adap.net exists for a simple reason: the information that people with disabilities and their families need most is often the hardest to read. This is an attempt to fix that, one clear guide at a time.
What adap.net is
adap.net is a free, independent reading room for disability rights and accessibility. It turns complicated topics, like Medicaid, service plans and your legal rights, into clear guides that a worried family member can actually follow. Every guide opens with a plain-language summary you can read in under a minute, and the harder terms carry a short definition in the margin, so you are never stopped cold by a word that was written for administrators rather than for you.
The topics are chosen from the questions people actually ask: how to qualify for benefits, what a service plan really is, whether working will cost someone their support, and where their rights come from. If a question is common and the honest answer is hard to find in plain words anywhere else, it belongs here.
What adap.net is not
It is just as important to be clear about the limits. adap.net is not a government agency, a law firm or a benefits office, and it is not affiliated with any such organization. It does not take applications, represent anyone, or give legal, medical or financial advice. The guides explain the general rules and then send you to the official source for anything specific to your situation, because the details change and your circumstances are your own. Think of this site as the friend who has already read the handbook and can tell you what the words mean, not as a replacement for the professionals whose job is your case.
How the guides are written
Each guide starts from the real question behind a search, not from a keyword. We write the short, plain summary first, then add the detail underneath for people who want it, so nobody has to wade through background they did not ask for. We avoid stale numbers, describing how a limit works rather than quoting a figure that will be wrong next year, and we point to the official agency for anything that changes often. Guides are dated so you always know how fresh they are, and when a reader tells us something is unclear or out of date, we fix it.
The standards we hold ourselves to
- Plain language first. If a sentence needs a decoder, it gets rewritten.
- Accurate and sourced. Guides are dated and point to the official agency for details that change, like benefit amounts.
- Free and independent. No account, no cost, nothing for sale. There is no agenda beyond making hard information clear.
- Respectful. We follow the guidance in our people-first language guide and default to the words people use for themselves.
Who it is for
This site is for people with disabilities, for the parents, partners, siblings and friends who help them navigate the system, and for the caseworkers, teachers and volunteers who need a clear explanation to share. You do not need any background knowledge to use it. If you have ever felt talked down to by a form or lost in a maze of acronyms, these guides were written with you in mind.
Where to start
If you are new, the starter path walks you through the essentials in three short steps. If you know what you are looking for, the full catalog lists every guide by topic, from benefits and rights to work and accessibility. Questions or corrections are always welcome through the contact page, and they genuinely make the reading room better for the next person who walks in.