Category Archives: News
Housing Articles Can Spark Discussion
Two excellent articles on housing and disability recently were published by the Center for American Progress. The articles themselves are great, but they also contain links to other good information, helpful in the fight for better housing options for people with disabilities.
To read, download and/or print, click on these titles:
Disability-Forward Policy Recommendations To Advance Accessible and Affordable Housing for All
Recognizing and Addressing Housing Insecurity for Disabled Renters
We recommend you not only read them, but share them with your housing authority, housing developers and city and state government types who do housing policy and funding. We need to broaden the conversation beyond talking amongst ourselves, to talking with people who are not familiar with our issues, needs and wants. Housers generally fall into that category. But how will they find out if we don’t tell them?
Airlines lost or damaged more than 15,000 wheelchairs since 2018
The Washington Post reports: “Airlines have lost or damaged more than 15,000 wheelchairs since late 2018. Roughly 29 wheelchairs a day have been mishandled by airlines since they were required to begin officially reporting numbers Roughly 29 wheelchairs a day have been mishandled by airlines since they were required to begin officially reporting numbers.”
The number would be higher if it were not for COVID-19, the Post said, adding that many people think the numbers are underreported to begin with. Tammy Duckworth, the Senator who forced the reporting to begin, told the Post:
“Every airline passenger deserves to be treated with dignity and respect, but too often that is not the case,” Duckworth, a double amputee, said in a statement in 2018. “I know from personal experience that when an airline damages a wheelchair, it is more than a simple inconvenience — it’s a complete loss of mobility and independence. It was the equivalent of taking my legs away from me again. No air traveler should be left in the lurch, immobile on a plane.”
Guess it does matter who you vote for!
To read the full article:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2021/06/07/wheelchair-scooter-damage-airplane-flights/
You can read the actual full DOT report (if you have the stomach for this kind of carnage) here: https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2020-02/February%202020%20ATCR.pdf
ADAPT Online event: Home is Where the Heart Is! 2/12/21
A live event to expose the neglect toward Community Attendants and persons with disabilities trying to live in the community by the State of Texas.
WHERE: Facebook Live: https://fb.me/e/1TDXRFvUa
DATE & TIME: Friday, February 12, 2021 5pm CST, 4pm MNT
WHAT: Captivating testimony by Community Attendants and persons who use attendant services, related to neglect from their employers to protect them from COVID, low wages received by Community Attendants jeopardizing adequate and long-term employment and sufficient accessible housing options in the state
WHO: Community Attendants, Persons with disabilities, and invited speakers
FACTS:
- Community Attendants earn $8.11 per hour, have no benefits, and no sick leave.
- People with disabilities and seniors, that cannot find Community Attendants are forced into nursing facilities and other institutions, which are more expensive than community living.
- The majority of Community Attendants are women, people of color. Many of them are the sole wage earners for their families, working multiple jobs to make ends meet; often eligible for and dependent on, the same federal and state public assistance on which their clients depend.
- Protective Personal Equipment (PPE) and COVID vaccines continue to be minimally available to Community Attendants putting them and consumers at risk of cross contamination and contracting COVID-19.
“Personal attendants and their clients are intrinsically linked, so it is critical that state officials and the federal decision makers act now! Action and funding for wages, vaccinations and PPE must become a priority,” says longtime PAS user and PACT Organizer and ADAPT member Nancy Crowther.
Community attendants help people with disabilities stay in their own homes. Despite this valuable work, they are overworked, under paid, and now with COVID, their lives, the lives of the people they work with, and the lives of their families are being placed in jeopardy. We will hear from community attendants across Texas about the difficulties they are experiencing due to the lack of Personal Protective Equipment (ie. masks and gloves), low wages, and no sick leave among other issues. We invite anyone interested in the testimony from workers and people with disabilities, who receive home and community based services, to join us. We are inviting our elected officials, media, and the public to join us and learn about the struggles that community attendants and consumers in Texas face.
If you are an attendant that is not able to attend the event at the specified time, we encourage you to leave us your testimony in the discussion section of the event.
If possible, please provide a photo description in your post.
