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ADAPT (415)
St. Louis Post Dispatch, 5/13/88 Activists Derail Transit Group’s Welcoming Plans By Mark Schlinkmann, Regional Political Correspondent Officials have moved the site of a convention's welcoming ceremony Sunday night away from the Gateway Arch visitors' center because of fears of a protest by disabled-rights activists. Organizers of a transit officials' convention have moved the reception site to the Omni Hotel, the site of the convention. Better security can be provided at the hotel, a spokesman for the Bi-State Development Agency, Thomas Sturgess, said Thursday. Because most other activities connected with the five-day convention will be at the hotel, Sturgess said, "The participants already will be there." More than 600 people from across the country are expected to attend the convention, a regional conference of the American Public Transit Association. As many as 150 others affiliated with Americans Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation — known as ADAPT — are expected to be here to protest the organization's stand on wheelchair lifts for buses. Police say the protest group, including many in wheelchairs themselves, has a reputation for seeking arrest to dramatize their cause. Tactics in other cities have included blocking roadways and chaining themselves to buses, Bi-State officials have said. ADAPT wants the Transit Association to endorse 100 percent accessibility to buses and other public transportation for the disabled through the installation of wheelchair lifts by all its member systems. Disabled people should have the right to as much access to taxpayer-financed transportation as able-bodied people enjoy, ADAPT officials argue. "Our demand is that the association change its policy," said the Rev. Wade Blank of Denver, an ADAPT founder. The association "will not have their parties anywhere in the United States without people in wheelchairs making them inaccessible." Transit association officials respond by saying that although they support access for the disabled, wheelchair lifts are not the only way to provide it. Jack R. Gilstrap, executive vice-president of the Transit Association, said Thursday that about a third of the nation's transit systems use lifts on buses; a third have begun using vans to provide door-to-door service for disabled persons; and a third use a combination. The vans have a higher rate of use than wheelchair lifts on standard buses and so are less costly, he said. "We believe the local community ought to be deciding how this will be provided," Gilstrap said. "There really are some serious business and tax-payer considerations." ADAPT complains that "paratransit vans, which usually must be reserved in advance, segregate the disabled from the general public. "It's very similar to apartheid," Blank said. In St Louis, the Bi-State transit system is using a combination — developed in conjunction with a local committee of disabled persons. Almost 120 new standard buses equipped with wheelchair lifts are being purchased between now and early 1989. In addition, the system's "Call-A-Ride" van service for disabled people — now limited to parts of St. Louis County — will be expanded to cover all of St. Louis and St. Louis County in November. At that time, Bi-State also will begin issuing scrip that can be used by disabled persons to take taxis in certain circumstances. ADAPT officials have said the organization is satisfied with Bi-State's plans. But they have complained that Bi-State is allowing two of its buses to be used as paddy-wagons on call in the case of any arrests at the demonstrations.
ADAPT (96)
Rocky Mountain News 9/5/81 Denver, CO Handicapped buoyed by judge's ruling By JANE HULSE, News Staff A Denver judge Friday dismissed charges against 20 able-bodied protesters who invaded the Denver mayor's office last spring because 23 other protesters in wheelchairs had not been ticketed. That, said County Judge Edward A. Simons, is reverse discrimination. The unusual ruling by Simons was hailed by the handicapped community as a "significant” victory. The ruling stemmed from a protest May 15 in the office of Mayor William H. McNichols Jr. concerning budget cuts that would affect handicapped residents. The demonstrators were ordered to leave the building at 5 p.m. after McNichols refused to meet with the group about the cuts in the city’s health-care systems budgets. When the group refused to leave, those in wheelchairs were not ticketed, but the able-bodied protesters were charged with interference —- a misdemeanor carrying a maximum penalty of 90 days in jail or a $300 fine. None was taken to jail and booked. The attorney for the protesters, John Holland, argued that his clients were entitled to equal protection under the law and that the law shouldn’t be enforced selectively against one group. “It takes a message to the mayor that he can’t insult the disabled community by ignoring them," said Wade Blank, a spokesman for the disabled. “The disabled are telling me that next time (they meet with McNichols) he will have to treat them differently.” He said the ruling will cause the handicapped people to become even more outspoken and demonstrative about fighting for their rights. Knowing they would be subjected to jail at demonstrations doesn't frighten them, he said, noting that the jail has wheelchair access. Blank said the city’s decision to ticket only those demonstrators who were not in wheelchairs had the effect of making the handicapped feel as if they weren't being recognized as people. “It made them feel like second-class citizens he said. He said the handicapped demonstrators knew they were breaking the law by refusing to leave and “they were willing to pay the price.” According to the ruling, the city decided not to ticket the handicapped for fear that some weren't able to remove themselves from the office or didn’t understand the orders to leave. But Simons noted that “the time and resources were available to make those determinations." The judge also stated, “The fact that none of the disabled persons were charged in spite of their active resistance to leaving renders the city's evidence insufficient to overcome the inescapable conclusion that the defendants have been denied equal protection of the laws.”
