Regarding the Governor David Patterson parody on Saturday Night Live

I guess it's only if you work with people with disabilities day to day, and see how competent we can be (and I add myself, but my disability is very mild compared to the people I see.) You can only realize how effective people can be on the job. SNL did not parody what Patterson did- use drugs, have an affair (both true) but what he had, a visual impairment. Something over which he has not control and despite which he has risen to the role of Governor. Go Dave!

According to the New York Times in 1994:

"More than four years after Congress passed the Americans with Disabilities Act, a sweeping civil rights law covering people with physical and mental impairments, the number of disabled people entering the work force has not significantly increased, say experts in the field and advocates for the disabled.

Though the law, commonly known as the A.D.A., was intended to bring people with disabilities into the cultural, social and economic mainstreams, the number of disabled people who have entered the work force has hardly changed, even as the number of disabled high school and college graduates has continued to increase.

A recent survey conducted for the National Organization on Disabilities found that only 31 percent of disabled people age 16 to 64 were working part time or full time, down slightly from the 33 percent that were found to be employed in a similar survey in 1986."

Not much has changed today. Thank you Saturday Night live for helping the image of individuals with disabilities...NOT