Disability news, July 2025, by country
Library > July 2025
This page is organized by country, you can also see links organized by subject.
This update has 107 curated links from 35 countries and regions, organized across 34 subjects.
For discussion and reaction, see But no money to live?.
Contents
Resources
Global
International News
Accessibility 100 “Forbes’ first-ever Accessibility 100 highlights the biggest innovators and impact-makers in the field of accessibility for people with disabilities.” (Jun, Forbes) See also critique of the award.
Enhancing mobile accessibility for persons with hearing and visual impairments in India, Kenya, and Brazil. (Mar, AT 2023)
In COVID-19:
How inclusive were strategies to prevent the spread of COVID-19 for people with disabilities? Evidence from qualitative research in eight low- and middle-income countries:
“The study found that people with disabilities demonstrated high levels of knowledge about COVID-19 and were willing to adhere to prevention measures. However, participants noted that countries’ COVID-19 responses were largely not inclusive of people with disabilities; that pandemic information was seldom available in accessible formats; and that adhering to social distancing and other mandates was challenging and incurred personal and economic costs.” (May, International Journal for Equity in Health)
In Civil Society and Community:
We Wanted to Change the World. The risks professionalisation poses to an authentic disability movement:
“The machinery of “disability inclusion” has taken over and moves at its own comfortable pace. Those organising on the ground—the ones with a real sense of urgency—are too often sidelined. And within that machinery, I worry that many have quietly stopped believing in change, resigning themselves to simply doing what their roles demand.” (Jun, Disability Debrief)
New approaches to categorising childhood disability: an international comparative analysis of the UNICEF/Washington Group child functioning module. (May, Disability and Health Journey)
The Definition Dilemma: How Definitions of Disability Shape Statistics on Social Participation:
“The prevalence of disability ranged from 13.5 to 22.4% depending on the measure used. The group of people that are categorised as disabled also differs, indicating who is being seen as disabled changes when a different measure is used. Levels of participation, with regards to paid work, education and being partnered, also varied by measure, for example, being in paid work ranged from 26% to 38%. These findings underscore the importance of carefully selecting and clearly defining disability measures in studies, (health) interventions and policy contexts.” (Apr, International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health)
In Digital Accessibility and Technology:
Enhancing mobile accessibility for persons with hearing and visual impairments in India, Kenya, and Brazil. (Mar, AT 2023)
In Economics and Social Protection:
The Unseen Barriers Framework: Distress-Based Exclusion in Disability Support and Access:
‘a new conceptual model developed by Shaun Gray to explain why disabled people disengage from support services that are nominally “accessible.” Drawing from lived experience, critical disability theory, trauma informed critique, and policy analysis, the framework positions distress, not dysfunction, as a structuring force behind missed appointments, avoidance, and non engagement.’ (Jun, Zenodo)
New approaches to categorising childhood disability: an international comparative analysis of the UNICEF/Washington Group child functioning module. (May, Disability and Health Journey)
In Gender Equality and Women with Disabilities:
30 years of Beijing Platform for Action: An intersectional approach to gender and disability inclusion. Remembering Beijing in 1995:
“Women with disabilities gained international media attention through a spontaneous demonstration, (forbidden by the organizers) when confronted with inaccessible venues. Women demounted from their wheelchairs and crawled on the ground, with images circulating across the globe bringing attention to their accessibility needs. This brave act triggered a groundswell of support from the mainstream women’s movement, providing an opening for more collaboration.” (Apr, UN Women)
In Health:
Launch of the WHO Global initiative on health equity for persons with disabilities. (Jun, WHO)
People with disability are dying from cancers we can actually prevent:
“People with disability are missing out on screening programs that could help detect cancer early, and after diagnosis, are less likely to survive, our study shows.” (May, The Conversation)
Epistemic historising and the pillars of independent living:
“It is argued that although the IL movement was successful in informing international human rights legislation, as epitomised by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the subsequent global adoption and mainstreaming of the treaty has been accompanied by widespread misappropriation of the IL framework. The analysis then suggests that the activity of ‘epistemic historising’ could help resist such misuses of grassroots knowledges.” (May, Social Movement Studies)
