Disability news, November 2025, by country

“You have to do something” Reflecting on leadership after leaving the advocacy frontlines:

‘I call the solo leadership a “King of the Hill” style. I’ve run into people leading in this way from my social justice work and all through my advocacy career. They are leaders that turn an advocacy world into their own kingdom to rule over as despots. And I say King because they’re often, although not always, men.’ (Oct, Disability Debrief)

In Climate Crisis and Environment:

Crip Up Climate Conversations. “a set of guidance notes that share new stories of climate and disability, new ways of understanding disabled people in the context of the climate crisis, and suggestions for how to support respectful conversations about disability and the climate crisis.” (Sep, Sensing Climate)

User Acceptance of Augmented Remote Sign Language Interpreting:

“While DHH users recognized the potential of future advancements, they considered current technology inadequate.” (Sep, IVA Adjunct '25)

In Culture, Entertainment and Media:

Hospital aesthetics: a book that “argues that contemporary disabled artists are offering a new hospital aesthetics, where health and care are being taken into their own hands and body-minds.” (Sep, Manchester University Press)

The uneasy history of horror films and disability:

“Throughout horror film history, disability has often been used as a visual shorthand marking the boundary between normal and abnormal.” (Oct, The Conversation)

How Disabled Journalists Work: John Loeppky shares his routines. (Sep, Disabled Journalists Association)

Podcasting as a space for disabled creators (Aug, Disability & Society)

In Data and Research:

New approaches to categorising childhood disability: an international comparative analysis of the UNICEF/Washington Group child functioning module. (Oct, Disability and Health Journal)

The future is assistive: How AI and accessibility will shape the next decade of work . (Oct, Atos)

AI and disabled people’s independent living: a framework for analysis:

“Key alignment insights suggest that the exponential development of AI-powered technologies could serve to boost the mainstreaming of techno-assistance, affirm human-machine hybridity, and illuminate interdependence, thus enhancing disabled people’s IL—but only as far as AI-mediated overvaluation of self-sufficiency, algorithmic injustice, and techno-fetishism are adequately addressed.” (Sep, AI & Society)

Disabling Intelligences: “This book discusses the influences of eugenics on the AI industry and the impacts of AI opportunism on disabled people.” (Sep, SpringerLink)

A threat model for accessibility on the web. “The primary threat for accessibility on the web is neglect.” (Oct, Alice)

My approach to manual web accessibility testing: “The key is sampling.” (Aug, Luis Felipe Murillo Madera)

Why does big tech not run Accessibility bug bounties? 10 reasons why this would be great. (Aug, Chris Yoong)

Methodological Guidelines on Assessing Household Disability: Related Costs and Their Implication for Participation. (Aug, World Bank)

Disability Certification: Global Lessons and Local Realities. (Sep, Ramiro Nochez-McNutt)

Early Learning Partnership: Employment and Inclusive Childcare for Mothers of Children with Disabilities. (Sep, World Bank)

AI's double-edged sword: A new frontier for employment of people with disabilities? (Oct, ILO)

The future is assistive: How AI and accessibility will shape the next decade of work . (Oct, Atos)

In Health:

World Alzheimer Report 2025: Reimagining life with dementia – the power of rehabilitation:

“People with dementia rarely have access to rehabilitation, despite evidence that they can benefit from it.” (Alzheimer's Disease International)

The United Nations isn't doing enough on disability:

Blind Visionaries and Cheese-Eating Sceptics: The Place of Lived Religion in Disability History. (Sep, Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research)

In Independent Living and Deinstitutionalization:

AI and disabled people’s independent living: a framework for analysis:

“Key alignment insights suggest that the exponential development of AI-powered technologies could serve to boost the mainstreaming of techno-assistance, affirm human-machine hybridity, and illuminate interdependence, thus enhancing disabled people’s IL—but only as far as AI-mediated overvaluation of self-sufficiency, algorithmic injustice, and techno-fetishism are adequately addressed.” (Sep, AI & Society)

In International Cooperation:

No more, no less: disability inclusion matters more than ever. And it is a “litmus test of the UN's integrity”. (Oct, IDA)

‘It found it had successfully pushed forward disability inclusion in many areas and “served as a catalyst for systematic change”. However it found a disconnect between policy change and the experience of disabled people, and progress to meeting ambitions on disability rights “extremely slow”.’ (Oct, Disability Debrief)

Fairer funding for organisations of persons with disabilities: a call for change. (Sep, Bond)

What our partners told us and how it shapes our future. Results of CBM Global Partner Feedback Exercise. (Sep, CBM Global)

Evaluation of the United Nations Disability Inclusion Strategy:

“While the UNDIS has successfully established institutional frameworks for disability inclusion, focusing primarily on policies, processes, and compliance mechanisms, the United Nations has not achieved its ambition of becoming an employer of choice for persons with disabilities or effectively mainstreaming disability inclusion across development, humanitarian, and peace and security programming.” (Sep, UN)

Practical pathways for disability inclusive safeguarding. Lessons from Inclusive Futures. (Aug, Inclusive Futures)

Disability-inclusion – Frontline workers training. Ensuring equitable access to services for every child. (UNICEF)

In Mental Health:

Conceptualising Lived Experience in Mental Health Research: Problems, Insights and Implications:

