Imagine a busy road that you need to cross, but because of a disability, your ability to cross that road successfully is limited. Disabilities come in all shapes and sizes and learning the laws that surround disabilities in the United States can seem like a daunting task. According to the CDC, 26% of adults in the United States have some type of disability. That is 61 million, or 1 out of every 4, adults living with a disability. These numbers alone can be alarming to someone new to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Simply typing “ADA” into the search bar of your favorite search engine can yield a flurry of results. Where do you start? The ADA National Network offers a good starting point if you’re confused. The ADA Basic Building Blocks course is an online introductory course on the ADA. It is designed to give you knowledge and understanding of the basic principles and core concepts in the ADA. A simple registration will allow you to create a login that can use to access the course at your own pace. This course tracks your progress and allows you to be eligible for education credits. This course creates a good foundation to start your understanding of the ADA. After this course, you may ask more questions or, better yet, have more specific questions that are more easily answered.
At RMADAC we have also created some more specific online training. Our most recent training courses include overviews for Title I, Title II, and Title III. We have designed these courses around flexible learning, self-responsibility, and smaller learning chunks to give you the best experience in your ADA knowledge journey. Our goal of online training is to give a 24/7 access to accommodate more people to reach our goal of bringing the ADA to full implementation.
The ADA National Network also provides plenty of great information and technical assistance. From there you can browse by topic, simply type a question in the search field, view specific resources, look over frequently asked questions and much more. This webpage even simplifies each Title and gives you an overview of each with links for more information.
A self-starter, good organization and time management skills, familiarity with the internet and computers, a knack for seeking out answers and solutions to questions and problems are all specific characteristics to have the most success with online learning. As you navigate through these different tools it is important to also think about them as a tool to help guide you though situations in your everyday life. Ask yourself questions as you go through it and think about what you may do in specific scenarios.
I promise after you learn more about the ADA you will start to notice things in your everyday life that may be more difficult for a person with a disability. With the many challenges that people face, even with the ADA, the need for a better education standard is important. At the end of the day, there is still more to learn.