Opinion by Anne Ford

[Guest guest]

As an older Mom in her 50's, I can relate to this story. As a kid going

through grade school to HS, I never saw a special needs kid or disabled

individual. Kids today are so blessed by having them included in their

sachools.

Opinion: 20 Years Ago, Disabilities Came out Anne Ford

Special to AOL News

(July 26) -- Seventeen years before the Americans with Disabilities Act

was enacted, I heard the words " learning disabilities " for the first time.

My daughter Allegra was diagnosed with severe LD, which affected every

aspect of learning and created enormous challenges with friendship and social

skills. Her disability became a looming presence in our family, always

there, always influencing our lives in both small and large ways.

My life became consumed by it, with time devoted to doctors, testing

services, tutors, pediatricians and neurologists, and, equally important, with

time taken from my son without a disability. Everything changed, everything

turned upside down and even though everything now seemed to revolve around

my daughter's disability, I felt completely alone.

President H.W. Bush signs the Americans With Disabilities Act on

July 26, 1990.

No one in my circle of friends had ever heard of a learning disability.

When I mentioned it to my daughter's pediatrician, he gave me a blank stare.

No one in the media talked about it. Some education professionals declared

the problem was " laziness " or " lack of trying " rather than a disability.

LD took over my family, and yet, in the world at large, it seemed to lurk

in the shadows as something barely understood and easy to ignore.

I remember, too, a television show I saw from the 1950s -- I can't

remember the show or the characters, but one scene still stands out in my

memory.

In it, a man in a wheelchair enters a restaurant and takes his place at a

table. Everyone around him stops talking or begins to speak in low whispers

while glancing at him, some in surprise and some scowling in disapproval as

if to say, " How dare you bring your troubles into a public place? "

This is how things were for people with disabilities 20 years ago.

Society's answer was to avoid any direct acknowledgment of the problem.

Everything changed on July 26, 1990, when President H.W. Bush

signed the Americans With Disabilities Act into law.

The " troubles " of others were brought into the light and into public, and

an entirely new and vital segment of the population was suddenly granted

rights and opportunities previously unattainable. Buildings with impassable

stairways now installed ramps and elevators. Employers could no longer

discriminate based on a disability. Public transportation became more

accessible.

By these actions, we as a country told our disabled citizens that they

too belonged to our nation's family, and that their skills, their talents and

their lives were valued.

Disabilities came out of the shadows. People began to talk openly and

understand, and most important, to accept. Today the idea of a person in a

wheelchair stopping conversation and getting looks of disapproval for entering

a restaurant is inconceivable.

As for learning disabilities, more and more young people with LD are

successfully transitioning out of high school into the workplace or college

because they have access to accommodations such as extra time for tests and

note takers. Before the ADA, these accommodations did not exist.

The aura of secrecy has disappeared as well. I no longer have to keep my

fears and worries bottled up inside for fear no one will understand -- far

from it! I meet people nearly every day who have some connection to learning

disabilities. All I have to do is mention LD in casual conversation and I

invariably hear from someone whose own life, or the life of someone they

know, has been similarly affected.

An estimated 15 million Americans have a learning disability, but thanks

to the ADA, we have learned that with understanding and acceptance, with

simple and usually inexpensive accommodations and with the protections

afforded by the ADA, people with disabilities can succeed.

After her daughter Allegra was diagnosed with severe learning disabilities

in 1973, _Anne Ford_ (http://web.redroom.com/author/anne-ford/) began a

new phase of her life as one of the nation's top advocates for the millions

of children and adults with learning disabilities and related disorders.

She served as Chairman of the _National Center for Learning Disabilities_

(http://www.redroom.com/national-center-learning-disabilities) for twelve

years, and is _author of three books_

(http://web.redroom.com/author/anne-ford/published-work) on learning

disabilities: Laughing Allegra, On Their Own,

and her latest, A Special Mother. Read her blog on _Red Room_

(http://web.redroom.com/blog/anne-ford/) .