DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR RIGHTS
ARE UNDER THE AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES
ACT?
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into
law on July 26, 1990. It is the world's first comprehensive
civil rights law for people with disabilities. The ADA
represents 43 million Americans with disabilities who are
full-fledged citizens and are entitled to legal protections
that ensure them equal opportunity and access to the
mainstream of American life. The ADA is being enforced
when we see businesses providing access for wheelchairs such
as ramps, special seating, toilet facilities, telephone
height, and water fountain height.
Of the 43 million Americans covered
by the ADA, at least 24 million suffer from hearing
loss. Within this astronomical populace are included
three million school-age children. Hearing loss is our
nation's number one disability, compromising 55.8% of the
total number of people guaranteed the right to effective
communication under the ADA.
For people with hearing impairments
the ADA requires that assistive listening systems be
provided to them in numerous situations. The law states:
"Assembly areas with fixed seating where audible
communications are integral to the use of the space must
have a permanently installed assistive listening system if
they accommodate at least 50 persons, or if they have
audio-amplification systems. The minimum number of receivers
to be provided shall be equal to 4 percent of the total
number of seats, but in no case less than
two."
By Federal Mandate, large corporations
must provide assistive listening systems for their employees
in assembly areas, meeting rooms and training
facilities. Systems are required in public schools,
courtrooms, state and local legislative hearing rooms and
local, state and federal meeting areas. A huge area of
public facilities such as theaters, hotel conference
rooms, museums, convention centers and nursing homes,
just to name a few, must provide assistive listening
equipment to their cliental free of charge.
Since the ADA is a complaint driven
law, the disabled must be aware of their rights for it to be
effective. It is important that you request assistive
listening equipment when visiting any of the above
facilities. If equipment is not provided to you, you may
file a civil law-suit against the facility for
non-compliance to the ADA.
Once people with hearing impairments
start to request assistive devices in theaters, schools,
nursing homes and other places where they are required, we
will begin to see a network of ADA compliance emerge. There
are countless people and facilities that can benefit from
Sound Choice Assistive Listening, Inc., but our personal
targets are schools, museums and other places of learning to
provide hearing impaired children with the same
opportunities as their peers.
We at Sound Choice Assistive
Listening, Inc. have found purpose in enabling the hearing
disabled to enjoy communications that the rest of us take
for granted. We hope our work will touch many lives and
bring enjoyment, safety and understanding that did not exist
before. Our goal is to make a difference for hearing
impaired people by opening doors to them that were once
closed.
But, we need your help! If you do
not request assistive listening systems at theaters, lecture
halls, schools, courts and other public meeting places,
these facilities may not be aware of the need of our
services and they will not provided for you and other people
that can benefit from them.
So, let's make the ADA perform!
Stand up for your rights as American Citizens and request
assistive listening equipment in public places!!
This information has been provided
courtesy of:
Sound Choice Assistive Listening,
Inc.
PO Box 843
Doylestown, PA 18901
(215) 230-8600 fax: (215) 345-1389
e-mail:
SNDCHOICE@aol.com
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