Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/532968
t m c » p u l s e | j u ly 2 0 1 5 5 Accessibility For All S haded beneath the recently completed façade of the Tower of the Americas, the 750-foot observation tower that distinguished the 1968 World's Fair in San Antonio, Texas, Lex Frieden sat contentedly on the sidewalk. Waiting for his friends to arrive—a small table perched on the arms of his wheelchair supporting a lone cup of beer—21-year-old Frieden experienced a sobering moment. A gentleman walking by paused, almost absent-mindedly, before casually stuffing three dollars into the cup. "Too bad you can't get a job," he lamented. "That attitude was representative of what was prevalent at the time," said Frieden, currently profes- sor of biomedical informatics at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and director of the Independent Living Research Utilization Program (ILRU) at TIRR Memorial Hermann. "I don't think I looked like a beggar, with my high-priced wheelchair and drinking a Lone Star beer, but I guess that was his stereotypical view of what an outcast in society might appear to be." Today, deftly navigating his motorized wheel- chair, Frieden paints a vivid picture of a changed landscape. "At the time, people's real challenges were not their own disability, it was the environment; it wasn't their own attitudes, it was the attitude of other people towards them," he said. "Regardless of how well prepared a person might be through the rehabilitation process, society had certain expectations of them that were hard to overcome. A lot's changed since then." Changes made possible—in no small part—thanks to Frieden's commitment to squelching discrimination and promoting accessibility. As a chief architect of the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), he helped draft legislation to protect the civil rights of the more than 56 million people with disabilities in the United States, including at least 3 million Texans. "The ADA covers a wide range of issues," said Frieden. "It covers transportation, education, and per- haps most importantly, employment. In the day before the ADA was enacted, I could apply for a job and an employer could look at me straight and say, 'You're in a wheelchair, we don't employ people who use wheel- chairs.' It was perfectly legal for private employers. All that changed on July 26, 1990." In addition to banning discrimination based on a disability, the ADA requires that public accommoda- tions, from restaurants to hospitals, make "reasonable modifications" to their policies and practices to ensure access for disabled members of the public. B y A l e x O r l a n d o I'd like for Houston to be known worldwide as a model of full inclusion and equal opportunity for everyone, regardless of their personal circumstances. — LEX FRIEDEN Professor of Biomedical Informatics at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston NEARLY 30 YEARS AFTER HE HELPED DRAFT A REPORT THAT WOULD LATER BECOME THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT, UTHEALTH PROFESSOR AND TIRR MEMORIAL HERMANN PROGRAM DIRECTOR LEX FRIEDEN REFLECTS ON THE CHALLENGES OVERCOME, AND THOSE STILL AHEAD.