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This article focuses on the case of celiac disease, an autoimmune disease for which the medical treatment is a gluten-free diet, and the social implications of its inclusion as a disability. Under what circumstances is celiac disease a disability and what are the consequences of such considerations? The article evaluates the expansion of the definition of disability and its inclusion of individuals with celiac disease, and also considers the macro-level and micro-level consequences and social implications for both individuals with celiac disease themselves and also for the field of disability studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article posits that although it has been 20 years since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a continuing tension remains between truly understanding and protecting the rights of people with disabilities and eliminating discrimination via the design of the built environment. Focus group and interview findings document the expressed and contradictory attitudes of practicing interior designers. This article demonstrates that although interior designers apply ADA design and construction guidelines as required by US laws and generally concede its universal benefits, the majority have not adopted the underlying spirit of the landmark civil rights law. Since interior designers ignore the essence of the ADA, the large scale use of non-discriminatory practices in the design of the built environment has progressed little during these two decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This case study describes the manner in which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill – the first state-funded institution of higher education in the United States – publicly addressed the disability civil rights movement just before and after the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. An analysis of archived documents, reports, and correspondence among administrators coupled with a review of news coverage in two of the most prominent news sources on campus indicated that there was no attempt to create and sustain significant public communication efforts about disability. Public communication focused on accessibility issues and rarely acknowledged the significance of the disability civil rights. The potential benefit of public communication about disability issues is discussed as it relates to higher education’s obligation to assume social leadership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]