ADAPT (17)
The Denver Post - Monday April 5, 1976 [Headline] Reader Opinions - Open Forum "There is no hope for the satisfied man." Frederick G. Bonfils [Subheading] Miracles for Disabled Occur At Atlantis Community Project To the Denver Post: THE COMMISSION on the Disabled is, and has been, a strong backer of the Atlantis Community, lnc., located in the Las Casitas Housing Development at 2965 W. 11th Ave. In recognition ol the commission's support, this letter will attempt to bring readers up to date on the activities and accomplishments of Atlantis. Atlantis is, by design and philosophy, an alternative to nursing home living for the disabled people of the state. It also serves as a model for independent living for the disabled. Further, and possibly most important, Atlantis serves the community at large and reminds the able-bodied people of the area that the disabled are not as disabled as some of society might think, and that the disabled do not all live in hospitals, never to see the outdoors again. In June of 1975 the Early Action phase of the Atlantis Community opened its doors to 14 severely disabled persons, utilizing seven housing units in the Las Casitas Development. These 3-bedroom units were converted to 2-bedroom units with wider doorways, ramped entrances, widened hallways and other modifications to facilitate movement by occupants in wheelchairs. These apartments can now be used by either disabled or able-bodied occupants. Each resident has his own room and a shared living area with one other resident. There are attendants around the clock to attend to any medical or physical problem which might arise. Atlantis has effected changes in the community beneficial to all of the community, not only the disabled; changes such as the lowering and ramping of curbs and sidewalks between the buildings of Las Casitas. The ramped curbs can be used by bicyclists, mothers with baby carriages and women with shopping carts, to say nothing of the elderly out for a walk. The sidewalks are also used by everyone. So an improvement for the disabled is, in fact, an improvement for us all. Atlantis has been and will be instrumental in creating awareness in the Denver area, not just at the Early Action site itself. The Early Action phase of the Atlantis Community is now. Looking forward into tomorrow is the Atlantis Pre-Planning Program. This program, funded through the Community Development Act in the amount of $80,000 will, over the next 12 months, attempt to answer many questions concerning the disabled population of our city, and make recommendations directed to an equalized status of the disabled in relationship to the able-bodied community. Many areas will be researched to compile the data needed for long range recommendations. Some of the areas include statistical information, medical, legal (i.e., legislative and regulatory), social services, housing, transportation, etc., financial and physical planning, as well as where to obtain funding for the implementation of the final recommendations. The final document, complete with possible site locations, will be distributed to all federal, state and city agencies dealing with the disabled. For the most part, when a person is admitted to a nursing home it means that he is virtually committed to this home. Almost [all of the money given to the] disabled person go directly to the nursing home, with the exception of $25 per month "personal needs" money that goes to the individual. This means that the individual is penniless by any accepted standards, and at the mercy and whim of the home. For instance, you are told when you will bathe, when you will eat, when you will go to bed, etc. You only have the choice of whether you will see a movie or not, you do not have the choice as to what movie you might wish to see. There is entirely too much idle time; time in which to prove to yourself that you are in fact worthless. There is no privacy and most of the time you wonder if even your thoughts are your own. After spending several years in a nursing home this writer can speak for the validity of the above statements. The Atlantis Community is an alternative to nursing homes, in that Atlantis gives the same care, but when you want it. When it is convenient for me to have my bath, I call the attendant and am helped. The majority of the time I can eat when I feel like it. I have no set bedtime. When I know there is a movie I want to see there is a van to take me there. I have a choice! More importantly, my dignity has been returned to me. I am a contributing member of the fine city of Denver. I work on the Hot Line at Early Action and will also be involved in the Pre-Planning Program. I have freedom and independence, and am responsible for my own finances. I am a person. I cannot help that I am not an able-bodied person, but I am able! It is not the intent of this writer to imply staff members at Atlantis perform miracles, they do not. They just allow them to happen. One example would be a young lady, who, after brain surgery to remove a tumor, languished in nursing homes for 14 years. The surgery had left her childlike and unable to talk. While in the nursing homes she was considered to be simply a custodial care case. She did not seem to care whether her area of the room was cleaned, or even it her personal belongings were kept straightened. However, upon her arrival at Early Action, she immediately took charge of cleaning and straightening her apartment. She became so conscious of the cleanliness of her apartment that during a time when she was ill and had to depend on someone else to do the housework, she became very upset one day to find bread crumbs on the kitchen table. This young lady is also proof of the strange contradiction Early Action staff and residents are discovering; that better medical care is possible outside the nursing home. Upon her new doctors' recommendations, she started receiving physical therapy. something the nursing homes thought was a waste of time in her case. As the result of progress made while receiving therapy, orthopedic surgery was indicated, which she is recuperating from at the time of this writing. Her doctors feel this surgery will enable her to walk. Miracles at Atlantis? You decide. Progress and better care with new lifestyles? Definitely! Ms. Carolyn Finnell Atlantis Early Action Resident
