Disability Law Commons^™

The Asexual Assumption, Faith K. Whatley-Blaine, Michael S. Sinha

All Faculty Scholarship

Inclusion-focused dating shows such as ‘Love on the Spectrum’ feature individuals with developmental or neurological disabilities on a quest for love. Despite the focus on disability representation, these shows perpetuate stigma against the disabled community by fostering an infantilizing portrayal of individuals with disabilities. This portrayal undermines the premise of encouraging meaningful romantic relationships and reinforces the stigmatizing association of asexuality with disability. This framing aligns with the broader societal narrative that individuals with disabilities are incapable of or lack interest in participating in romantic relationships or physical intimacy.

The stigma that associates asexuality with disability extends beyond mere entertainment, …

Advancing Disability-Inclusive Climate Research And Action, Climate Justice, And Climate-Resilient Development, Janet E. Lord, Et Al.

All Faculty Scholarship

Globally, more than 1 billion people with disabilities are disproportionately and differentially at risk from the climate crisis. Yet there is a notable absence of climate policy, programming, and research at the intersection of disability and climate change. Advancing climate justice urgently requires accelerated disability-inclusive climate action. We present pivotal research recommendations and guidance to advance disability-inclusive climate research and responses identified by a global interdisciplinary group of experts in disability, climate change, sustainable development, public health, environmental justice, humanitarianism, gender, Indigeneity, mental health, law, and planetary health. Climate-resilient development is a framework for enabling universal sustainable development. Advancing inclusive …

Accounting For Disability In International Humanitarian Law, Janet E. Lord

All Faculty Scholarship

The adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD)

represents an important and (potentially) progressive development in the protection

framework under international humanitarian law (IHL). Article 11 of the CRPD

specifically obliges States to protect persons with disabilities from harm in

situations of risk, including armed conflict, consistent with IHL and human rights

law. The CRPD framework signals the need to address the traditional framing of

disability under IHL and to draw from human rights concepts in the CRPD in

order to inform the protection accorded to persons with disabilities in armed conflict.

This article is …

Addressing The Accountability Void: War Crimes Against Persons With Disabilities, William I. Pons, Janet E. Lord, Professor Michael Stein

All Faculty Scholarship

Academics rarely raise the need to consider persons with disabilities when preventing,

investigating and prosecuting international humanitarian law (IHL) violations.

Worse still, no actual attempts have been made to include a disability perspective

into practical guidance and monitoring mechanisms. This article addresses that

void by laying out how existing yet unutilized IHL obligations can be leveraged to

repress and suppress disability-based IHL violations. In doing so, the article will

detail how fact-finding approaches, criminal investigative processes and reporting

methods for IHL violations can be inclusive of persons with disabilities and thus

more appropriately address the endemic under-representation of a disability …

Protecting The Rights And Wellbeing Of People With Disabilities During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Elizabeth Pendo

All Faculty Scholarship

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed and exacerbated significant inequities experienced by people with disabilities. It has also emphasized the value of legal protections against discrimination based on disability. The Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted 30 years ago to eliminate discrimination against people with disabilities and ensure equal opportunity across major areas of American life (ADA, 2008). Together with an earlier law, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 Rehabilitation Act, 2012), this landmark civil rights law impacts a broad range of issues raised by the COVID-19 pandemic and protects a large and growing number of Americans. This Chapter focuses on application …

Editor, Ethical Challenges In Discharge Planning: Stories From Patients, Elizabeth Pendo

All Faculty Scholarship

This symposium includes twelve personal narratives from patients and their caregivers who have navigated challenges in planning for discharge from the hospital and transition to care at home, a rehabilitation facility, long-term care facility, or hospice. Three commentaries on these narratives are also included, authored by experts and scholars in the fields of medicine, bioethics, and health policy with particular interest in vulnerable populations. The goal of this symposium is to call attention to the experiences of patients during transitions in care and to enrich discussions of ethical issues in discharge planning.

Covid-19 Employee Health Checks, Remote Work, And Disability Law, Elizabeth Pendo

All Faculty Scholarship

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities, about 61 million individuals in the U.S. The law’s protections in the workplace are especially important during COVID-19, which has worsened pre-existing disparities experienced by people with disabilities. The ADA also applies to new strategies to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection in the workplace. This Chapter will focus on two strategies that impact individuals with and without disabilities – employee health screening, testing and vaccination policies, and new or expanded remote work programs.

