Narrative Productions of Problems and People in the Americans with Disabilities Amendment Act
ISBN: 978-1-83909-144-5, eISBN: 978-1-83909-143-8
Publication date: 25 November 2019
Abstract
Purpose
This chapter examines how personal testimonies at four town hall listening sessions on the ADA Amendments Act (ADAAA) proposed regulations reflect and affect the institutional narrative of “who counts” as disabled, and “what counts” as a reasonable accommodation in the United States.
Methods/Approach
I use the full transcripts of four town hall meetings to analyze the stories told.
Findings
Despite changes to public policy intended to broaden the meaning and scope of “disability,” narrative analysis demonstrates how difficult it is to change the fixed and narrow institutionalized beliefs about who counts as “really disabled” and therefore in “real need” of accommodations.
Implications/Value
This study suggests a theoretical framework for conceptualizing disability; highlights the importance of narratives in public policy; and suggests the need for more complex understandings of what constitutes reasonable accommodation of disability in the workplace. The study illustrates the value of a narrative approach to understanding disability policy and policymaking more generally.
Keywords
Citation
Jane Welch, M. (2019), "Narrative Productions of Problems and People in the Americans with Disabilities Amendment Act", New Narratives of Disability (Research in Social Science and Disability, Vol. 11), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 139-149. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-354720190000011016
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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