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[Headline] Handicapped Pin Hope on Atlantis By Sharon Sherman Denver Post Staff Writer The word "activist' once scared a group of young Handicapped Denverites. But after almost two years of wheeling themselves onto picket lines, sitting through meetings with government agencies and speaking out about the problems of being shunted out of the mainstream of society, they agree that the term activist describes what they have become. And they are proud of it. "At least we're actively trying to do what we can instead of sitting back and wishing', is the way Carolyn Finnell, 31, sees the new role of many physically handicapped young people. [Subheading] Buses for Handicapped Carolyn, and others like her in the handicapped community, helped convince the Regional Transportation District to begin adding buses equipped for the handicapped. They have testified at various hearings about problems of the disabled. [TEXT UNREADABLE] They are among the principal planners of the Atlantis Community, a project which would offer the physically handicapped many types of residential living arrangements with services they need available nearby. Carolyn, who has cerebral play which confines her to a wheelchair and distorts her speech, said it was hard to "face speaking out" to rooms full of strangers, but that living with other young adults at Heritage House Nursing Home youth wing has "brought me out a lot." [Subheading] Stayed Inside Shell If Mike Smith, 20, had had his way, he would have stayed inside his shell of poetry writing, reading, and discussing philosophy and listening to music. "I don't like being in politics, but it seems that's the way we have to go,'' Mike explained. " I guess you have to lose a little to get a lot.'' Linda Chism, 27, believes that for the first time, there are enough young disabled people ready and willing to push themselves forward, to speak out, that there is a chance of changing the entire lifestyle of the handicapped. For Mike Smith, those changes may come too late to be enjoyed. [Subheading] Depressed, Angry Mike has muscular dystrophy, a fatal disease. He has spent the past five years in nursing homes, living in one where, at 15, he was punished for breaking rules and being sent to the locked ward for 24 hours at a time. Finally, lonely for friends his own age, depressed at watching his elderly roommate die of cancer, angry at rules which confined him to the small world of the nursing home, Mike attempted suicide. "Luckily, I had no idea how to go about it," he remembers. "I took 20 bowel softener pills and instead of dying just created an incredible mess." For Mike, as for Carolyn, the youth wing at Heritage House is infinitely better than what they had before. But, Mike points out, once the first door that closes any human being away from the rest of the world is opened, that human being will see other doors to open. So it has been for Carolyn, who counted fishhooks for five years in a sheltered workshop before someone recognized her potential. [Subheading] Wants Meaningful Job Now, with a degree in journalism from Community College behind her, Carolyn wants some other things she's not getting out of life. Things like a meaningful job, an apartment of her own where she won't have to keep half her belongings in boxes under the bed, the privacy to entertain friends. "I'm probably living a more active life than I ever have before", she said, explaining that she now edits the youth-wing newsletter and is learning braille so she can tutor blind students. Having come so far, Carolyn's not willing to stop here. Neither is Linda Chism, who has had crippling rheumatoid arthritis for 20 years. Linda has "suffered a lot of surgery and a lot of hard, hard therapy" to become fairly mobile. She has taken three years of courses in biology and psychology at the University of Colorado. She was even offered a full-time job. [Subheading] System Inflexible But the system doesn't allow even the disabled who are capable of supporting themselves to do so, Linda said. If she was paid even minimum wage, she would earn too much and would lose her Social Security benefits. But it would take much more than a minimum wage salary to pay living expenses plus the $150 a month it would cost her to get to work and back. In addition, she would no longer receive Medicaid assistance, and medical bills for someone in Linda's condition are enormous. "Who's going to pay a beginner with no experience that much money?" she asked. [Subheading] Innovative Projects For now, for these and other physically handicapped young adults, the boundaries of their world still don't go far beyond the nursing home walls. But those boundaries will expand dramatically if the young disabled can find support for two innovative projects. One is Project Normalization, a one year pilot study to find out what services young people in nursing homes need to live as normal a life as possible. The project would be conducted at the young wing of Heritage House and is estimated to cost $241,872. The state Department of Social Services has suggested that the pilot project be run by the Department of Physical Medicine of the University of Colorado Medical School. Members of the department now are investigating that possibility. [Subheading] Denied Normal Life "Disabled people are often denied any resemblance of a normal life," the project introduction says. "Because of the segregation they encounter, and the sheltered nature of their early lives, when they reach young adulthood they are incapable of functioning satisfactorily in society and so are banished to nursing homes where the repressive, nonstimulating and socially undemanding environment serves only to multiply their social inadequacies and further depersonalize them. As its creators see it, Project Normalization would begin to to prepare handicapped young adults for the kind of independent living they hope Atlantis will someday offer. [Subheading] Create a Community Atlantis is an ambitious project, planned by a group of both handicapped and able bodied persons, which would create a community of residential units surrounding a hub housing medical, rehabilitative employment, counseling, homemaker, transportation, food and social services. The goal of the community will be to "provide needed services while respecting the individual resident's freedom and privacy," according to the project booklet. For some of the prospective tenants of Atlantis, that goal can't be realized too soon. "I just sort of wish they'd hurry, " said Mike Smith. "Some of us have fatal diseases, you know, I only have two or three years to wait. "