Changes to the ADA

Americans with Disabilities Act will implement changes | www.azstarnet.com ®

I confess, I am not as educated on the Americans with Disabilities Act as I should be, but some of the changes are interesting:

• "Disability" will be defined as "Physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a record of such impairment, or being regarded as having such impairment."
• "Physical" disability will be defined to include disfigurement, loss of function (reproductive, cardiovascular, skin disorders, endocrine system, urinary).
• "Major life activity" will be defined to include: walking, seeing, hearing, speaking, learning, performing manual tasks, sitting, standing, lifting, caring for oneself and working.
• A qualifying "mental disability" will include psychological disorder, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness and learning disabilities.
• The term "substantially limits" means "unable to perform a major life activity that the average person in the general population can perform."
• "Being regarded as having an impairment" has been defined to mean an "employee is subjected to an action illegal under the act" and "because of an actual or perceived physical or mental impairment" and "whether or not it limits a major life activity."
• "Major life functions" will include: eating, standing, lifting, bending, reading, concentrating, thinking and communicating.