In Independent Living and Deinstitutionalization:
Disability Inclusion in the Care Agenda Policy Brief:
“There is an evident overlap between [disability and care] agendas. Yet, the care and disability sectors have historically largely worked in siloes, missing the opportunity to collaborate and strengthen each other. Nonetheless, more recent efforts strive for inclusion, recognizing that care policy should address the needs of all those impacted, not only those providing care. At the same time, the disability sector must consider the rights and needs of women and girls, the primary providers of care and support to people with disabilities”. (May, Center for Inclusive Policy)
Epistemic historising and the pillars of independent living:
“It is argued that although the IL movement was successful in informing international human rights legislation, as epitomised by the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the subsequent global adoption and mainstreaming of the treaty has been accompanied by widespread misappropriation of the IL framework. The analysis then suggests that the activity of ‘epistemic historising’ could help resist such misuses of grassroots knowledges.” (May, Social Movement Studies)
Recognizing Deafblindness: a distinct disability requiring specialized support and inclusion. (Jun, UN)
GDS 2025 Commitments: What’s Next? (Jun, Global Disability Summit)
In Lived Experience and Opinion:
‘A weakness can become your biggest strength’ – wise words from 26 brilliant disabled women. Sophie Morgan: “Your disability can be your greatest opportunity to learn about the world”. (Apr, the Guardian)
Making Persons with Intellectual Disabilities' Voices Heard before United Nations Treaty Bodies. “Opportunities to enhance self-advocates' role in shadow reporting” (May, HPOD)
Global action needed as progress stalls on disability -inclusive development goals:
“The message is stark: persons with disabilities face higher poverty, greater unemployment, deeper food and health insecurity and more limited access to education, jobs, and digital technologies,” (Jun, UN)
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Africa
Africa
In Employment, Business and Work:
Mainstreaming disability inclusion in technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in Africa. (May, ILO)
In Health:
Primary Health Systems Fail to Serve People with Disabilities. From Nigeria to Kenya. (Mar, Nigeria Health Watch)
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Kenya
In Employment, Business and Work:
Over 50pc of public institutions don't report disability employment data, Labour ministry warns:
“Labour CS Alfred Mutua said failure by a majority of institutions to submit the required data goes against the Persons with Disabilities Act No.14 of 2003 and Article 54(2) of the Constitution, which compel public bodies to reserve at least five per cent of their jobs for persons with disabilities.” (May, Eastleigh Voice)
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Malawi
Raising Local Voices: Caroline Kamulaga and her journey from in education after losing her sight. (May, Inclusive Development Partners)
Feasibility of Tiyanjane: A Family–School–Community Intervention Promoting Parental Involvement in the Education of Children with Disabilities in Malawi.
“Our study presents preliminary evidence that a parental involvement programme is feasible within the Malawian context, with parental behaviour and support improvements”. (Apr, Social Sciences)
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Mozambique
In Disaster Risk Reduction and Crisis Response:
Mozambique bets on protection of persons with disabilities. Survivors of cyclone Idai share their experiences. (Short video, in Portuguese, May, DW)
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Nigeria
In Communication and Language:
More Than Words: The Power and Politics of Native Sign Language in Nigeria:
“Unfortunately, with all their immense possibilities, native sign language variants have not received the kind of recognition and intellectual inquiry they deserve. But this, as findings show, isn’t a uniquely Nigerian situation. It permeates Deaf communities across the globe.” (Jan, Disability Justice Project)
In Employment, Business and Work:
Deaf Nigerians Are Learning to Code Through Sign Language “Though Nigeria’s tech industry is booming, job opportunities for people with disabilities remain scarce. Deaf-in-Tech aims to change that.” (Apr, Reasons to be Cheerful)
In Relationships, Sex and Reproductive Rights:
People with my condition can enjoy sexual life – Father of two with cerebral palsy. (May, Punch)
Sex and disability: Nigerian women share their stories. (May, The Conversation)
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Sierra Leone
