Episode #132: How The ADA Forced Schools To Change Everything
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Show Notes:
The ADA is more than just ramps and elevators. It’s a civil rights law that reshaped the educational landscape for millions of children. Find out how this law gives your child the right to learn.
On this episode of the Water Prairie Chronicles, host Tonya Wollum takes us on a journey through the history of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This year marks the 35th anniversary of this landmark legislation, and we explore the world for children with disabilities before the law was signed.
Tonya breaks down the fight for disability rights that led to the ADA’s passage in 1990, explaining why it was a revolutionary civil rights law, not just an education policy. We’ll explore how the ADA forced schools to change everything — from building accessible ramps and installing elevators to providing crucial accommodations like Braille textbooks and sign language interpreters.
This episode also looks at the work that remains, the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, and why parents are still on the front lines, advocating for their children’s rights. The story of the ADA in our schools is a powerful one of progress, resilience, and the ongoing fight for every child’s right to an education.
Key Takeaways:
- The Pre-ADA World: Education for children with disabilities was not a right but a “lottery.” Over a million children were shut out of public schools.
- The ADA’s Revolutionary Impact: The ADA is a civil rights law, not an education law, that banned discrimination in all areas of public life.
- How the ADA Changed Schools: The law mandated physical accessibility (ramps, elevators) and required “reasonable accommodations” like Braille and text-to-speech software.
- The ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA): This 2008 update expanded the definition of “disability,” offering legal protection to students with conditions like ADHD and dyslexia.
- The Work That Remains: The fight for equal access continues today with battles over digital accessibility and a commitment to not just following the letter of the law but embracing its spirit.
Resources on ADA and ADAAA:
- U.S. Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Website: https://www.ada.gov/
- Information on the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA)
- Disability History Primary Source Set
Important Segments (with Timestamps):
- 00:00 The Broken Promise of Pre-1990 Education
- 01:08 The World Before the ADA
- 02:42 A Landmark Law is Born
- 04:15 The Blueprint for Change – Forcing a Revolution
- 05:56 The Human Impact – Stories of Inclusion
- 07:16 More Than Just Ramps – Expanding the Definition
- 08:53 The Work That Remains
- 10:17 What’s Your Story?
- 10:37 Looking to the Future
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Music Used:
“LazyDay” by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Artist: http://audionautix.com/
Tonya Wollum is an IEP Coach, podcast host, and disability advocate. She works one-on-one with parents to guide them to a peaceful partnership with their child’s IEP team, and she provides virtual mentors for special needs parents through the interviews she presents as the host of the Water Prairie Chronicles podcast. Tonya knows firsthand how difficult it is to know how to support your special needs child, and she seeks to provide knowledge to parents and caregivers as well as to those who support a family living life with a disability. She’s doing her part to help create a more inclusive world where we can celebrate what makes each person unique!
Episode #132: How The ADA Forced Schools To Change Everything
The ADA is more than just ramps and elevators. It’s a civil rights law that reshaped the educational landscape for millions of children. Find out how this law gives your child the right to learn.
(Recorded August 2, 2025)
Full Transcript of Episode 132:
A school isn’t just a building. It’s a promise. A promise of learning, of growth, of opportunity. But for decades, for millions of American kids, that promise was broken. The second they saw the front steps.
Before 1990, a student in a wheelchair could be met with an impossible flight of stairs. A student who was hard of hearing might as well have been sitting in a room wrapped in silence.
A student with a learning difference could be told flat out that they just didn’t belong, and it gets worse. In the 1970s, over a million children with disabilities were completely shut out of public schools. So what happened? What incredible force could overhaul not just the architecture of our schools, but the very architecture of our beliefs about who gets to learn?
It wasn’t a single event, but it was a single, powerful piece of paper. A law that didn’t just suggest change, it demanded it. This is how the Americans with Disabilities Act forced schools to change everything.
Welcome to the Water Prairie Chronicles, a podcast for parents of children with disabilities. I’m your host, Tonya Wollum, and I’m glad you’re here.
With July 2025 being the 35th anniversary of the ADA, this episode of the podcast is dedicated to helping us understand why that was such a significant event.
The World Before the ADA
We’ll start by looking at the world before the ADA. To really get the sheer scale of the ADA’s impact, you have to picture a world that feels both ancient and way too recent.
Before 1990, education for a student with a disability was basically a lottery. There was zero guarantee of access. If you got lucky, you lived in a forward-thinking district or had parents with the resources to fight for you. For most people, though, the reality was bleak. Schools were built for just one kind of student, and if you didn’t fit that mold, there was simply no place for you.
