Americans lead difficult lives, but with the help of new innovations such as the web-Braille library and many new laws coming into effect, it will make life much more livable and enjoyable for them. Unfortunately, in life, not everything is fair. Some people are born with handicaps that make it harder for them to get through life like the rest of us.
The definition of handicapped from the Merriam-Webster dictionary is as follows: having a physical or mental disability that substantially limits activity, especially in achieving goals or interacting with the environment. There are two different kinds of handicaps: mental and physical. People who are mentally retarded are usually slow or limited in intellectual or emotional development or academic progress. People who are physically handicapped have a physical disability that makes achievement difficult. Before Congress intervened and began passing laws, people with these handicaps were, and in some isolated cases still are, being overlooked in job interviews or not given adequate accommodations to get into schools, libraries, or any other public buildings. Congress aimed to change this with the Americans with Disabilities Act, which establishes a clear and comprehensive prohibition of discrimination on the basis of disability. According to this act, which was passed in 1990, some 43,000,000 Americans have one or more physical or mental disabilities, and this number is increasing as the population is growing older. In the past, society has tended to isolate and segregate individuals with disabilities, and despite some improvements, such forms of discrimination against individuals with disabilities continue to be a serious and pervasive issue. When someone is discriminated against on the basis of things such as race, color, sex, or religion, they have legal recourse to file lawsuits, but people who are discriminated against on the basis of disability…
