Guest blogger: Idelle Davidson
In researching and co-authoring Your Brain After Chemo: A Practical Guide to Lifting the Fog and Getting Back Your Focus, Idelle Davidson interviewed countless survivors who reported often debilitating cognitive issues following treatment for cancer. She wanted to know if there were any legal protections available to them in the workplace, or at home if they could no longer work. She spoke with Joanna Morales, an attorney and the director of the Cancer Legal Resource Center. Both Idelle and Joanna graciously agreed to let Fight Colorectal Cancer re-post the interview.
Q and A With Joanna Morales
ID) What is the legal standard to qualify for a disability?
JM) To have a disability under the Americans with Disabilities Act’s (ADA) definition of disability, you have to have a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits major life activities, have a history of an impairment, or be regarded as having an impairment.
Major life activities have traditionally been things like walking, talking, eating, breathing and working. But when the ADA amendments passed in 2008, they specifically delineated some additional major life activities that made it easier for someone with cancer to actually use the ADA’s protections.
And those activities include sleeping, concentrating, thinking, communicating and operation of major bodily functions. Read the rest of this entry »