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Los asistentes comunitarios ayudan a las personas con discapacidades a permanecer en sus propias hogares. A pesar de este valioso trabajo, están sobrecargados de trabajo, mal pagados y ahora con COVID, sus vidas, las vidas de las personas con las que trabajan y las vidas de sus familias están en peligro. Escucharemos a los asistentes de la comunidad en todo Texas sobre las dificultades que están experimentando debido a la falta de equipo de protección personal (es decir, máscaras y guantes), salarios bajos y ausencia pagada de licencia por enfermedad , entre otros problemas. Invitamos a cualquier persona interesada en el testimonio de trabajadores y personas con discapacidades, que reciben servicios basados en el hogar y la comunidad, a unirse a nosotros. Invitamos a nuestros funcionarios electos, los medios de comunicación y el público a unirse a nosotros y conocer las luchas que enfrentan los asistentes comunitarios y los consumidores en Texas.
Si usted es un asistente que no puede asistir al evento a la hora especificada, le recomendamos que nos deje su testimonio en la sección de discusión del evento.
Si es posible, proporcione una descripción de la foto en su publicación.
DOCTOR’S PREJUDICES ABOUT DISABILITIES
A website known as STAT recently published an article by Rebecca Jones titled Large majority of doctors hold misconceptions about people with disabilities, survey finds. This story confirms what many of us have found, that the medical community often harbors prejudices against people’s disabilities. These prejudices lead to or are made worse by their failure to accommodate our needs either physically (by providing accessible equipment), programmatically (by modifying schedules, policies, etc.) and/or attitudinally (assuming our quality of life is worse than the lives of those without disabilities.) The article sites several recent studies on these issues and it links to abstracts of these studies. The abstracts (which are like summaries) contain links to other articles on related topics.
These kinds of attitudes are what led to the death of Michael Hickson and others, as well as to the more limited health care so many of us “enjoy.” The article mentions this link and says:
Last March, the Office for Civil Rights of the Department of Health and Human Services issued a bulletin [if you click here you can see the bulletin] that “persons with disabilities should not be denied medical care on the basis of stereotypes, assessments of quality of life, or judgments about a person’s relative ‘worth’ based on the presence or absence of disabilities or age.”
We just thought you might want outside confirmation you aren’t imagining things when you feel like your doctor doesn’t treat you the same as other patients.
Hand sanitizer give away this Friday
Continuing from our successful collaboration with Austin Public Health and HACA in distributing PPEs last Saturday, ADAPT will be distributing 23 oz sanitizer bottles from noon to 3 pm or until supplies are gone.
When: this Friday 2/5 noon to 3 pm (or till we run out.)
Where: ADAPT Office 1100 S IH 35 Austin, TX.
Last week’s event was a big success despite the dreary weather. Austin Public Health (APH) arrived with boxes of supplies for local home health agencies to give to their attendants. The agencies had been contacted in advance and had asked for a certain number, yet oddly some did not bother to show up. None the less others did, and their attendants will receive the supplies. PACT contacted their members who also came to collect supplies, and PACT and ADAPT offered them to the people we have been mailing supplies to since last summer. In addition, members of the public who wanted supplies were welcomed. The Housing Authority of the City of Austin, HACA, hosted the drive through event in their parking lot and we are most grateful for their generosity. The APH was very organized and most generous to offer this help. Disgracefully, the state has done little to nothing to assist and assure attendants have the PPEs they need to protect their own health and the health of the people they assist.
FREE PPE DISTRIBUTION EVENT SATURDAY 1/23
PACT Logo
The Personal Attendant Coalition of Texas (PACT) is pleased to work with Austin Public Health COVID-19 Response Team who are holding a FREE PPE distribution Event!
Community Attendants
Saturday January 23, 2021
11 am to 3 pmT
Housing Authority Parking Lot and Garage
1124 S IH 35 frontage road
Next to the ADAPT office
Masks and Social Distancing Required
For more information call 512-650-6543 
END THE DEATH CAMPS MFP GIVES CHOICES; A BETTER ALTERNATIVE
ADAPT gathers on sidewalk at 11th & Congress by the Capitol for press conference
To celebrate Freedom Day, Martin Luther King’s birthday, a small but stalwart band of ADAPT folks gathered in front of the Texas Capitol in Austin for a press conference to support getting people out of nursing homes and into community living with Money Follows the Person, MFP. Nursing homes have been shown by COVID 19 to be death traps for way too many, and that nursing facilities and other institutions are not the way to provide services to people with disabilities and older Texans. Yet for decades Texas leadership has 
ignored this reality and continued to build up that system and only begrudgingly provide community alternatives.
