Colorado ADAPT is an activist group for disability rights, run by and for people with all types of disabilities. We support National ADAPT, Community Choice Act of 2007, and all federal, state and local policies that enhance a better accessible community.
Historical Background
ADAPT is a grassroots United States disability rights organization with chapters in 30 states.
ADAPT got its start at the Atlantis Community in Denver, Colorado, in 1983. The Atlantis Community was started by the Reverend Wade Blank, a nondisabled former nursing home recreational director who assisted several residents to move out and start their own community. Blank is also given much credit for helping ADAPT get started. Originally, the name was an acronym that stood for Americans Disabled for Accessible Public Transit. The group’s initial issue was to get wheelchair accessible lifts on buses.
By the end of the decade, after protests and lawsuits, ADAPT finally saw bus lifts required by law as passed by the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. At that time, the group began looking for the next logical step in disability rights advocacy, while ensuring follow-through of transportation provisions in the ADA. Then ADAPT acronym stood for ADAPT acronym stands for American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today, focusing on the fundamental human rights. Currently ADAPT does not have an acronym meaning, the group is a very well known and successful advocating for people with all types of disabilities.
In 1993, Wade Blank died. In 1991, ADAPT had decided to make community supports for people with disabilities its major issue. ADAPT has two current national bases, one in Denver, Colorado and the other in Austin, Texas
Wade Blank, Founder of ADAPT, Hero and Friend to ALL.
Colorado ADAPT 