Hopes for the Future

For disability rights advocates, passage of the ADAAA isn't the end of the battle. Now they're working to educate lawyers, health care professionals, businesses, and all Americans about people's rights under the new law.

By the time the ADAAA was signed, Steigauf, the former mechanic, had already reached a settlement with UPS. Klise settled his case soon after the law went into effect. After first being demoted to lower-paying jobs, both men were later reinstated to their original positions when the Department of Transportation started offering exemptions on a case-by-case basis for people with insulin-dependent diabetes. Steigauf has since gone to work for the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, where he's still fighting to protect the rights of employees. "My hope is that through this legislation and education, employers will understand that this disease may require some accommodation but can be dealt with relatively easily," he says.

Lawyers Kohrman and Griffin celebrated not only the new law's provisions but also how the battles fought in the courts and in Congress by the American Diabetes Association and many others helped expand the rights of the disabled. "I was in tears when it passed both houses of Congress," Griffin says, "because of my personal stake as someone who actually has diabetes and who has fought against real odds alongside our brothers and sisters in the disability rights community." That collaboration, Kohrman says, is an achievement in and of itself. And the result of that collaboration is a law that should give new meaning to all efforts to improve the lives of people with diabetes.