D.C. by wheelchair: Putting ADA to the test

Twenty-five years ago this July, President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The legislation represented a sea change for those with disabilities. Not only does ADA prohibit discrimination in terms of employment, housing and transportation, but it does the same for public accommodations, like restaurants, theaters and museums.

Anne Thomas, a storyteller and former civil rights lawyer, has been in a wheelchair since she was 18. In 1976, a car accident left her paralyzed from the chest down, and a doctor suggested she check herself into a nursing home for the rest of her life. Fortunately, she didn’t heed his advice. Instead, she went to law school, traveled the world, scuba dived and drove to Alaska.

But in her early disability days, handicapped bathrooms and wheelchair ramps were virtually non-existent. Now that cities are largely accessible to those who are disabled, she decided an ADA anniversary celebration was in order. And what better place thanWashington, D.C., where the law was enacted?

Mostly, she wanted to find out what it’s like today for someone in a wheelchair to visit the nation’s capital, where we both live. I joined her to assist and document. Before we began, she emailed: “Given the distance we’re covering, are you sure you’re up for this? You’ll have to push me.” I told her, “Of course” and thought, “How hard can it be?”

At the U.S. Capitol Visitors Center, Anne wheeled herself easily over the smooth floors, zipping ahead of groups in matching t-shirts to see the Helen Keller statute. We joined a tour in front of a 1/20 model of the Capitol dome and made sure to test out the restroom, where Anne delighted in finding wide bathroom stalls and low drinking fountains.