Organization
ADAPT
ADAPT is a national disability rights organisation known for its direct-action tactics — demonstrations, protests, and civil disobedience — that have shaped disability rights policy since the 1970s. ADAPT has been central to the movement for Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) as an alternative to nursing home institutionalisation.
About ADAPT
ADAPT (formerly American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today, originally American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit) has been a radical grassroots disability rights organisation since its founding in Denver, Colorado in 1978 by Wade Blank and a group of people with disabilities frustrated by inaccessible public transit.
ADAPT is famous for direct action — members in wheelchairs have blocked buses, crawled up the steps of the US Capitol, occupied congressional offices, and chained themselves to inaccessible buildings to demand change. These tactics have been controversial but effective.
What they do
ADAPT's two primary campaign areas have been transit accessibility (which led to accessible bus requirements in the ADA) and community-based services.
Community integration campaign (current primary focus): ADAPT's "Free Our People" campaign has fought against the "institutional bias" in Medicaid — the tendency of Medicaid to fund nursing homes and institutions more readily than home and community-based services. ADAPT was a driving force behind the Supreme Court's Olmstead v. L.C. decision (1999), which held that unjustified institutionalisation of people with disabilities is a form of discrimination under the ADA. ADAPT continues to push for full implementation of Olmstead and for parity between institutional and HCBS funding.
Direct action: ADAPT organises national actions, typically in Washington D.C., where members confront lawmakers and executive branch officials directly on disability policy.
Key programs and resources
- State ADAPT chapters in many US cities
- Direct action training for new disability rights activists
- Olmstead implementation advocacy
Who they serve
People with physical disabilities and cross-disability people facing institutionalisation, nursing home placement, or barriers to HCBS.
Why it matters
ADAPT's confrontational tactics have achieved concrete policy changes — accessible buses, the Olmstead decision, and ongoing pressure on HCBS funding. For disability rights advocates, ADAPT represents the tradition of direct action that has driven major advances in disability rights, from bus accessibility in the 1970s to community living in the 1990s and today.
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