Rethinking disability policy: equity in the ADA era and the meaning of specialized services for people with...

An analysis of disability policy suggests that policy-makers have pursued two strategies to treat people with disabilities equally. In one approach, categories of people with disabilities were identified and provided with specialized services. In the second, categories of services were provided to people with disabilities on a specialized basis. In both cases, the implication is that people with disabilities are so different a class of people that society should not be required to adapt to their presence. In this article, the authors suggest that the new equity standard established by the Americans with Disabilities Act makes such specialized services inappropriate and suggests a general three-prong strategy for including the needs of people with disabilities in mainstream policy-making. This strategy addresses education and training needs, health care reform, and civil rights enforcement.