Think about the physical reality of it. Heavy doors, hallways you could barely squeeze through, and multi-story buildings with no elevators. For a student with a mobility impairment, the school itself was a fortress built to keep them out, but the barriers were so much bigger than brick and mortar. Kids with disabilities were often shoved into separate, underfunded classrooms or entirely different schools far away from their peers.
This wasn’t just a physical distance, it was a social one. It sent a loud, clear message. You are different. You are less than. You don’t belong here. This segregation wasn’t just some dusty policy. It was woven into the culture of education, teaching a whole generation that exclusion was normal.
Can you imagine being a brilliant student who couldn’t read standard print with no way to get audiobooks or braille? Or being a parent with a disability who couldn’t even attend a parent-teacher conference because the building was inaccessible?
This wasn’t a “what-if” — it was daily life. It was a system that told millions of people their potential meant nothing. All because the world wasn’t built for them.
A Landmark Law is Born
And then, a landmark law was born. This didn’t just happen overnight. The fight for disability rights had been building for decades, pushed forward by relentless activists who organized, protested, and demanded to be seen.
That long, hard fight led to a moment that would change America for good. On July 26th, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act, the ADA, into law.
So what is the ADA really? This is the important part: it’s not an education law. It’s a sweeping civil rights law. Its goal is both simple and revolutionary: to ban discrimination against people with disabilities in every part of public life. For schools, this was an earthquake.
The law is split into sections called “titles.” Title II of the ADA hit all state and local governments, which, of course, includes public schools. It said they had to provide equal access to all of their programs and activities. Title III did the same for places of public accommodation, which includes private schools, universities, and even testing centers.
Suddenly, access wasn’t a favor; it was a right. Schools couldn’t hide behind excuses that it was too hard or too expensive to accommodate students. The ADA didn’t come with a big check; it came with a mandate. It said, in no uncertain terms, that excluding a student because of their disability was a violation of their civil rights.
The whole game had changed. The era of excuses was over. The era of accountability had just begun.
The Blueprint for Change – Forcing a Revolution
The ADA didn’t just raise the bar; it gave schools a totally new blueprint for what they had to be. The changes were immediate, real, and often pretty drastic. Schools had to look at every single thing they did through a brand new lens: accessibility.
First came the changes you could see. Across the country, schools started the massive job of retrofitting old buildings. Ramps were built next to stairs. Elevators were installed. Doorways were widened. Bathrooms were completely redone with accessible stalls and grab bars, but it went deeper.
Water fountains had to be lowered. The pipes under science lab sinks had to be insulated, so a wheelchair user wouldn’t get burned. Library aisles had to be wide enough to actually move through. These weren’t nice suggestions; they were the law.
But the revolution went way beyond the physical building. It stormed right into the classroom. The ADA put the force of law behind the idea of “reasonable accommodations.” This meant schools now had to provide the tools students needed to learn right alongside their peers.
For a student with a visual impairment, that could be textbooks in Braille or large print. For a student with dyslexia, it might be text-to-speech software or more time on tests. For a student who was deaf or hard of hearing, it could mean a sign language interpreter right there in the classroom.
And the law demanded access to programs, too. It wasn’t enough for a student to just get in the building; they had to have the same chance to join in everything the school offered. That meant sports, clubs, field trips, you name it.
A school could no longer say that the bus for the science museum trip wasn’t wheelchair-friendly, or that the stage for the school play didn’t have a ramp. The ADA declared that inclusion had to be the default, not the exception.
The Human Impact – Stories of Inclusion
Laws are just ink on paper until they change people’s lives and the a DA changed millions of them, turning the educational journey from a dead end into an open door. The impact wasn’t just about grades. It was about building independence, confidence, and changing how students saw their own worth.
For the first time, many students with disabilities could get through their school day on their own. A student who once had to be carried up a flight of stairs could now take a ramp or an elevator, giving them a sense of freedom that’s vital for any young person. The independence inside the school had a ripple effect, preparing them for a more independent life after they graduated.
Being in a mainstream classroom meant students with disabilities weren’t invisible anymore. They were part of the school community, making friends and working on projects with their non-disabled peers. And this worked both ways.
It normalized disability. It broke down the fear and stigma that grow from a lack of understanding. It taught all students that our world is diverse, and that a disability is just one part of who a person is.
The ADA’s message was powerful. You have a right to be here. That affirmation was transformative for students’ self-image. They were no longer problems that needed to be solved, but equals in the classroom. This shift empowered them to speak up for themselves, aim higher, and imagine a future that wasn’t blocked off by the barriers of the past.
