Our vision statement: Disability Rights California will change the system so it values diversity, culture and each individual

Assistive Technology

For independence, clients obtain assistive technology

Disability Rights California supports clients in their goals to become more independent in the community through assistive technology. Examples of recent successes follow.

Jorge Andrade

Jorge Andrade, a Medi-Cal recipient who uses a wheelchair for mobility, lives in a small, rural community in the southern California desert. He needs a particularly rugged chair so he can negotiate the rough terrain and soft sands of his home environment. The only wheelchair that meets the requirements is the Frontier X-5, but that one was denied.

After Jorge asked for assistance, we helped him get an administrative hearing where the judge agreed that this was the only chair that would work, but said that “Medi-Cal was only obligated to provide equipment that is standard for the community at large.”

We helped Jorge appeal, stating that since living at home is the preferred outcome and this was the only chair that would make this possible, Medi-Cal should support the Frontier X-5.

The decision was reversed and Jorge now has his chair and mobility.

Zach Miles

Zach Miles is an 18 year old man who lives with his mother. Because Zach is not ambulatory and has other delays, his mother provides his attendant care. Because she has increasing difficulty in lifting her son, she contacted us to help Zach apply to his regional center for a technology assessment.

At the IPP meeting, the request was denied, as was a request for the Developmentally Disabled Waiver that authorizes home-based services for regional center clients. Disability Rights California agreed to represent Zach at a hearing, but before it could be held, the regional center reversed its position on both requests. The assistive technology assessment got Zach an automatic seating system in his mother’s vehicle, a hospital bed, a Hoyer lift and a bath chair.