The Difference the ADA Made

| LETTER TO THE EDITOR

I’m writing in response to your March/April 2010 Letter From The Editor “Revolutionary Generation.” I’d like to share my thoughts with you and, hopefully, instill confidence in you that the ADA is making a difference.

I am a 50-year old, T-7 paraplegic with a spinal cord injury who happens to be an attorney. At the age of 21, I was injured by way of a gunshot wound. The study of law was not my plan, but somehow I ended up pursuing that field.

In a time when the ADA was not even remotely envisioned, I entered college, often times being carried up staircases to class, which was accepted practice. As I approached my last year of law school, I often wondered how I might be able to use this education as it relates to my disability.

With the signing of the ADA, so came my passage of the Bar exam. I then began what some may call a heroic fight to bring as many retailers, hotels, restaurants, public transportation providers, etc., into ADA compliance. I was introduced to Nicholas Guerrera, an attorney who dedicates a great deal of his practice advocating for the rights of the disabled. Together, we filed numerous Title II actions on behalf of Access With Success, an organization comprised of individuals with a variety of disabilities. The result, a 100% success rate with all of our cases ending with a consent decree establishing a timeframe for the defendant to comply with the mandates of the ADA.

So with the 20th anniversary of the ADA I offer a promise: as long as I am blessed with the spirit to continue my crusade I will move forward with the goal to create a fully accessible society.

Dino Theodore, Esquire, Dracut, MA