Youth citizenship in Sierra Leone. “Sightsavers is supporting young people with disabilities to claim their rights and become leaders in their communities.” (Short video, Jun, Sightsavers)
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Tanzania
In Economics and Social Protection:
A mother’s struggle: Denied loans and lingering hope in Chamwino. Local government loans to persons with disabilities & whether they include parents and guardians:
“It’s not an easy thing to raise a child with a disability when you do not run any income-generating activity.” (Jun, IPP Media)
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Uganda
In Economics and Social Protection:
Disability-inclusive graduation programme intervention on social participation among ultra-poor people with disability in North Uganda: a cluster randomized trial:
“The short-term positive effects followed by diminishing impacts over time suggest a need to reconsider intervention design, duration, and sustainability strategies.” (BMC Medicine)
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Zambia
In Health:
Access to healthcare for people with disabilities: a qualitative study:
“Participants reported limited information on available services, stigma from community members and healthcare professionals, limited knowledge on disability and a lack of training for healthcare professionals, and challenges with inaccessible health facilities and transport. Some people with disabilities benefited from government schemes, such as the National Health Insurance Scheme, but implementation faced challenges and not all people with disabilities accessed these services.” (Mar, Global Public Health)
Breaking Barriers: Zambia Unveils Landmark Policy and Guidelines for Disability Inclusion in National Development. (May, UNDP)
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Asia
India
Palestinians With Disabilities At ‘Epicentre’ of Violence in Gaza War: “In a joint statement the National Platform for the Rights of the Disabled also expressed solidarity with those aboard the Madleen vessel.” (Jun, The Wire)
In Economics and Social Protection:
The Debate Around Marriage Incentives For Disabled People. As many as 19 states offer incentives:
“We often hear urban disability activists saying these schemes should be stopped as they equate monetary support with ‘state-sponsored dowry’. However, the perspectives of rural and grassroots people with disability differ significantly on this issue.” (Jun, Feminism in India)
In Lived Experience and Opinion:
Insights: Am I Man Enough? For a deaf-blind queer man, navigating masculinity and queerness had its own challenges. (Jun, Insights)
In Relationships, Sex and Reproductive Rights:
The Debate Around Marriage Incentives For Disabled People. As many as 19 states offer incentives:
“We often hear urban disability activists saying these schemes should be stopped as they equate monetary support with ‘state-sponsored dowry’. However, the perspectives of rural and grassroots people with disability differ significantly on this issue.” (Jun, Feminism in India)
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Israel
'Purple War Room' emergency center to help disabled Israelis amid war. (Jun, The Jerusalem Post)
A lifeline lies in ruins: Iranian missile destroys a rehab center for disabled kids. (Jun, Times of Israel)
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Japan
In Communication and Language:
Inventing Japanese Braille. (May, History Workshop)
In Culture, Entertainment and Media:
An Undaunted Writer Who Broke an Invisible Barrier in Japan ‘Saou Ichikawa is the country’s first severely disabled author to win a top literary prize. Her novel “Hunchback” is an angry cry against “ableist machismo.”’ (May, New York Times)
Empowering educators with disabilities: The Japan Teachers' Union's commitment to inclusive education. (Mar, Education International)
In Employment, Business and Work:
Empowering educators with disabilities: The Japan Teachers' Union's commitment to inclusive education. (Mar, Education International)
Inventing Japanese Braille. (May, History Workshop)
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Palestine
‘Forgotten by the world’: Disability deepens sisters’ struggle in Gaza: “Scared and confused, Aseel and Afaf live in a crowded displacement tent, lacking all forms of support, even food.” (Jun, Aljazeera)
Al-Jaleel Rehabilitation Centre to be demolished by Israeli authorities. “This appalling decision will deprive persons with disabilities and injuries from essential health services.” (Jun, Humanity & Inclusion)
Israeli forces bomb prosthetic limbs hospital in north Gaza “The hospital was one of very few in the Strip which provided rehabilitation services for hearing, balance and prosthetics.” (May, The New Arab)
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Tibet
In Economics and Social Protection:
Tibet Expands Disability Services The author, a professor at the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, argues that:
