DN72: In May of 2008 Members of ADAPT celebrated 25 years of advocacy and civil disobedience that has brought awareness to the fact that thousands of people with disabilities are trapped in nursing homes, unable to secure services that would allow them to live independently in the community. As part of that celebration, a special exhibit was published that features photos and narratives, both in written and audio format, providing accounts of the 50 actions that have been held over the organization's 25-year history.

ADAPT has a long history of organizing in the disability community and using civil disobedience and similar non- violent direct action tactics to achieve its goals. In 1983, as a project of the Atlantis Community in Denver, ADAPT began its national campaign for lifts on buses and access to public transit for people with disabilities. ADAPT started as American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit. For seven years ADAPT blocked buses in cities across the country to demonstrate the need for access to public transit. Many went to jail for the right to ride.

This episode of DisabilityNation is the second in a two part series focusing on the history of ADAPT and features three select narratives from actions held in the early 1990's.

Following their long fought victory to gain access to public transportation for people with disabilities, members of ADAPT traveled to Atlanta and began fighting to insure the supports were available so that people living in nursing homes and institutions could live independently in the community. Cassie James was at the Atlanta action and shares her experience and why ADAPT has taken up this issue. Next, we travel to 1993 and an action that was held in Washington DC. We hear from Elenor Smith Finally, we hear from Diane Coleman who talks about the action held that year in Washington.

Transcripts Available

Please click on the names of the individuals in the previous paragraph to access the full written narrative of their audio presentations which are included in this episode. Also, you can get a transcript of the news segment here.

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