More Than Just Ramps – Expanding the Definition
The ADA was a huge starting point, but the fight for real equity is always a work in progress. Over the years, the law itself has grown to be even more inclusive. One of the biggest updates came in 2008, with the ADA Amendments Act, or the ADAAA.
The ADAAA was a big deal because it widened the very definition of “disability.” Before 2008, some courts had interpreted the definition so narrowly that a lot of people with conditions like ADHD, diabetes, or learning disabilities weren’t protected. The ADAAA fixed that. It made it clear that the focus should be on whether someone is facing discrimination, not on a legal battle over how “impaired” they are.
This was a game-changer for countless students. All of a sudden, students with learning and attention issues, who might have been struggling in silence, had clear legal protection. The law now specifically said that things like concentrating, thinking, and reading were “major life activities.” This meant accommodations like a quiet room for tests, help with taking notes, or different types of assignments became recognized rights, not just favors from a nice teacher.
This evolution shows that the spirit of the ADA isn’t stuck in time. As our understanding of disability grows, so do the protections. New federal rules are still rolling out, like recent updates in 2024 that push for better digital accessibility, making sure school websites, apps, and online classes work for everyone. It’s a constant process of finding barriers — whether they’re physical, academic, or digital — and tearing them down.
The Work That Remains
Celebrating the A DA doesn’t mean the mission is accomplished. Far from it, the law forced schools to change, but forcing compliance isn’t the same thing as changing hearts and minds. Even today, decades later, the promise of the ADA isn’t always the reality on the ground.
Big challenges are still out there. While the law mandates access, the quality of that access can be wildly different from one school district to another. Students and their parents still have to fight battles that should have been settled long ago — fights for accessible textbooks, for properly trained staff, or for their kid to be included in all school activities.
Misconceptions about the law are still active and well. Some people still talk about accommodations as an “unfair advantage” instead of what they are: a tool to level the playing field. And as technology changes, new barriers pop up.
Inaccessible software or websites can be just as tough to get passed as a flight of stairs. That 2024 rule on digital access is a great step, but getting every school on board is a steep climb.
The road to a truly fair education system, demands that we stay vigilant, that we keep advocating, and that we commit to not just following the letter of the law but embracing its spirit.
The work isn’t done until every single student, no matter their ability, can walk — or roll — through the school doors and know, without a single doubt. That the promise of education is for them, too.
Share your story!
The story of the ADA in our schools is a story written by millions of students, parents, and teachers. And it’s a story that’s still going.
What about you? Have you seen the incredible impact of the ADA firsthand, or have you run into some of the challenges that are still out there? Share your story in the comments. Your experience is a crucial part of this ongoing conversation.
Looking to the Future
From a world that legally barred over a million children from its classrooms to one that legally requires their inclusion, the Americans with Disabilities Act set off a seismic shift in American education. It forced a national reckoning with a simple, powerful truth. Every child has a right to learn.
The ADA tore down physical walls, giving us the ramps, elevators, and accessible designs we now see everywhere. But its real power was in tearing down the invisible walls of prejudice and lower expectations. It redefined what a school is for — not just a place for the “able-bodied,” but a space for everyone.
The journey has been anything but easy, and the work is far from over. But the legacy of the ADA is undeniable. It created a world of opportunities that just didn’t exist before, proving that when we design our world with everyone in mind, everyone wins. The promise of education is finally, slowly, but surely, being kept.
And as we reflect over what’s changed for those living with disabilities over the past 35 years, let’s not only celebrate the progress we’ve made, but also recommit ourselves to carrying the torch of advocacy forward. I hope this episode has given you a deeper understanding of this landmark law and will help you to continue to support your child.
You can find links to resources about the ADA and its history in the show notes. Thanks for joining me today. I’ll see you next time.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):
Q1: What is the ADA and why is it important for parents of children with disabilities?
A: The ADA is a comprehensive civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in public life. For parents, it’s a critical tool that ensures their children have equal access to education, public spaces, and other services.
Q2: How is the ADA different from the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)?
A: The ADA is a civil rights law that mandates equal access and non-discrimination. IDEA is an education law that specifically governs how states and public agencies provide early intervention, special education, and related services to children with disabilities. While they both protect students, the ADA is broader in scope, covering more than just education.
Q3: What are “reasonable accommodations” under the ADA?
A: Reasonable accommodations are changes or adjustments to a school’s policies, practices, or procedures that allow a student with a disability to participate fully. Examples include providing Braille textbooks, sign language interpreters, or extra time on tests.
Q4: Does the ADA apply to private schools?
A: Yes. Title III of the ADA applies to “places of public accommodation,” which includes private schools, universities, and other private entities that serve the public.