“As some global actors attempt to politicise human rights narratives, Tibet offers a grounded perspective: human rights are not about abstract declarations. They are about life-changing surgeries, meaningful employment, and inclusive classrooms.” (Jun, The Rising Nepal)
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Europe
Bulgaria
In Independent Living and Deinstitutionalization:
Woman with Lived Experience of Institutionalisation Wins Landmark Case Against Psychiatric Hospital in Bulgaria:
“On 23 April 2025, a district court in Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, awarded substantial damages to Tanya Petkova, a woman with psychosocial disabilities, for repeated periods of psychiatric detention and coercive practices violating her dignity and autonomy and for the trauma inflicted upon her. The decision is a rare judicial acknowledgment of the impacts of intersecting discrimination on the bases of disability and gender, in alignment with international human rights law. The court awarded her BGN 15,000 (approx. 7000 Euros) for non-pecuniary damages.” (Jun, Validity.ngo)
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France
We will not tolerate lies: reacting to a discussion of assisted dying in the National Assembly. (May, Le Journal du Dimanche)
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Hungary
In Justice Systems and Legal Capacity:
Landmark Victory Before the European Court of Human Rights for Hungarian Woman Detained in Psychiatric Hospital:
“The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has found that Hungary violated the rights of Ms Benitóné Martinez Fernandez, an 83-year-old woman with dementia who was involuntarily detained and treated in a psychiatric hospital for six days in 2020. The judgment is a significant confirmation of procedural safeguards for people with psychosocial disabilities.” (Jun, University of Galway)
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Ireland
Irish Thalidomide Association ‘devastated’ by death of Jacqui Browne. “Disability activist and thalidomide survivor died at her home in Kerry.” (Jun, The Irish Times)
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Lithuania
Fifteen years on: Progress and persistent gaps in disability rights in Lithuania. (Jun, EDF)
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Netherlands
In Justice Systems and Legal Capacity:
Medical abuse in Dutch Prisons. 'I entered on foot and left the prison in a wheelchair' (In Dutch, Jun, NRC)
In Lived Experience and Opinion:
“We had a normal relationship, but people treated us differently” Personal essay by Inge Volleberg on growing up with Esther, her sister with Down Syndrome:
“In general, interactions went like this: I want to tell a funny story about my sister. Ah, they will not understand what is funny about it if they don't know about her disability. I quickly note her disability as a sidenote, so that I can tell the funny story. Now the mood shifts, the other person gets this sad look. They tell me: Aww, condolences? I am in no mood for my funny story anymore.” (May, Inclusion Europe)
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Norway
In Civil Society and Community:
Marching for Freedom, Equality, and Human Rights
“Thousands of proud, strong, and visible disabled people and allies marched down Oslo’s main street, Karl Johan, united in our demand for equality and freedom. The sun was shining, the energy was electric, and the message was clear: Our rights are not optional.” (Jun, ENIL)
In Culture, Entertainment and Media:
The News Show Made by and for People With Learning Disabilities “A Norwegian TV station covers news, entertainment and sports — all in a simple format aimed at those excluded from mainstream reports.” (May, Reasons to be Cheerful)
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Poland
The ‘tug-of-war’ for disability rights. The push and pull of progress and retreat from rights'-based approaches. (May, EDF)
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Russia
In Lived Experience and Opinion:
How Autistic People Are Caught in Russia's War on Difference:
“Sluggish schizophrenia was supposedly a diagnosis for people with conditions we now understand as schizotypal personality disorder, but it was mainly used against dissidents and anyone who did not conform. Soviet and now Russian culture are built on extreme conformity. Those who don’t fit in are dismissed as deluded or dangerous, and autistic people often think differently and do not accept socialization like other kids.” (Jun, The Moscow Times)
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Sweden
Disability and Care in Late Medieval Lund, Sweden: An Analysis of Trauma and Intersecting Identities, Aided by Photogrammetric Digitization and Visualization:
