Getting Support

The goal of this article is to give you new information and resources that can help you become more comfortable and confident. Here we’ll begin with some basics about who can help you and what laws protect you, focusing on several important resources:

• Disability Hub MN
• MinnesotaHelp.info
• Independent living centers
• Your doctor
• Personal Care Assistants (PCA)
• Your rights

Later in this article, we’ll go into detail about different health care programs, cash benefits, job adjustments and training that can help you.

Disability Hub MN and MinnesotaHelp.info

Disability Hub MN links Minnesotans with disabilities to information and community resources to stay independent, support work, and explore benefits. The Hub helps people with all types of disabilities, including health conditions, drug or alcohol problems, or mental health needs. The Hub is statewide, free, and private (confidential).

MinnesotaHelp.info can also help you find many social services, ranging from benefits applications to job counseling.

What they offer

If you call Disability Hub MN, a counselor will answer your call, listen to your needs, explore possible options, and supply you with the information you need to make informed decisions.

Disability Hub MN specializes in disability questions related to:

• Work and work planning
• Benefits and services
• Housing
• Accessibility
• Assistive technology
• In-Home services
• Disability rights

MinnesotaHelp.info is an online directory that can help you find social services near you. These services can include help with benefits applications, job counseling, and finding support groups.

How you find them

You can call Disability Hub MN at 1-866-333-2466. To see MinnesotaHelp.info’s wealth of information, click here.

When they’re a good option

Minnesota offers many great resources for people with disabilities. Disability Hub MN and MinnesotaHelp.info can help you connect to the counselors, organizations, and programs that can support you as your disability progresses. They should be your first point of contact as you look for services and support.

Independent Living Centers

Independent living is one of the most important concepts for people with disabilities. Independent living means that you decide how you want to live. It does not mean that you have to know all the answers or do everything by yourself; it means that you need to learn how to find resources that can help you reach your goals. You also need to learn to be in charge of how you use these resources.

Independent living centers are a one-stop shop that can help you learn how to live independently.

What They Provide

Independent living centers were created by people with disabilities. They offer many types of information and support that can help you think about the decisions and opportunities facing you.

They can help you find things like work, housing, transportation, or personal care assistance services. They also provide counseling related to benefits, health care, finances, and even your social life.

How You Find One

There are independent living centers throughout the country, including 8 in Minnesota. The Minnesota Association of Centers for Independent Living (MACIL) can help you find an independent living center near you.

When They’re a Good Option

If you haven’t already contacted your local independent living center, you should now, just to get yourself familiar with the sorts of resources, activities, and programs they offer.

Your Doctor

It's important for you to have good communication with your doctor, because the two of you will be working together to come up with ideas and solutions that work well for you.

What Your Doctor Provides

Your primary care doctor is a central partner for you who will help you better understand your disability. Your doctor will help diagnose your condition, figure out what sort of treatment is available, and refer you to other specialists who can help you. Your doctor also documents your health conditions and maintains your medical record, which can be important if you apply for benefits like Supplemental Security Income (SSI), Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI), and Medical Assistance (MA).

That means that it is important for you to regularly visit your doctor, in order to make sure that your medical record is kept up to date. When you apply for disability benefits, you can also ask your doctor to provide a letter that describes your health conditions and disability.You can send that letter with your application. You can also request your own copy of your medical records and send it with your application.

How to Get the Best Help from Your Doctor

Communication is the most important part of your relationship with your doctor. You need to clearly tell your doctor about how you feel. You also have to explain what your needs are. At the same time, you need to understand the recommendations that your doctor makes. If you don’t understand something, ask your doctor to explain it in a different way.

If you find you don’t understand some information — for example, if you are hard of hearing and the doctor wants you to watch a video that doesn’t have captions, insist that your doctor provide you a copy of the video with captions or provide the information in an alternate form. If your first language isn’t English and you want an interpreter to help you understand your doctor, ask for an interpreter. Health care providers are required to provide interpreters and accessible documents.

By having a primary care doctor who you are comfortable with and with whom you have established clear communication, you will be able to deal with your medical issues much more effectively. Here is a website where you can learn more about establishing a good relationship with your doctor.

When Your Doctor Is an Important Option

Your doctor has specialized knowledge and knows a lot about your health conditions. Listen to your doctor and think about their ideas and suggestions. Make your doctor a part of your team that helps you figure out the many different ways in which you can adapt to your new disability.

Doctors are a great support in many ways but they are not experts about everything. Most importantly, you are the person who knows best about how you feel. That’s why you have the final say in any decisions involving your health. Their job is to support you, not tell you what to do.

