A group of experts from around the world has been working on the latter document to have it ready in the year 2002. There are plans to present it to United Nations authorities for adoption pursuant to official procedures. Within Latin America, the ADA has had a clear influence on the passage of a group of laws around the region. The ADA along with the U. N. Standard Rules served as models for bills that have been presented to national legislative bodies throughout much of Latin America. The first Latin American disability law approved was a 1992 Brazilian law.
Today there are similar laws in Guatemala, Nicaragua, Peru, and Venezuela.
One example of the ADA s influence, is on the definition of disability. In the Latin American laws there are three definitions for disability or persons with disabilities. This definition is almost a copy of the ADA definition of disability. In Article I, Section 1 disability is defined as a physical, mental or sensory impairment, whether permanent or temporary, that limits the capacity to perform one or more essential activities of daily life, and which can be caused or aggravated by the economic and social environment. First, it refers to a history of disability, former disability, or perception of a disability opening the definition to new applications to discrimination against disabled persons.