Starting with the ADA

 As I began thinking about the ideas of accessibility standards, the regulatory side of these standards - the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and how these could come together with the topic of sensory sensitivities in the built landscape, I felt that the clearest starting point was to look at the history of the ADA and the Disability Rights Movement. Understanding the history of the movement and how the ADA was enacted has given me a perspective on why current standards are what they are. It has also emphasized that we still have a long way to go to get buy-in from all sides to make landscapes truly accessible. Here I will review this history and then briefly reflect on ways that the ADA and accessible standards can be a starting point for conversations in the design process around universal and inclusive design, and how sensory sensitivities need to be a larger piece in design overall, not just when thinking about accessibility, disability or unique user groups.

A Brief History of the Disability Rights Movement and the ADA

The Disability Rights Movement started alongside other civil rights movements taking place in the 1960’s. Among many other prominent leaders, Ed Roberts and Judy Heumann both played a large role in leading the movement forward. In 1962, Ed Roberts became the first severely disabled student to be admitted at a university, and attended the University of California, Berkeley. His voice resonates with the struggle of many young disabled individuals who faced discrimination and barriers in their educational journey and lived experience. Judy Heumann, who later also attended the University of California, Berkeley in the mid-1970’s, was a strong voice in protests and rallies in New York City, Long Island, and around the country. She articulated the struggle in the built environment for the disability community to access spaces that were otherwise considered open to the public.

At this time, the first major act was passed that mandates the removal of barriers in the built environment that would limit employment for people with disabilities – The Architectural Barriers Act of 1968. This was followed by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which was the first major federal disability rights law, and prohibits discrimination in employment because of a disability, and gives access to federal programs and services for people with disabilities. Judy Heumann, in 1977, led a sit in of the San Francisco, CA Health, Education and Welfare Offices, protesting the refusal to complete regulations for Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This section makes it illegal for federal agencies, public universities, and other public institutions receiving any federal funds to discriminate because of disability. The regulations were put into effect shortly after a deal was struck with protestors. Jumping ahead to 1990, the Americans with Disability Act was passed after a massive effort by the disability community, which peaked in a protest at the U.S. Capital known as the Capital Crawl, where wheelchair users left their chairs and crawled up the steps of the Capital. This protest put in plain view at the nation’s doorstep the struggle of access for disabled Americans, and the ADA was signed into law shortly thereafter on July 26, 1990, by President George H.W. Bush.

Today, the ADA provides broad protection for all people, ensuring that limitations are not placed on people because of a disability. In the built environment this largely ensures that there are no barriers for wheeled mobility devices. It also addresses low vision or blind individuals who use a white cane for navigation, and hard of hearing or deaf individuals who need visual signaling.

There are countless wonderful resources that dive more into detail about the Disability Rights Movement, the many individuals who played roles in its success, and information about the ADA and its impact. Here are a few links that I found informative, and I hope can lead you to more on the topic:

Link to the documentary “Lives Worth Living” (2011): https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/documentaries/lives-worth-living/

Link to the “Disability Rights Timeline” from Temple University (2019): https://disabilities.temple.edu/resources/disability-rights-timeline

“Crip Camp” (2020) is another documentary that shows the struggle and the excitement around change during the Disability Rights Movement.

ADA Standards… for Sensory Sensitivities?

So, to return to the underlaying question posed at the introduction - why are accessibility standards and regulations relevant to the conversation around sensory sensitivities and neurodiversity? It feels like a stretch to think that the clear width of a path, or slope of a ramp, would have any influence on the experience of an individual who is hypersensitive to sound, or the individual who is unable to sit in an open plaza because the sun is too intense.

While the ADA doesn’t directly address any sensory needs of any kind, I think it is an important starting point. In a broader context, the ADA provides an opening into the conversation around diversity of user groups, around thinking inclusively, and can be a lead into the topics of universal and inclusive design (which each provide several principles that more clearly relate to sensory sensitivities). And although the topics of diversity and accessibility should be cut and dry topics that are commonplace in contemporary design, they often are not. Accessibility fixes often come after the fact, and accessible routes are frequently add-ins versus starting points. Although this is frustrating, it can be an opportunity to include new ways to think about communicating neurodiversity and the unique ways that each individual processes the environment. No two people are alike in the way they see their surroundings. This recognition of diversity is a great opportunity to be celebrated in landscape architecture and could lead us beyond accessibility to truly inclusive design that includes all ways of seeing the world. In the push to make all landscapes accessible for the disability community, I think there should also be a realization of the wide spectrum of user experiences, often not acknowledged enough.