A Living Lesson from the ADA’s Principal Author

In this episode of ⁠Pushing Forward with Alycia⁠, I sit down with the Honorable ⁠Tony Coelho⁠, retired U.S. Congressman and the principal author of the ⁠Americans with Disabilities Act⁠, for a conversation that reaches far beyond disability policy. It’s a history lesson, a civics class, and a moral compass all in one thirty minute session.

As a nation founded in defiance of oppression and animated by the promise of freedom, we need the values in this conversation now—dignity, equal access, and the courage to stand up to power with truth and love. This is not just a disability story; it’s a blueprint for renewing the American experiment. Tony’s story is America’s story: perseverance in the face of stigma, faith in community, and courageous, bipartisan coalition-building that turned lived experience into law. He reminds us that the ADA wasn’t a gift; it was won through testimony, organizing, and unlikely alliances that honored human dignity over party lines. He also offers a clear charge for today: rights on paper are meaningless without enforcement, and opportunity is the measure of whether our promises are real.

As we begin our celebration of National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) let us remember we can’t afford to ignore the warnings of our past. If we don’t learn from history, we are bound to repeat it.

A Quote from Tony

Give me the opportunity to fail… then I may be able to succeed.

~ Hon. Tony Coelho

What You’ll Find in this Episode

Key Points on the Clock

Connect with the Honorable Tony Coelho

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Stay tuned for more inspiring conversations on Pushing Forward with Alycia. Open hearts, clear paths. Let’s go.

Editor’s Note (Context Matters)

This conversation with the Hon. Tony Coelho was recorded on August 12, 2025, more than a month before today’s release. Since then, the landscape has shifted dramatically. As of October 1, 2025, the U.S. federal government has shut down after Congress failed to pass a funding bill.

At the heart of this stalemate are health-care provisions, including Affordable Care Act (ACA) premium subsidies and Medicaid funding. Lawmakers’ dispute over extending ACA subsidies and reversing recent Medicaid/ACA cuts is a central driver of the impasse, with multiple outlets reporting that the shutdown fight is fundamentally about these health-care stakes.

Why this matters here: ACA and Medicaid policy is inseparable from disability rights. Analyses from leading health policy organizations and advocates show that millions of people with disabilities rely on Medicaid and ACA Marketplaces for coverage; proposed cuts or subsidy expirations would raise premiums sharply and put essential services and community-based supports at risk.

So, when we talk about the ADA’s promise, and Tony’s insistence that “rights on paper mean nothing without enforcement and opportunity,” that promise is tested right now, in real time. The shutdown took effect just 24 hours before this episode’s release, underscoring the episode’s core message: if we do not learn from history and protect the gains we have made, we risk repeating the same mistakes, only with higher stakes and more lives caught in the balance.