Resolving Tensions Between Disability Rights Law And Covid-19 Mask Policies, Elizabeth Pendo, Robert Gatter, Seema Mohapatra

All Faculty Scholarship

As states reopen, an increasing number of state and local officials are requiring people to wear face masks while out of the home. Grocery stores, retail outlets, restaurants and other businesses are also announcing their own mask policies, which may differ from public policies. Public health measures to stop the spread of the coronavirus such as wearing masks have the potential to greatly benefit millions of Americans with disabilities, who are particularly vulnerable to the impact of COVID-19. But certain disabilities may make it difficult or inadvisable to wear a mask.
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/="/">Mask-wearing has become a political flashpoint, putting …

The Case For Face Shields: Improving The Covid-19 Public Health Policy Toolkit, Timothy L. Wiemken, Ana Santos Rutschman, Robert Gatter

All Faculty Scholarship

As the United States battles the later stages of the first wave of COVID-19 and faces the prospect of future waves, it is time to consider the practical utility of face shields as an alternative or complement to face masks in the policy guidance. Without face shields specifically noted in national guidance, many areas may be reluctant to allow their use as an alternative to cloth face masks, even with sufficient modification.

In this piece, we discuss the benefits of face shields as a substitute to face masks in the context of public health policy. We further discuss the implications …

The Americans With Disabilities Act And Healthcare Employer-Mandated Vaccinations, Y. Tony Yang, Elizabeth Pendo, Dorit Rubinstein Reiss

All Faculty Scholarship

Battles around workplace vaccination policies often focus on the annual influenza vaccine, but many healthcare employers impose requirements for additional vaccines because of the increased likelihood that employees in this sector will interact with populations at increased risk of acquiring or experiencing harmful sequelae of vaccine-preventable diseases. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and many states recommend healthcare employees receive numerous vaccines, including measles, mumps, and rubella (“MMR”); tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (“Tdap”). However, recent outbreaks of once-eliminated diseases that are now resurgent and the rising antivaccination movement raise questions about how far employers can go to mandate …

The Role Of Law And Policy In Achieving Healthy People's Disability And Health Goals Around Access To Health Care, Activities Promoting Health And Wellness, Independent Living And Participation, And Collecting Data In The United States, Elizabeth Pendo, Lisa Iezzoni

All Faculty Scholarship

Ensuring that the almost 60 million Americans with disabilities live as healthy and independent lives as possible is an important goal for our nation. This evidence-based report highlights efforts to better use law and policy to support and protect people with disabilities. Specifically, it examines how existing federal laws and policies could be leveraged by states, communities, and other sectors to reduce barriers to primary and preventive care; reduce barriers to local health and wellness programs; increase access to leisure, social, or community activities (and indirectly, to religious activities) for individuals with disabilities; and generate better disability data needed to …

Ensuring The Reproductive Rights Of Women With Intellectual Disability, Nicole Agaronnik, Elizabeth Pendo, Tara Lagu, Christene Dejong, Aixa Perez-Caraballo, Lisa Iezzoni

All Faculty Scholarship

Background: Women with intellectual disability experience disparities in sexual and reproductive health care services.

Methods: To explore perceptions of caring for persons with disability, including individuals with intellectual disability, we conducted open-ended individual interviews with 20 practising physicians and three video-based focus group interviews with an additional 22 practising physicians, which reached data saturation. Interviews were transcribed verbatim. We used conventional content analysis methods to analyse transcripts.

Result: Physicians indicated that intellectual disability can pose challenges to providing sexual and reproductive health care. Observations coalesced around four themes: (1) communication; (2) routine preventive care; (3) contraception and sterilisation; and (4) …

Protecting The Rights Of People With Disabilities, Elizabeth Pendo

All Faculty Scholarship

One in four Americans — a diverse group of 61 million people — experience some form of disability (Okoro, 2018). On average, people with disabilities experience significant disparities in education, employment, poverty, access to health care, food security, housing, transportation, and exposure to crime and domestic violence (Pendo & Iezzoni, 2019). Intersections with demographic characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gender, and LGBT status, may intensify certain inequities. For example, women with disability experience greater disparities in income, education, and employment (Nosek, 2016), and members of under-served racial and ethnic groups with disabilities experience greater disparities in health status and access …

