ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA)

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ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA)

Reference Number: MTAS-1049
Reviewed Date: 09/04/2026

Overview
The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 (ADAAA) broadened who counts as a person with a disability under the ADA. It shifted employer focus away from arguing whether a condition is a disability and toward the reasonable-accommodation process.
Signing and effective dates

President George W. Bush signed the ADAAA (S. 3406) on September 25, 2008. It took effect January 1, 2009. Final implementing regulations were published in the Federal Register on March 25, 2011.

Why the ADAAA matters
The ADAAA responded to a series of Supreme Court decisions that had narrowed ADA coverage. Two notable cases were reversed by the amendments (Pub. L. 110-325): Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky, Inc. v. Williams, 534 U.S. 184 (2002), and Sutton v. United Airlines, Inc., 527 U.S. 471 (1999). Congress rewrote the definition of disability so that a much larger group of employees is now covered.

For employers, the key change is where their analysis focuses. Instead of asking, "Is this condition really a disability?" employers should ask, "Did we reasonably accommodate this employee?"

What the ADAAA changed
The amendments restored a broader meaning of disability, closer to Congress's original 1990 intent. Conditions that are more clearly covered now include epilepsy, mental health disorders, diabetes, autism, ADHD, developmental delays, intellectual disability, muscular dystrophy, and cancer. Other conditions that affect major life activities such as working, communicating, concentrating, thinking, or reading are also covered.
The stated purpose of the Act is to carry out the ADA's goal of providing "a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination" and "clear, strong, consistent, enforceable standards" by restoring a broad scope of protection under the ADA.

"Regarded as" prong
The "regarded as" definition of disability now covers people who may not actually have a disability but are treated as if they do. An individual meets the "regarded as" prong if the employer took a prohibited action based on an actual or perceived physical or mental impairment, whether or not the impairment limits (or is perceived to limit) a major life activity.

Mitigating measures
The ADAAA bars consideration of mitigating measures (other than ordinary eyeglasses or contact lenses) when deciding whether someone has a disability. Before the ADAAA, courts often considered medications and assistive devices, which allowed employers to argue that a controlled condition was not a disability. Now, items like medication, cochlear implants, oxygen therapy, hearing aids, and prosthetics cannot be factored in. This directly overturned Sutton v. United Airlines, 527 U.S. 471 (1999).

"Substantially limits"
A condition is a disability if it "materially restricts" a major life activity, meaning a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities. Courts had previously required a much higher "significantly restricted" showing; Congress considered that standard too tight.

Major bodily functions
The ADAAA added major bodily functions to the list of major life activities. Covered functions include the immune system, normal cell growth, and the digestive, bowel, bladder, neurological, brain, respiratory, circulatory, endocrine, and reproductive functions. This significantly widens the range of conditions that count as disabilities.

Key sources

  • ADA Amendments Act of 2008, Pub. L. 110-325
  • 42 U.S.C. §§ 12101 et seq. (ADA, as amended)
  • 29 CFR Part 1630 (EEOC ADAAA regulations, effective 2011)
     

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