Americans With Disabilities: Off the Front Page

Voices From the Edge: Narratives About the Americans With Disabilities Act (see record 2004-14006-000) provides a succinct overview of the Americans With Disabilities (ADA) in its historical context and the nature of the multiple titles of the act. The introduction is ideal for those who may have forgotten the details and context long after the ADA left the front page and for those for whom the act and policy are new, professional and nonprofessional alike. There is also an abridged version of the act and a less obvious bibliographic essay in the rear of the book for other resources. Although the introduction is almost 10% of the book's text pages, the read is worthwhile because of the context it provides through history, politics, employment, law, and disability. What is "the edge"? The heart of Voices From the Edge is the human side of the ADA, the persons who must live with the law as it stands and evolves in its interpretation. It is the story of people confronting the cracks, crevices, and crevasses almost daily. The book is not a heart-warming, enraging, or inspiring popular biography of a renowned or famous person confronted with a new disability and the ensuing struggle. Nor is it a banner-waving rendition of the near-fictional hero overcoming all odds. The stories are of real people, successful ones, many with professional occupations. Contributions come from biographical or autobiographical vignettes for 10 published writers and others. The stories are of people on the edge: those with disabilities or without, those with disabilities here, but perhaps not there, or now but not then. Voices articulates in a human way the struggles of those with disabilities on the back pages of life with all its social, political, and legal complexities. In O'Brien's scholarly approach, there are no good guys and bad guys, just people striving to achieve their dreams and ideals. If there is a message in Voices for those who have disabilities, it is that life, law, and people are not simple, and no law will pave a highway to unlimited support and access. The message in Voices for those without a disability is to listen to those who must live with one. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)