastructure that has been constructed for “a certain set of abilities,” and is profoundly outdated.
Searching Behind “No!”
Congratulations to Northwestern University Doctor of Physical Therapy Program graduate student Bethany Shieh, SPT, the winner of the annual physical therapy student essay contest co-sponsored by the ACAPT Consortium for the Humanities, Ethics, and Professionalism (CHEP) and JHR. In her essay, “Searching Behind ‘No!'”, Ms. Shieh illustrates how we can create space to understand the pain, suffering and frustration that accompany and influence patient care, if we are willing to enter and dwell in our patient’s life experience.
Spring 2020 Resources
doi: 10.18737/0607323450 AMA Citation: Baas A. Spring 2020 Resources. J Hum Rehabil. 2020; Spring. doi:10.18737/0607323450 Download the article (pdf) Table of Contents What We’re Watching How Doctors Can Help Low-Income Patients and Still Make a Profit by P.J. Parmar, MD In this TED Talk, Dr. P.J. Parmar shares how he’s been able to create and […]
Reviving and Reflecting on “Portrait of Spirit: One Story at a Time”
Both a book and an exhibit, Portrait of Spirit: One Story at a Time by Billy Howard and Maggie Holtzberg offers new perspectives while challenging the way we view the lived disability experience. Using stunning photographs and beautifully written narratives from Portrait of Spirit, this piece serves as an ode to the groundbreaking stories that started it all while advocating for continued societal change for people living with disabilities.
Critical Disability Studies With Rehabilitation: Re-thinking the human in rehabilitation research and practice
In this Perspective, Donya Mosleh, PhD argues for a new mode of scholarly practice that recognizes and addresses tensions between two fields that seemingly occupy opposite ends of a continuum. In order to promote a more productive engagement, critical disability studies with rehabilitation sciences unsettles knowledge relations that position these two fields as oppositional and incompatible.
Finding Help: Exploring the accounts of persons with disabilities in Western Zambia regarding strategies to improve their situation
The main focus of rehabilitation is to provide help to those who need it. But does the Western definition of “help” always apply in other regions? In “Finding Help: Exploring the Accounts of Persons With Disabilities in Western Zambia…,” Shaun R. Cleaver and colleagues present the concept of help in a completely new light, and offer suggestions for a more societally-based approach to healing.
Out of Oxygen
In this sensitive reflection, DPT student Mercedes Aguirre describes an incident during her first clinical experience that taught her the importance of taking a deep breath—and speaking up on behalf of one’s patient.
Beyond First Impressions
Jake Raecker, DPT student, recalls a patient he encountered during his first clinical rotation who gave him quite a shock—but, with care and attention, taught him a valuable lesson about looking beyond first impressions.
“The Best is the Enemy of the Good”
The healthcare professions often attract talented, committed perfectionists. But what can practitioners do when that perfectionism negatively affects rehabilitation? In “The Best is the Enemy of the Good,” David Gillette describes how his PT residency experience, and the thoughtful guidance of his mentors, helped him confront the negative aspects of his perfectionism and turn his thoughts toward the good.