Disability rights aspects of ambient noise under the Americans with Disabilities Act for people with auditory disorders

Abstract

The goals of the disability rights movement are full enjoyment, active inclusion, and equal participation in society for people with disabilities. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) guarantees full and equal enjoyment of places of public accommodation for them. People with partial hearing loss, tinnitus, and hyperacusis meet the ADA definition of having a disability but currently have no legal protection under ADA. People with 25–40 decibel hearing loss cannot understand speech in noisy places, with or without hearing aids. They require ambient noise levels below 60 A-weighted decibels with reverberation times under 0.50 seconds to understand speech. Noise worses symptoms for those with tinnitus and hyperacusis. Noisy restaurants and other indoor places deny full enjoyment and equal participation in public life to people with these auditory disorders. Legislative and regulatory actions are needed to provide quiet environments, with established noise standards vigorously enforced. Technologies and environmental modifications to control noise and reverberation are well known, readily available, and relative inexpensive. The simplest modification is merely turning down the volume of amplified sound. Universal design for quiet facilitates communication for everyone and prevents hearing loss, tinnitus, and hyperacusis in those without auditory disorders.