Sex-Based Discrimination In Healthcare Under Section 1557: The New Final Rule And Supreme Court Developments, Brietta R. Clark, Elizabeth Pendo, Gabriella Garbero

All Faculty Scholarship

One of the primary goals of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) has been the reduction and elimination of health disparities, generally defined as population-level health differences that adversely affect disadvantaged groups, including disparities associated with sex and gender. Many of PPACA’s general provisions — expanded access to public and private insurance coverage, guarantee issue and pricing reforms, and coverage mandates — were expected to reduce barriers and eliminate discriminatory practices targeting or disproportionately impacting women and transgender individuals. Provisions like the Women’s Health Amendment, which mandated women’s preventive healthcare to be covered without cost sharing, and the …

Knowledge Of Practicing Physicians About Their Legal Obligations When Caring For Patients With Disability, Nicole Agaronnik, Elizabeth Pendo, Julie Ressalam, Eric G. Campbell, Lisa Iezzoni

All Faculty Scholarship

doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2018.05060 HEALTH AFFAIRS 38, NO. 4 (2019): 545–553

The Costs Of Uncertainty: The Doj’S Stalled Progress On Accessible Medical Equipment Under The Americans With Disabilities Act, Elizabeth Pendo

All Faculty Scholarship

Imagine seeking medical care for serious pressure sores for a year, but your doctor never examining the sores because you could not get on the examination table in her office. Or imagine going more than fifteen years without an annual well-woman examination for the same reason, or your doctor guessing at the right dosage for a prescription because there was no scale that she could use to weigh you.

Although these scenarios may be difficult for many to imagine, they are common experiences for individuals with mobility disability.¹ The Trump administration’s attacks on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care …

Permitted Incentives For Workplace Wellness Plans Under The Ada And Gina: The Regulatory Gap, Elizabeth Pendo, Brandon Hall

All Faculty Scholarship

Although workplace wellness plans have been around for decades, they have flourished under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“PPACA”) into a $6 billion-dollar industry. Under PPACA, a “wellness plan” is a program of health promotion or disease prevention offered by an employer that is designed to promote health or prevent disease and which meets the other applicable requirements of that subsection. Employers look to these programs to promote healthy lifestyles, improve the overall health of employees and beneficiaries, and reduce rising healthcare costs. PPACA’s amendments to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) permit employers to offer …

Pursuing Inclusive Higher Education In Egypt And Beyond Through The Convention On The Rights Of Persons With Disabilities, Janet E. Lord, Michael Stein

All Faculty Scholarship

Inclusive higher education is elusive for students with disabilities, especially in developing countries. The adoption and rapid ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) provides, if applied as its drafters intended, a “whole of institution” framework for its realization (CRPD Committee, 2016). Myriad legal, attitudinal, physical, and communication-based barriers limit or exclude participation. The individual impact of such discrimination is clear and carries lifelong consequences. Equally endemic are the broad societal and pedagogical effects of this exclusion. To illustrate: preventing persons with disabilities from Teacher Education courses impacts inclusive education in primary and secondary education; …

Accessibility Of Medical Diagnostic Equipment - Implications For People With Disability, Lisa Iezzoni, Elizabeth Pendo

All Faculty Scholarship

Under Attorney General Jeff Sessions, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has inactivated or rescinded numerous rules and guidelines issued by prior administrations, sometimes attracting considerable public attention in the process. Little noticed, however, was a decision by the DOJ on December 26, 2017, to formally withdraw four Advance Notices of Proposed Rulemaking related to Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), including rulemaking that addressed making medical diagnostic equipment accessible to people with disability. For now, this step halts efforts on a national level to ensure accessibility of such equipment, which includes exam tables, weight …

Protecting Civilians With Disabilities In Conflicts, Janet E. Lord, Gerard Quinn, Shantha Rau Barriga, Catalina Devandas

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Editor, "Health Care Law And The Rights Of Individuals With Disabilities", Elizabeth Pendo

All Faculty Scholarship

People with disabilities are vulnerable. They carry high risk for poor health and health outcomes. As a group, they experience social disadvantages such as poverty, underemployment and unemployment, isolation, and discrimination at a higher rate than the general population. They also face multiple barriers to quality health care and report poorer health status than people without disabilities. This Special Issue will explore the key health disparities and barriers to health care experienced by people with disabilities, and explore the legal, ethical, and social issues they raise. It will investigate the legal requirements of the Americans with Disabilities and other antidiscrimination …

