July 26, 2008 was the 18th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). On July 26, 1990, the First President Bush signed the ADA into law.

Eighteen years is a long time. At the same time, it symbolizes more of an end of the beginning than an actual attainment of an end. When a teenager turns 18, it’s a step into maturity and acceptance as a young adult. Notice that we don’t actually consider 18 year olds to be adults? We add a qualifier… they are “young” adults.

Earlier this year, I had my 18th anniversary of being a person with a disability. On March 13, 1990, I broke my neck in a diving incident. I fractured my sixth cervical vertebrae, causing spinal cord damage, but not actually severing the spinal cord. I have used a wheelchair ever since, although I have some of my ability to feel and a very limited ability to stand.

Now my injury is 18 years old… by analogy, I guess it is old enough to vote and old enough to join the armed forces and go to war. Wow – these are pretty heavy responsibilities for a “young” adult. Just gauging my disability, I guess 18 years is again, the end of a beginning.

I’m no longer a kid in this disability world, but at the same time, I’m not accepted as an “old-timer”. The impingement in my right shoulder tells me that I’m not as young as I used to be. I wear nice clothes and a tie everyday. I’m married with two kids and I live in the suburbs (the city line runs down the middle of my street, I’m on the suburb side). I’m not a teenager anymore.

Honestly, I’m not even 20-something anymore, but I’m still regarded by some as part of the youth of the disability movement. We are the “young” activists that are the future, but not really mature enough to get the car keys this Saturday night!

And so the ADA enters its “young” adulthood. As a Civil Rights Law, it has matured, but hasn’t yet arrived at full adulthood. The ADA has taken its lumps, bumps, bruises, broken bones and lacerations. Its lunch money has been stolen a few times by bullies like Justice Antonin Scalia. But it has survived. In its survival, it has created a nation that is more integrated and does hold more promise of equality for people with disabilities.

The next few years are critical in the development of a “young” Civil Rights Law. At 18, you can vote and go to war, but look out… at 21 the ADA gets to drink alcohol!

Disability activists are pushing the ADA to be stronger, to stand up for itself, to act like an adult. Where the ADA has been beaten down by the decisions of the US Supreme Court, we are now pushing for legislation to bolster the ADA to its original promise.

Earlier this year, we were trying to pass the ADA Restoration Act. The Restoration Act has since morphed into the ADA Amendments Act, a bill more acceptable to the business community, and therefore many Congress people, but weaker in the eyes of some activists. Is it a smart compromise, or is it a selling out? Only community-wide dialogue can really decide that, but it is a maturing process. The ADA is trying to figure out what it wants to be when it grows up.

I’m fascinated to see where the ADA is going as it grows up. I feel very personally attached to its growth. After all, I was born as a person with a disability the same year it was birthed as a Civil Rights Law. We’ve come a long way together. Without it, I wouldn’t have the job that I have, if any job. I wouldn’t be able to get into many restaurants or movie theaters. When I mashed my old car and had to take the bus for two weeks, I wouldn’t have been able to get onto the bus.

It’s had my back many times over the years, and in return, I have its back.