The medical model and the social model

Our ideas about disability are shaped by the attitudes towards disability in our society. Traditionally, people have thought about disability as a medical issue. This “medical model” looks at your disability as though it is a medical condition that must be cured. If you have a disability, you need to be “fixed.”

However, the disability rights movement has changed that perspective. Now, disability is viewed as a social issue. This “social model” says that the problem is not your disability, but the way society views people with disabilities. Disability is a natural part of the human experience; it’s a normal part of life.

Thinking about disability in this new way may help you realize that you don’t need to be fixed. You can live with your disability and be successful. What you need is to find ways to continue to live a satisfying life. When you talk to your doctor, keep this perspective in mind.

Click here for more information about these two approaches to disability.

Personal Care Assistance

Personal care assistants (PCAs) support people with disabilities to live more independent lives. An assistant works directly for the person with a disability.

What They Provide

The role of a personal care assistant is to help you be able to do what you need to do. Your assistant may help you with getting dressed, going from one place to another, preparing meals, bathing, or other activities.

Personal care assistants can also help you in the workplace to do different types of tasks. They can help with personal care, like in the restroom or at lunch breaks, or with job-related tasks, like help with reading, interpreting, lifting or reaching work materials, or with travel between work sites.

How You Find One

Some people with disabilities rely on family or friends for their personal care assistance. Others decide to hire individuals who work for an agency. You can find good PCAs in a number of different ways, including independent living centers, PCA agencies, or online.

If you qualify for Medical Assistance (MA) or Medical Assistance for Employed Persons with Disabilities (MA-EPD), these programs can pay for personal care assistance services if you need them. When you apply for MA or MA-EPD, they will assess your situation and determine whether you need personal care assistance in addition to health coverage. The Minnesota Department of Human Services has a Personal Care Assistance Program website where you can read more about how MA or MA-EPD can help you pay for these services. Contact your county human services agency to apply.

When They’re a Good Option

Personal care assistance can be crucial to your ability to live independently. Personal assistants can help you at home or in the workplace, depending on your needs.

Read more about personal care assistance in DB101’s Job Supports and Accommodations article.

Home care

Personal Care Assistants are one type of “home care.” Home care, which may be provided by MA or MA-EPD, depending on your situation, can include skilled nursing, home health aides, and PCAs. The key thing about all of these types of home care services is that they can help you continue to live in your own home instead of in an institution or group home.

Your Rights

There are several major laws designed to help people with disabilities. The main one is the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The ADA is a federal civil rights law that makes it illegal to discriminate against people with disabilities. It also guarantees that disabled people have access to public services, such as transportation and voting, and to public places, such as restaurants, stores, hotels, and other types of buildings.

What They Mean

The first section of the ADA (often called Title I) applies to employment. It makes it illegal to discriminate against qualified jobseekers and employees with disabilities and requires employers to make reasonable accommodations available to jobseekers and employees with disabilities, unless they would result in undue hardship to the business. The law applies to all aspects of this employment, including the job application process, hiring, firing, advancement, compensation, job training, and work-related events. In Minnesota, the Minnesota Human Rights Act (MHRA) also protects people with disabilities. You can read abou the MHRA on the DB101 Americans with Disabilities Act page.

Perhaps the key difference is that the ADA only covers employers with 15 or more employees, while the MHRA covers all employers, no matter how small the business. Both laws apply to private employers, state and local governments, employment agencies, and labor organizations. The ADA does not apply to tax-exempt private membership clubs or the United States federal government. However, the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 is another law that is almost identical to the ADA and does apply to federal agencies. That means that the federal government also cannot discriminate against job applicants and employees with disabilities.

How They Help You

The ADA and the MHRA are helping you all the time. Here are some examples:

• If you watch TV with closed captions, those captions are mandated by the ADA.
• If you go up a ramp when you enter a public library, that ramp has to be there thanks to the ADA.
• If you have a job and need a computer program that can read web pages, email, and other documents to you, the ADA requires that your employer provide this software.

The ADA can also help you if you are being discriminated against, since it allows you to file a complaint or even go to court.

When You Have to Take Action

If you are treated worse or unequally because of your disability, you are being discriminated against. The ADA makes discrimination illegal. Here are a few examples of how you could be discriminated against at your job:

• You could be intentionally denied opportunities or benefits, like a job, a promotion, or a competitive salary.
• You could be unintentionally denied these opportunities or benefits, because your employer uses a practice or a system that is not justified by the needs of the business.
• You could face coercion, intimidation, harassment, or interference from enjoying the same privileges and benefits of employment that others receive.

If you believe that you have been discriminated against because of your disability, you can file a complaint with either the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission EEOC or the Minnesota Department of Human Rights (MDHR).

Read more about the ADA and how to file a complaint or lawsuit in DB101’s Know Your Rights and Responsibilities article.