The Updated Americans With Disabilities Act is Now in Effect

In case you somehow haven't heard, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has been completely revised and is now in effect. The new law amending the ADA shows a much larger definition of disability to help protect those being discriminated against, especially at work. The revision was passed and signed in the fall of 2008 and went into effect on January 1, 2009.

The new definition of disability is much broader and offers protections for people who were not considered disabled just last year, especially those with illnesses or diseases that can be helped or controlled with therapy and/or medications. For instance, before the revision those with diabetes, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis and other conditions were not considered disabled due to the nature of these conditions.

Many illnesses or diseases, of course, are remitting and relapsing in nature, or can be controlled at times through medical attention and pharmaceuticals. While these conditions can be disabling, the old ADA did not take this into consideration and did not consider those with the conditions disabled.

The amendments to the ADA have changed everything. Except for those who wear glasses and/or contacts because of poor eyesight, people are now considered disabled based on their medical condition when the condition is most severe. This means before medication, therapies and medical attention.

For example, if someone has epilepsy, they are considered disabled due to their epilepsy, even if they take medication to keep it under control. Those with multiple sclerosis are deemed disabled based on their condition when the disease is not under control. This new change reflects an acknowledgment that many conditions may "present" as less limiting at various points in time, but, due to their very nature, can easily and quickly exacerbate, becoming more limiting and disabling.

In addition to this change, the new ADA also has changes in the list of major life activities that qualify as physical or mental impairments if affected, such as reading, thinking, standing, bending, caring for oneself, communicating, concentrating and lifting.

While some people think this will only add to a growing list of disability discrimination claims, others hope that these new protections will benefit those who are clearly disabled, yet have not been deemed so until now. In particular, many are hoping this will benefit returning veterans.

The author of this article is Timothy Moore, who, in addition to being a former food stamp caseworker, medicaid caseworker and AFDC caseworker, is a former disability claims examiner for the social security administration. He answers questions about the federal disability system at Social Security Disability Secrets.