By: Julia Gentile*
Abstract
In 1990, when Congress first passed the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to address the salient problem of discrimination on the basis of disability in employment, the internet was only in its infancy. Since then, technology has moved into the forefront of everyday life. Detrimentally, individuals with intellectual disabilities are much less likely to have access to and utilize the internet than their non-disabled counterparts. Moreover, the unemployment rate for adults with intellectual disabilities continues to be more than twice as high as those without disabilities. The American employment economy’s increasing dependence on expensive, sophisticated technological tools wholly threatens the effectiveness of the ADA’s nondiscrimination mandate when asserted to protect individuals with intellectual disabilities in employment.
Scholars as early as 2002 identified the emerging nexus between the increasingly automated employment economy and the ADA’s prejudicial balancing test. What could not possibly have been predicted, however, is the speed at which automation would transform the modern workplace in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Millions of employers are now taking advantage of connective technologies to mediate interpersonal connection and maximize employment opportunities. For individuals with intellectual disabilities, virtual interaction, if even accessible, is in many cases an inadequate substitute.
This Comment addresses the current, dismal employment landscape for individuals with intellectual disabilities and evaluates the shortcomings of statutory protections aimed both at preventing discrimination in employment on the basis of disability and fostering the development of individuals with disabilities in education. To improve employment outcomes and productivity in adulthood for individuals with intellectual disabilities, this Comment calls for crucial reform at the special education level. This Comment recommends, in part, that the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) require educators to begin planning for students’ post-secondary transitions by the time students turn 13. In addition, students’ Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) should incorporate substantive technological competency goals.
*J.D. Candidate, The Pennsylvania State University, Penn State Law, 2022