“Literary sources present us with an idealized framework for societal norms surrounding disability but expanding datasets into the archaeological and osteological realms brings to light a more complex discussion on identity in the past. An expectation of stigmatization and ostracization of those living with disability due to severe physical impairment hasn’t been validated in our study. The evidence presented for Individual 2399, the Trinitatis cemetery, and contemporary cemeteries in Medieval Northern Europe corroborate our interpretation that disability, as much as today, is only one facet of identity at the individual and population level. In the case of individual 2399, it is apparent that the experience of disability post-trauma was affected by their social status, evident through the acute treatment process, long-term care availability post-trauma, and their treatment in death with a prominent burial plot within the cemetery.” (Apr, De Grutyer)
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Switzerland
In Lived Experience and Opinion:
Tetraplegic but hyperactive: when the body moves without movement. (In French, May, Couper l'Herbe Sous les Roues)
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Ukraine
Accessibility Does Not Divide; It Unites and Empowers Everyone – Olena Zelenska (Jun, President of Ukraine)
Kyiv’s League of the Mighty: how amputee football supports Ukraine’s survivors. (May, the Guardian)
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United Kingdom
In Culture, Entertainment and Media:
Illustrator Yvie Johnson is on a mission to light up the shadows of the psyche. (Jun, Creative Boom)
Interdisciplinarity and Stages in a Process of Engagement with Theatre Practice and Disability:
“This article considers the most necessary aspects of disability studies knowledge to share in building, and moving forward from, disability consciousness in the theatre sector and training. It introduces stages in a process of engagement with theatre practice and disability for actors and directors, and a reflective tool for personal positioning in a process of engagement with theatre practice and disability.” (Jan, Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies)
In Economics and Social Protection:
UK Social Security Plans Will Harm People With Disabilities “Proposed Benefit Cuts Will Worsen Poverty and Undermine Rights.” (Jun, Human Rights Watch)
Disabled MP who quit government over benefit cuts tells DNS: ‘The consequences will be devastating’. (Jun, Disability News Service)
Open Letter regarding planned changes to the UK benefits system:
‘We agree with Prime Minister Rt Hon Sir Keir Starmer that the UK benefits system is "unsustainable, indefensible, and unfair." Indeed, disabled people have long pointed out that the disability system is bureaucratically inefficient and personally burdensome, and the path to fulfilling and accessible work is rife with barriers. However, the government’s current proposals risk deepening these problems, rather than resolving them.’ (Jun, Global Disability Innovation Hub)
We Are Working – Allow Us To Continue Graeae’s response on the impact of recent policy changes. (May, Graeae)
In Employment, Business and Work:
We Are Working – Allow Us To Continue Graeae’s response on the impact of recent policy changes. (May, Graeae)
In Gender Equality and Women with Disabilities:
Going off script. Moving through shame to find pride in disabled and queer identity:
“When I was four, my life started to veer off-script. An onset of strange symptoms and unexpected feelings made me feel different from the other kids.” (Jun, Disability Debrief)
HIV Activism as Disability Activism: Historian Jaime S.K. Starr argues the case for HIV activism as an example of both LGBTQIA+ and disability rights activism. (2024, Cultures of Disability)
In Independent Living and Deinstitutionalization:
Nearly 100,000 adults in England denied state-funded social care due to cuts. (Jun, the Guardian)
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North America
Dominican Republic
Tribute to Mary Pérez for her work in the Dominican Association of Rehabilitation. (In Spanish, May, Diario Libre)
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United States
A song and a chirp: How blind birders tell a robin from a wren. ‘First nationwide “blind birder bird-a-thon” draws more than 200 participants with goal of introducing people to the hobby.’ (May, Washington Post)
In COVID-19:
Long COVID is increasing housing insecurity, but support programs fail to help. (Jun, The Sick Times)
There is no disability justice without a Free Palestine:
“We can’t claim to believe in collective access while being silent about apartheid. We cannot claim to recognize the wholeness of all human beings while co-signing the occupation of some. Our values do not stop at the U.S. border. We have to stop treating solidarity like it’s optional.” (Jun, Mondoweiss)
In Culture, Entertainment and Media:
DISABLED “A dance-pop anthem reclaiming disability with pride, power, and joy.” By Austin Halls. (May, Austin Halls)
Review of Deaf President Now! A documentary on student protests at Gallaudet University in March 1998. (May, Signs + Wonders)