Special Issue "Health Care Law And The Rights Of Individuals With Disabilities", Elizabeth Pendo, Guest Editor

All Faculty Scholarship

People with disabilities are vulnerable. They carry high risk for poor health and health outcomes. As a group, they experience social disadvantages such as poverty, underemployment and unemployment, isolation, and discrimination at a higher rate than the general population. They also face multiple barriers to quality health care and report poorer health status than people without disabilities. This Special Issue will explore the key health disparities and barriers to health care experienced by people with disabilities, and explore the legal, ethical, and social issues they raise. It will investigate the legal requirements of the Americans with Disabilities and other antidiscrimination …

Hidden From View: Disability, Segregation And Work, Elizabeth Pendo

All Faculty Scholarship

The employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 were intended to bring working-age people with disabilities into the workplace by providing options for them to seek and gain meaningful, integrated employment. Although the ADA has made significant gains, the rate of progress in employment has been disappointing. While the lack of progress of people with disabilities in the traditional workplace has received attention, the work done by many, especially those with severe disabilities in segregated workplaces, remains hidden in sheltered workshops. This chapter explores the intersection of the concepts of disability, invisibility, and work and identifies the …

Law And People With Disabilities, Janet E. Lord, Deepti S. Raja, Peter Blanck

All Faculty Scholarship

This article describes the progressive development of disability law, particularly in light of international developments that are transforming domestic disability law frameworks. It provides an overview of the conceptualization of disability in law, charting the shift from a medical model to a social model of disability and more recently to a human rights model. The abstract covers the implications of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), and the processes and approaches for translating international disability law standards into national level law. It sheds light on the contemporary disability rights landscape in the light of dramatic legislative …

Egypt, Lila Meadows, Nadia Adib Bamieh, Janet E. Lord

All Faculty Scholarship

This chapter is a factbook summarizing disability laws, organisations, and statistics in Egypt as of 2014.

The Dangers Of Psychotropic Medication For Mentally Ill Children: Where Is The Child’S Voice In Consenting To Medication? An Empirical Study, Donald H. Stone

All Faculty Scholarship

When a child with a mental illness is being prescribed psychotropic medication. who decides whether the child should take the medication — the parent or the child? What if the child is sixteen years of age? What if the child is in foster care: Should the parent or social service agency decide? Prior to administering psychotropic medication, what specific information should be provided to the person authorized to consent on behalf of the child? Should children be permitted to refuse psychotropic medications? If so, at what age should a child he able to refuse such medication What procedures should be …

Identifying (With) Disability: Using Film To Teach Employment Discrimination, Elizabeth Pendo

All Faculty Scholarship

Building on a prior article about using film to teach health law, this Essay is intended to share my experience using the film Philadelphia as a method of enhancing coverage and discussion of the employment provisions of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and to provide an opportunity for recognition of, and identification with, the experiences of people with disabilities.

Confine Is Fine: Have The Non-Dangerous Mentally Ill Lost Their Right To Liberty? An Empirical Study To Unravel The Psychiatrist’S Crystal Ball, Donald H. Stone

All Faculty Scholarship

This Article will examine the reverse trend in civil commitment laws in the wake of recent tragedies and discuss the effect of broader civil commitment standards on the care and treatment of the mentally ill. The 2007 Virginia Tech shooting, the 2011 shooting of Congresswoman Giffords, and the 2012 Aurora movie theatre shooting have spurred fierce debates about the dangerousness of mentally ill and serve as cautionary tale about what happens when warning signs go unnoticed and opportunities for early intervention missed. This piece will explore the misconception about the role medication and inpatient civil commitments should play in prevention …

Shifting The Conversation: Disability, Disparities And Health Care Reform, Elizabeth Pendo

All Faculty Scholarship

This piece is an invitation to consider health care reform as a political shift in our thinking about the barriers and inequalities experienced by people with disabilities in our health care system. Traditionally, when these issues have been addressed, the predominant approach has been through a civil rights framework, specifically the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and the American with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). Now, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA) offers a new approach. This essay will outline the barriers to health and health care experienced by people with disabilities, drawing upon my ongoing research …

Selective Bibliography Relating To Law Students And Lawyers With Disabilities, Adeen Postar

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.