One of my goals at AAPD was to make disability sexy so that people would want to be associated with that word.
Americans with Disabilities Act. “One of my goals at AAPD was
12
to make disability sexy,” Imparato says, “so that people would want to be associated with that word. It’s good to be proud of who you are as a person with disability. It’s a way to connect with other people and not something to be ashamed of; it’s a natural part of the human experience.” As the head man at AAPD,
Imparato became one of the nation’s leading spokespersons for those with disabilities and was a speaker in demand. His key message: society’s low expectations for those with dis- abilities need to be changed. Tese attitudes are fostered by government welfare and disability programs and can be counterproductive, he believes. “Although people’s own expecta-
tions may naturally decrease with an adjustment to disability, policies and programs should help them sustain high expectations rather than rein- force broad societal messages that lower them.” Te ADA has been instrumental
in helping those with disabilities gain rights, but a number of subsequent Supreme Court decisions had severely
DIVERSITY & THE BAR® MAY/JUNE 2013
limited the gains secured through the ADA. It led to sus- pending the rights of those with disabilities who, through medica- tion or other means, were able to mitigate their disability and narrowly limited what might be considered as disabled under the law. An example is the case of a man with muscular dystrophy who couldn’t lift his arms over his shoul- ders and was discrimi- nated against when trying to become an electrician, but whose disability claim was rejected because he
could have sex with his wife. Imparato was part of the team to
right this wrong. “We were all aware of the Supreme
Court decision that had narrowed the scope of the protected class,” he says. “We thought that this was something we could build a bipartisan coalition to change.” Among them were Sheryl
Sensenbrenner, a member of the board of the AAPD, whose hus- band is Wisconsin Congressman Jim Sensenbrenner, and California Congressman Tony Coelho, an epileptic who sponsored the ADA. Te Epilepsy Foundation, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Society for Resource Management, and the National Association of Manufacturers—a coalition that Imparato helped organize—joined in the fight. Rep. Sensenbrenner spon- sored the ADA Restoration Act (which became the ADA Amendments Act), and Imparato testified in its favor before the House Education and Labor Committee. Tis followed a significant lobbying effort by dis- ability rights advocates. Imparato had co-authored a paper with Claudia
Center, who was profiled in the January/February issue of Diversity & the Bar, “Redefining ‘Disability’ Discrimination: A Proposal to Restore Civil Rights Protections for All Workers,” that appeared in the Stanford Law and Policy Review, which was part of this effort. Te ADA Amendments Act was
passed in 2008 and signed into law by President George W. Bush with the elder President Bush present. It was the only time they were together during the signing of a law, Imparato says. Imparato says he feels fortunate to
be working for a movement from which he has personally benefited in providing support and understanding for his own disability. However, he believes that we still have a ways to go to guarantee fair treatment for those with disabilities. “More radical change is needed,”
he says, “and many difficult challenges remain to be addressed. Leaders in business and government must recog- nize that this is an urgent issue for the country’s entire economy, not just an issue of providing more appropriate support for people with disabilities.” He advises those with friends or
family who have disabilities not to protect them. “Te key is to keep their expecta-
tions high, encourage them to want to have the same opportunities, not to be ashamed, that it’s okay to take risks and fail, to find out what’s possible.” Otherwise, he says, they may miss
out on the opportunities that are available to them in life. In 2010, Imparato left the AAPD
for his current position with the Senate health committee, chaired by Harkin. “I feel he’s the most effective advo-
cate that the disability community has on the planet,” Imparato says, “and it’s an honor to work for him. I feel I can get more done here, and I have the luxury to focus on policy, which I love.” D&B
Tom Calarco is a freelance writer based in Wildwood, Fla.
MCCA.COM
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