Audiobooks and the accessibility revolution. History of the audiobook. (Short video, May, PBS)
Why Are Disabled Journalists Still Not Covering Disabled Content? ‘The release of "Deaf President Now!" is casting an eye on the lack of Deaf and disabled journalists’ (May, TFM)
In Digital Accessibility and Technology:
Accountability Now: Enforcing Accessibility Standards In the Mobile App Economy:
“As mobile apps have become the default interface for everything from healthcare, emergency notification, and transportation to commerce and education, their inaccessibility actively excludes millions of disabled users from full participation in community life, often impacting their health, safety, and independence.” (May, World Institute on Disability)
“AI could generate a polished, professional look of me, or even transport me to a sunny vacation. But there was one glaring omission—the AI gave me two arms instead of one.” (Jun, Time)
AI Is the New Curb‑Cut: Why Treating Artificial Intelligence as Assistive Technology Unleashes Human Potential:
“Generative models, computer vision, and voice agents are often framed as sci‑fi perks for the privileged. But look closer and you’ll see a very different story: AI is quickly becoming the next generation of wheelchairs, screen readers, and captioners — tools that extend human capability rather than replace it.” (May, Victor Santiago Pineda)
In Economics and Social Protection:
A P.I. tried to disprove my disability claim: Here’s what an insurance company will look for to say you’re lying about being sick. (May, The Washington Post)
Supreme Court Sides With Teenager in School Disability Discrimination Case. (Jun, New York Times)
In Employment, Business and Work:
Working from home boosted growth by expanding disability employment:
“The authors estimate that in the US working from home has already increased full-time disability employment levels by over a quarter of a million people.” (May, Vox EU)
22.7 percent of people with a disability were employed in 2024. A high since data were first reported in 2008. “The labor force participation rate for people with a disability, at 24.5 percent, also reached a series high in 2024.” (Apr, US Bureau of Labour Statistics)
In Health:
People with Disabilities Face Major Barriers to Accessing Oral Health Care:
“Findings from the report show that for adults reporting at least one disability, factors including income, education, and having dental insurance are often linked to oral health outcomes such as self-rated oral health, recency of the last dental visit, having a dental home, and visiting an Emergency Department (ED) for dental care.” (May, Business Wire)
Patty Berne In Memory and Power. “Patty was co-founder and longtime Executive and Artistic Director of Sins Invalid and a primary architect of the Disability Justice movement, its 10 Principles, and core practices that center the lives, wisdom, and leadership of disabled queer and trans Black and brown people.” (Jun, Sins Invalid)
Disability Rights Movement Timeline from 1817 to today. (May, Britannica)
How Helen Keller celebrated her birthday. According to journals kept by Nella Braddy Henney. In 1954, one friend brought “lavish supplies” to celebrate:
“a turkey and ham already cooked, two bottles of champagne and several bottles of Scotch and Bourbon, some fine cheeses, several packages of after-dinner mints and a bottle of home-canned plums.” (2017, Perkins School for the Blind)
In Independent Living and Deinstitutionalization:
‘Shocking’ report spotlights Mass. history of mistreating disabled people. Seeking accountability for systematic erasure, the commission report says:
“Disabled people—including institutional survivors—have largely been excluded from leading community efforts to re-use and reckon with former institutional sites. As a result, our history is systematically erased through disuse, vandalism, and insensitive redevelopment of sites in ways that trivialize the significance of what was done. At their most offensive, sites have been used for pornographic photo shoots, white supremacist celebrations, community festivals, and amusement parks that would never be tolerated at similar sites of significant human rights abuses in Massachusetts or America.” (May, GBH)
Disability in Foreign Assistance. “An archive of disability-inclusive development documents, tools and reports funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and other US agencies.” (Jan, Disability in Foreign Assistance)
What to Know and Do about Ongoing Changes to U.S. Disability Law and Policy. (Jun, HPOD)
The 4chan-Coded Ideology Behind Elon Musk’s War on Normies. “Musk is the world’s most prominent—and most powerful—autistic person.”:
‘But even as psychiatrists began to drop the Asperger’s diagnosis, tech figures started to embrace it—as the “good” autism, an improvement on both disability and “normie” inferiority. The Aspie label suggested symptoms that might make you better at your job, even bestow an aura of savanthood, provided that job was somehow technical. The Silicon Valley self-proclaimed Aspie is superintelligent and superrational—but not too weird to invite to parties. Being an Aspie could make you, in tech terms, “10X.”’ (Jun, Mother Jones)
Protesters in wheelchairs cuffed with zip-ties during Capitol demonstrations against Medicaid cuts. “More than 30 demonstrators arrested ahead of Senate vote over Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill’ that could leave millions uninsured.” (Jun, Independent)
Donald Trump’s Decades-Long Obsession With Eugenics. ‘A timeline of the president’s thoughts on “good genes,” IQ, and which disabled people should “just die”’:
‘Trump makes a lot of outrageous statements—but there’s a pattern to his comments about intelligence (or lack thereof), his intense hostility towards disabled people (including reputed public use of the r-word stretching back decades), and his preoccupation with “good” genes: it’s inseparable from his constant promotion of Afrikaner and Northern European immigration, sympathy to claims of “white genocide,” and promotion of close advisors like Stephen Miller and Elon Musk.’ (May, Mother Jones)
In Relationships, Sex and Reproductive Rights:
My first hook-up called me ‘a pity f**k.’ Disabled queers are so much more. (Apr, LGBTQ nation)
Blind skateboarder Dan Mancina builds world's first adaptive skatepark. See also a video of it in use:
“While the features are the same as those that can be found in a regular skatepark, they are longer and wider to make them easier to use for people with vision impairments or people in wheelchairs.” (May, Olympics)
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Oceania
Australia
In Lived Experience and Opinion:
A disabled mom’s message to parents: We all need help, and it’s OK to ask for it:
“So when I became a parent, after becoming disabled, I no longer put pressure on myself as a parent to do everything right. I also don’t put pressure on my kids to do everything right. In many ways, my parenting is limited, because I can do a lot less physically than I could before. I mean, dramatically less. But there’s something really foundational: I am okay with life not being perfect or beautiful according to all my expectations, and I’m okay with my kids not being those things either. Although, of course, my kids are beautiful.” (May, WBHM 90.3)
Australian para sport has issues everywhere – here’s what must be fixed ahead of the Brisbane Paralympics:
“The message is clear: we need to rebuild from the ground up, starting with a stronger and more supportive grassroots system.” (May, The Conversation)
AFL, NBA and more leagues offering fans the chance to view sport through touch. (Apr, ABC News)
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New Zealand
In Economics and Social Protection:
Work and Income pledges review after deaf woman denied service:
“A disabled woman who turned to Work and Income after suffering burnout so intense she had to leave her multiple jobs says the agency hung up on her as they didn’t believe she was deaf.” (May, The Spinoff)
In Health:
1 in 6 New Zealanders is disabled. Why does so much health research still exclude them? (Apr, The Conversation)
In Justice Systems and Legal Capacity:
How a voting ban on prisoners breaks government commitments to disabled people:
“Because disabled people are overrepresented in the prison population this proposal to remove the right of prisoners to vote will disproportionately affect our community.” (May, The D*List)
In Lived Experience and Opinion:
Confessions of a reformed disability simulation enthusiast:
“I quickly realised that I was causing harm by creating an artificial situation, making people’s perceptions of the impacts of blindness and low vision worse by placing them in a situation rare in real life. Depending on how they processed the experience, those participants could believe that the utter helplessness, disempowerment, confusion, embarrassment, vulnerability, and lack of capability they felt in such an unfamiliar situation is the everyday experience of all disabled people. That is counterproductive and false.” (Jun, The D*List)
‘Being perfect is an offence to the arts’. ‘Spoken word artist Emma Cooper-Williams has no perfect words, but uses them to process “the shit we have to live with in this world”.’ (May, The D*List)
Budget 2025: What do disabled people think of this year’s budget? “While learning support got an overdue boost, there are still many gaps.” (May, The D*List)
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South America
Brazil
Brazil and Angola sign agreement for the rights of people with disabilities and people affected by leprosy. (In Portuguese, May, Agência Gov)
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Colombia
In Humanitarian, Migrants and Refugees:
2025 Rapid Gender and Disability Analysis in Border Areas (RGDA). (Jun, Relief Web)
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