The Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 or ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination based on disability. It affords similar protections against discrimination to Americans with disabilities as the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which made discrimination based on race, religion, sex, national origin, and other characteristics illegal, and later sexual orientation and gender identity. In addition, unlike the Civil Rights Act, the ADA also requires covered employers to provide reasonable accommodations to employees with disabilities, and imposes accessibility requirements on public accommodations.
Eunice Mary Kennedy Shriver was an American philanthropist and a member of the Kennedy family. She was the founder of the Special Olympics, a sports organization for persons with intellectual disabilities. For her efforts on behalf of disabled people, Shriver was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984.
Eleanor Rosalynn Carter was an American writer, activist and humanitarian who served as the first lady of the United States from 1977 to 1981, as the wife of President Jimmy Carter. Throughout her decades of public service, she was a leading advocate for women's rights and mental health.
Thomas Richard Harkin is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as a United States senator from Iowa from 1985 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously was the U.S. representative for Iowa's 5th congressional district from 1975 to 1985. He is the longest-serving senator to spend the entire tenure as a state's junior senator.
Peri Gilpin is an American actress who portrayed Roz Doyle in the NBC sitcom Frasier and Kim Keeler in the ABC Family drama series Make It or Break It.
Debra Frances "Camryn" Manheim is an American actress who first came to attention with her off-Broadway one-woman show, "Wake Up, I'm Fat", in 1994. She is known for her portrayals of Ellenor Frutt on The Practice (1997–2004), Delia Banks on Ghost Whisperer (2006–2010), "Control" on Person of Interest (2013–2015), Lieutenant Cosgrove on Stumptown (2019–2020), and Gladys Presley in the 2005 miniseries Elvis. From 2022 to 2024, she played the lead role of Kate Dixon on Law & Order. Manheim's film credits include Romy and Michele's High School Reunion (1997), Happiness (1998), What Planet Are You From? (2000), Scary Movie 3 (2003), Twisted (2004), Dark Water (2005), An Unfinished Life (2005), and Cop Car (2015). She is the recipient of a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress and a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, in addition to three Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.
Irving King Jordan is an American educator who became the first deaf president of Gallaudet University in 1988 after the Deaf President Now protest. Gallaudet is the world's only university with all programs and services designed specifically for deaf and hard-of-hearing students.
Holly Elizabeth Robinson Peete is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Judy Hoffs on the Fox police drama 21 Jump Street, Vanessa Russell on the ABC sitcom Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, and Dr. Malena Ellis on the NBC/The WB sitcom For Your Love. She also served as one of the original co-hosts of the CBS Daytime talk show The Talk. She is also known for her portrayal of Diana Ross in the 1992 miniseries The Jacksons: An American Dream, which also aired on ABC.
Paul Orfalea is an American businessman who founded the copy-chain Kinko's.
Danny Woodburn is an American actor, comedian, and activist for the disability rights movement linked to his dwarfism.
The Iowa Democratic Party (IDP) is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Iowa.
FedEx Office Print & Ship Services Inc. is an American retail chain that provides an outlet for FedEx Express and FedEx Ground shipping, as well as copying, printing, marketing, office services and shipping. While FedEx, to the Kinko's founder's dismay, dropped the Kinko's name in summer 2008, the name remains in use. Unlike its main competitor, The UPS Store, which is franchised, all FedEx Office stores are corporate-owned.
Cherylee Martina Houston is a British actress. She grew up in Morecambe, Lancashire, in the United Kingdom. She is currently playing Izzy Armstrong in Coronation Street, a role she has portrayed since April 2010. She also plays Maz in the ongoing BBC Radio 4 series Tinsel Girl.
HollyRod Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded by actress Holly Robinson Peete and retired NFL quarterback Rodney Peete that provides "medical, physical, and emotional support" to individuals living with Parkinson's disease as well as families of children with autism. The HollyRod4kids initiative assists families affected by autism through providing resources to help improve the lives of children diagnosed with the disorder. Concurrently, the foundation provides aid for Parkinson's Disease patients through its HollyRod Compassionate Care Program in partnership with the Center for Parkinson's Research and Movement Disorders located at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine.
Laura Ann Hershey was a poet, journalist, popular speaker, feminist, and a disability rights activist and consultant. Known to have parked her wheelchair in front of buses, Hershey was one of the leaders of a protest against the paternalistic attitudes and images of people with disabilities inherent to Jerry Lewis's MDA Telethon. She was a regular columnist for the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, and on her own website, Crip Commentary, and was published in a variety of magazines and websites. She was admired for her wit, her ability to structure strong arguments in the service of justice, and her spirited refusal to let social responses to her spinal muscular atrophy define the parameters of her life as anything less than a full human existence. She was also the mother of an adopted daughter.
Chet Cooper, is best known as a leading advocate for people with disabilities, most notably in the areas of education, equal employment, and housing. Cooper is the founder/creator of ABILITY Magazine, ABILITY Awareness, and JobAccess.org.
The 2016 United States Senate election in Iowa was held November 8, 2016, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Iowa, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi is an American disability rights activist and an advocate for Israel. She was the founder of the disability advocacy non-profit RespectAbility. She is also the co-founder and director of the Mizrahi Family Charitable Fund.
Attitude Pictures Ltd is a New Zealand television production company who specialise in programmes relating to disability.
