The July 26 anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act is an important occasion for all Americans. Former president George H.W.
Bush, when he signed the ADA into law, declared that the shameful wall of society’s exclusion of the disabled should come down. As a government economist, I saw the “shameful” exclusion firsthand when managers forced my colleagues into early retirement due to a disability. These retirement decisions were based more on management’s bias against the disabled than health concerns.
Though I had no disability, I also experienced disability discrimination. My daughter, Alex, was born with a cardiac disability. Soon after her birth, nurses recognized that Alex had a circulatory problem.
Alex was transferred to Georgetown University Hospital, where cardiac surgeons diagnosed transposition of the arteries in her small heart. Alex required immediate cardiac surgery. Based on the enormity of the cardiac problem and the smallness of Alex, I did not believe she would survive the long and complicated surgery.
Alex survived her heart surgery that morning in 1989, the year before the ADA was signed into law. She endured several other surgeries but required a lengthy recovery period. I was in the Foreign Service, which by outdated law required only “able- bodied” diplomats with “able-bodied” families.
Senior diplomats said Alex would be an “insurance burden” to the government. They meant that Alex would be a management burden to them. Seni.