ADAPT luck was on hand, as Cathy and Ron Cranston spotted the Governor posing for a picture on the Capitol grounds. They were able to pass on our message to one of his body guards and yell to him as he turned tail and hustled inside. Despite his disability, Governor Abbott has little regard for the plight of his fellow Texans with disabilities, as has been shown time and again.
ADAPT of Texas and the Personal Attendant Coalition of Texas (grassroots disability rights organizations) have been fighting to end the institutional bias in long term services and supports for people with disabilities since 1990.
Call the decision makers below and tell them we want the Texas Legislature to reform the long term services and supports system by:
- Directing HHSC to use the federal Money Follows the Person funding to get and keep people with disabilities and older Texans out of nursing facilities and other institutions;
- Increase wages and benefits of Community Attendants to $15 per hour;
- Fund the Diversion of people with disabilities and older Texans from nursing facilities and other institutions;
- Assure Community Attendants get adequate PPE and are a priority for vaccinations;
- Assure support services and housing are separate.
Gov. Greg Abbott Messaging – 512.800.843.5789, 512.463.1782
Switchboard – 512.463.2000
Lt. Governor Dan Patrick – Office – 512.463.0001 Messaging – 512.463.5342
Speaker of the House Dade Phelan – Office – 512.463.1000
Speaker Pro Tem Joe Moody of the Texas House of Representatives – 512.463.0728
Senator Jane Nelson – Chair of the Finance Committee – 512.463.0923
Sen Lois W. Kolkhorst – Chair Senate Health & Human Services Comm 512.463.0118
Looking for where to get the COVID Vaccine? Who isn’t?
In this “hunger games” roll out of the COVID vaccine it’s not easy to find where to go, even if you are eligible in the priority system. This handy website seems to have some good info though, so we are sharing it in hopes of making your search easier.
www.https://tdem.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=3700a84845c5470cb0dc3ddace5c376b
If you go there you can type in your address and a list will pop up of places to try and sign up for the shots. It shows how far away they are and how many of which vaccine they have. It’s probably a little behind real time info but much better than nothing.
TODAY: SIGN UP FOR VACCINE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-MUST SIGN UP
Due to high demand, we may experience technical issues and your submission may not go through. If you receive an error message, please try re-submitting.
If your symptoms are very bad, immediately go to a clinic or hospital, or call 9-1-1
(symptoms include chills, confusion or hallucinations, cough, diarrhea, fatigue, headache, muscle aches or pain, new loss of taste or smell, shortness of breath or trouble breathing, sore throat)
Use this free online tool to schedule a no-cost COVID-19 test or to pre-register for vaccination for you or a loved one at a local Austin Public Health facility.
The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Reasonable modifications and equal access will be provided upon request. If you cannot access a location because of problems with transportation, internet, email, or computers please call 512-972-5560.
Please note: The information you give is private and confidential by law and will be maintained in confidence.
- You will not be asked about your immigration status.
- The assessment, test, and vaccine are free.
- Completing a vaccine pre-registration does NOT guarantee that you will receive the vaccine or be guaranteed a scheduled vaccine appointment.
Before you start
Here are a few things to keep in mind:
- To help keep your information secure, please create an account. Per Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements, you will need a separate email address for each person seeking a test or vaccine, including children.
- You will need to answer a few questions about symptoms, travel, and contact you’ve had with others to determine if you need testing.
- If you and/or a loved one qualify for a COVID-19 test or vaccine, you will be able to schedule the location, date and time.
If you would like to schedule testing or pre-register for the vaccination, please click the button below to create an account.
You MUST Create an account
https://covid19.austintexas.gov/s/?language=en_US
Delco Activity Center
Sports complex in Austin, Texas
4601 Pecan Brook Dr, Austin, TX 78724
Nancy Crowther
ADAPT/PACT