ADA 30th Anniversary - Joan's Voice

How the ADA and OCR’s Early Complaint Resolution Brought Systemic Change to COVID Visitor Policies

Susan Fandacone is the loving daughter of Joan Parsons. She and her family have supported her mom to communicate after an aneurism 11 years ago resulted in multiple disabilities, including short term memory loss.  When her mom was hospitalized during COVID, hospital visitor policies left her without the needed supports of her family on which she relies.  Susan worked with local advocates and the HHS Office for Civil Rights to get reasonable modifications under the ADA so they could be in the hospital to support their mom and be her voice.  These efforts led to statewide reform and model visitor policies for persons with disabilities.  Susan recorded this video to let people with disabilities know their rights and how to exercise them so that no one has to go through what her mom did.  She cites the ADA as an important law to protect rights and the work of local advocates and the HHS Office for Civil Rights to enforce it.