A More Accessible World

When Judy Heumann was growing up in the 1950s, the New York City school system barred her from attending school and instead gave her only two and a half hours a week of home instruction. Why? She was in a wheelchair, as a result of polio, and school administrators refused to accommodate her in a classroom.

Heumann grew up to become a leading advocate for disability rights. She helped organize a 1977 protest that occupied a federal building in San Francisco and focused national attention on discrimination against the disabled. After a long political fight, President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act on July 26, 1990 — 30 years ago this Sunday.

Few modern laws have had as big of an impact on Americans’ lives, and the anniversary has led to reflections on what the A.D.A. has — and has not — accomplished. (Here is a package of Times stories.)

Today, no child can legally be denied schooling because of a disability. Workplaces and public spaces have been transformed. And many nondisabled people have benefited as well: I often felt grateful for the A.D.A. while pushing a stroller around New York (and not having to lift it over curbs).