加载中…《美国残疾人法》25周年：更多方便，更好未来
(2015-07-29 09:47:14)
标签：
残疾人权益 |
内容来源：分享美国 地址连接 ：http://go.usa.gov/37vHe
《美国残疾人法》（Americans with Disabilities Act）于
1990年7月26日生效后的第七年，一位名叫奥依朵夫·凡琪格（Oidov Vaanchig）的年轻蒙古人与父亲到洛杉矶（Los
Angeles）求医。当时《美国残疾人法》实施不久，但坐在轮椅上的凡琪格已经对于这座城市为残疾人提供的方便感到惊讶不已。
他说：“你可以用轮椅代步而不遇到任何障碍。你可以搭乘公共汽车从威尔夏大道（Wilshire Boulevard）前往圣莫尼卡（Santa Monica），完全没有障碍。那时我17岁，真是非常惊讶。我从未想到世上还有这样的生活环境。”
他在以后数次来美国的时候发现，他在1997年首次体会到的无障碍便利已不仅仅停留在马路交通；酒店和其他公共场所也设置了更宽的门和通道，桌子的高度足以让坐轮椅的人能够方便地使用，坡道代替了阶梯或者阶梯旁附设了坡道。对于国际残疾人旅客，美国国务院有专门的指南，告诉残疾人怎样尽可能做到无障碍、安全和愉快地旅行。
凡琪格说，如今在更多地方，有残疾的人 “可以自己代表自己”。
乔治·H.W·布什总统于1990年7月26日签署《美国残疾人法》。(© AP Images)
凡琪格说，《美国残疾人法》在过去25年中不断充实，它现在已经不单纯是一种标准，而是“成为 [在美国的每个人的]生活方式”，没有残障的人也受益于许多改进。目前仍住在蒙古的凡琪格希望这项法律将对设计师和建筑师产生影响，让他们在开始酝酿设计时就能从“适用所有人”的角度来思考。
他说，《美国残疾人法》在“无障碍和人权方面启发并推动了世界其他地方的变化”。他预言，未来将会有更多的此类行动，因为他认为人性具有的两个最大差别是男女性别和有残障与否。
他说，“人类的进步不会终止于《美国残疾人法》。人们会提出想法、原则或理念，帮助将人类两个最大群体连接到一起。”
#ADA25: More accessibility, greater things to come
Seven years after the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law on July 26, 1990, a young Mongolian named Oidov Vaanchig traveled to Los Angeles with his father for medical treatments. Vaanchig, who uses a wheelchair, was amazed at“You could go with a wheelchair without any barriers. You could take a bus and go down from Wilshire Boulevard to the Santa Monica and there was completely no barrier. And for that time, when I was 17 years old, it was just amazing. I never could imagine this kind of environment,” he said.
In subsequent U.S. visits, he found that the accessibility he first
encountered in 1997 had extended beyond street transportation.
Hotels and other public places offered wider doors and aisles,
tables high enough to accommodate wheelchairs, and ramps to replace
or provide an alternative to steps. For international travelers
with disabilities, the State Department offers guidelines on how
best to ensure
There are more places today “where you
can
President George H.W. Bush signs the Americans with Disabilities Act on July 26, 1990. (© AP Images)
The expansion of the ADA
The ADA has given “a lot of input and impulses to other parts of the world to make changes on the part of accessibility and human rights,” he said. He predicted more such actions in the future, arguing that the two largest differences in humanity come from gender and from whether people have a disability or not.
“Human beings will not stop with ADA. They will also bring up ideas or principles or philosophy that will support bringing together the two largest parts of human beings,” he said.
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