by Josh Benton

While there has been some legal progress against discrimination, some people with disabilities contend the repercussions are no where near where they need to be.

The Americans with Disabilities Act helps many people, especially those with motor problems. It has forced businesses and builders to accommodate those in wheelchairs, and it forces business owners in many fields to look past any disability during the hiring process. However, there still are many cases of discrimination against those
with disabilities or handicaps in schools and workplaces.

However, there are still many cases of discrimination against those with disabilities or handicaps in schools and workplaces.

In some cases, these discriminations take away civil rights. According to the Tourette Syndrome Association Web site, one woman told them about her grandson who has the affliction, obsessive-compulsive disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In a letter the association posted, she wrote that her grandson's teacher maintained that "he could stop if he wanted to," and the place where he lived had a special program for people similar to him.

This special program allowed for him to be sent to jail for 72 hours at a time in order to "teach him to behave better," the Web site reported. The grandmother wrote that at the time the letter was sent, the child had been "helped" four times.

Even universities have professors who don't seem to care, said Mike Foley, a University of Florida journalism master lecturer.

"Professors have greater power than grade-school teachers, and it's hard to fire someone with tenure," Foley said. "Sometimes they forget that their job is to teacher the students. Every semester someone comes in with a letter that says they need extra time or a note taker.

"To be honest, at first I thought, 'This is crazy. How will they ever be able to work in a newsroom?' But, I realized it's not my business. It's a professor's job to teacher the students the best they can, and they can figure out how to deal with the real world when they get there."