Perseverance in Profile
ANDREW IMPARATO: SPOKESPERSON FOR THE DISABILITY RIGHTS MOVEMENT BY TOM CALARCO
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Andy Imparato is bipolar, and he’s not shy about admitting it. A self-described second-generation disability rights advocate, Imparato says he’s lucky to have found the movement. It’s debatable which of the two is luckier for the discovery.
“Just be open about it,” he says, when asked how he copes with his depression. “I’ve been encouraged throughout my career to be very open about it, to talk about it in all my speeches.”
disability policy director for the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, headed by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). “People are always congratulating me for my role in pass-
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ing the ADA,” Imparato says. “But they don’t realize that I was still in college when it was passed in 1990.” What Imparato did have was a significant role in the
passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Amendments Act of 2008. Te ADA was a revolutionary development in the
struggle to provide equal access and opportunity to those with disabilities. It led to changes that are now common- place: handicap parking, wheelchair ramps, sign language interpreters, and other guarantees for equal access, as well as protection against discrimination.
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s the former presi- dent and CEO of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the largest cross-disability rights organization in the U.S., Imparato made numerous encouraging speeches to others with disabilities. Today, he fights for their rights as the senior counsel and
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