In celebration of the 31st anniversary of the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the White House published a comprehensive package of government resources for people with disabilities, including those living with long-COVID symptoms.

It included some of these resources from across the federal government:

• The Administration for Community Living (ACL) has published a guide to community-based resources to help people who need assistance in order to continue living in their own home, attend work or school, or actively participate in their community. Some specific resources include information regarding:
  • State assistive technology programs
  • Protection and advocacy systems
  • Native American and tribal elders with long COVID

You can learn:

• What resources are available in your area
• How to connect with transportation, personal care attendants, and other services
• How to access accommodations, vaccinations, etc. 

• The Office for Civil Rights at HHS and Department of Justice released resource sheets  (available here and here, respectively) outlining:
  • Guidance about long COVID as a disability
  • Non-discrimination in access to the COVID vaccine
  • Non-discrimination in access to crisis standards of care
  • Hotlines, white papers, and primers regarding civil rights in health, aging, and disability care in the U.S. 

• The Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) at the Department of Labor recently launched a web page for different stakeholder groups such as:
  • Workers
  • Youth and young adults
  • Employers

The site includes information concerning how to request and provide workplace accommodations for people with long COVID. It also discusses the impacts of long COVID on workers with disabilities. 

• The CDC’s COVID-19 resource site has a page containing information on post-COVID conditions regarding adults, children, adolescents, and caregivers. The page discusses:
  • Common long-COVID symptoms 
  • Multi-organ systems that can be affected
  • Possible effects of hospitalization and intensive care

• The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services have published a 10-page guide to support students, educators, schools, service providers, and families. The resource contains four sections: 
  • Background Information on Section 504 and IDEA 
  • What Is Long COVID and What Is Its Impact on Children and Students? 
  • Protections and Services for Children and Students with Long COVID 
  • What to Do If a Child or Student Is Experiencing Long COVID 

• For those who wish to stay informed about disease surveillance and statistics, the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (AAPM&R) provides a dashboard, with breakdowns by state and county, that shows how many Americans are currently estimated to be experiencing “long COVID” symptoms. 

*Administration for Community Living. (2021, Sep. 21). Resources for People with Long COVID. 

https://acl.gov/covid19/resources-people-experiencing-long-covid

Much about the novel coronavirus, i.e., COVID-19, is still not fully understood. As research progresses and our knowledge of the virus increases, information can change rapidly. We strive to update all of our articles as quickly as possible, but there may occasionally be some lag between scientific developments and our revisions.