“Experiencing serious mental distress can include a loss of trust in one’s sensory/perceptual signals which complicates how one makes sense of experience and knowledge. The complexities around these processes is at odds with the more straightforward ideas about testimonial accuracy and speaker credibility that underpin epistemic knowledge goals.” (Apr, Sociology of Health & Illness)

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Africa

In International Cooperation:

"Disability is not a limitation" feature on UN volunteers with disabilities. (Sep, UNV)

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Congo-Kinshasa

In Conflict and Peace:

Amid escalating violence in Eastern Congo, demand for prosthetics soars. “War is not a good thing. It causes many to become disabled, others die.” (Sep, Africa News)

Disability in the Crossfire. In the DRC, Ongoing Conflict is Creating New Disabilities, Blocking Evacuations, and Shutting Down Inclusion Programs. (Sep, Disability Justice Project)

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Ghana

In Policy and Rights:

Situation Analysis report of persons with albinism in Ghana:

“This report documents how legislative and policy incoherence, stigma, discrimination, and societal misconceptions about albinism hinder the realization of the rights of persons with albinism. Stigma and discrimination restrict access to education, health, employment, and social participation. Key findings highlight a need for more public awareness about albinism and the rights of persons with albinism. National institutions have yet to undertake specific awareness campaigns, resulting in persistent discrimination and misunderstandings.” (Sep, African Albinism Network)

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Mozambique

People with disabilities want employment quotas. (In Portuguese, Sep, DW)

In Policy and Rights:

The Government wants regulations for the law protecting persons with disabilities. (In Portuguese, Sep, Observador)

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Nigeria

Nigeria to add sign language curriculum to basic schools. (Oct, Punch)

In Policy and Rights:

State of Disability Inclusion Report in Nigeria 2024. (Access 360)

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South Sudan

In Sport and Paralympics:

Bright Stars shine: South Sudan’s blind footballers to make historic international debut. (Oct, LFTW)

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São Tomé and Príncipe

In Policy and Rights:

Situational Analysis on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. (Oct, Global Disability Fund)

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Asia

Armenia

Court undoes blanket prohibitions on persons who are deaf or blind from becoming judges. (Sep, Disability Rights Agenda)

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Bangladesh

‘I feel alone in my own family’: The silent struggle of the deaf and speech-impaired:

“Disability rights advocates stress urgent need for official recognition and implementation of sign language across education, workplaces, and public services” (Sep, Dhaka Tribune)

Graduates with disabilities begin indefinite sit-in in Dhaka for employment rights. (Oct, Dhaka Tribune)

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China

Young people in China are embracing AI therapy. (Oct, Rest of World)

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India

In Climate Crisis and Environment:

No one left in the heat: For disabled people, heat waves are a human rights crisis. (Sep, OpenGlobalRights)

Sign language is not a favour. It is access. It is love: a poetic essay by Muskan Bhatia. (Sep, Reframing Disability)

In Data and Research:

Census 2027: Counting Disability, Building Inclusion. (Oct, Politics and Disability Forum)

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Indonesia

Indonesia paves the way for inclusive employment services. “The ILO has partnered with the Indonesian government to enhance the inclusivity of employment services.” (Sep, ILO)

Breaking barriers: Indonesia welcomes its first deaf lawyers. (Oct, Borneo Bulletin)

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Israel

In Conflict and Peace:

Leaving No One Behind “Access Israel serves Israel's 1.7 million citizens living with disabilities, including the more than 20,000 newly disabled since the war began – providing life-saving support during emergencies and fighting to build a more just and accessible society.” (Oct, Haaretz)

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Japan

In COVID-19:

The meanings of COVID-19 pandemic for people with disabilities in Japan: A qualitative analysis of diverse disability narratives. (Sep, Culture & Psychology)

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Laos

Prevalence, predictors and consequences of reported discrimination against children with disabilities in Lao PDR: a cross-sectional analysis in Xiengkhouang Province:

“Overall, this study found that children with disabilities in Lao PDR routinely and frequently experience discrimination. Discrimination was more likely to be reported for older children, children with cognitive disabilities, girls, and Hmong/Lu Mien children. Having friends was a protective factor against discrimination. Reported discrimination meant that children with disabilities often avoided others and worried about how others would act towards them”. (Sep, Disability and Health Journal)

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Lebanon

Estimating trauma rehabilitation needs in Gaza:

Lebanon scales up domestic financing for the National Disability Allowance:

“With US$ 10 million allocated in 2025 and technical support from the ILO and UNICEF, the programme now provides monthly income support to around 30,000 Lebanese persons with disabilities.” (Oct, ILO)

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Pakistan

In Disaster Risk Reduction and Crisis Response:

Vulnerability of persons with disabilities amid flood relief. (Oct, Pakistan Today)

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Palestine

In Conflict and Peace:

Gaza congenital disability surges amid fallout of Israel's genocide. (Oct, Canary)

“A quarter of all injuries are potentially life-changing, with an estimated 41,844 people, or 1.9% of the population of Gaza now affected. Up to a quarter of those are children” (Oct, WHO)

A long road to freedom for disabled people in Palestine. (Oct, The D*List)

What Gaza’s disability crisis reveals about the devastating human cost of war. (Oct, Arab News)

Palestine is a disability justice issue – so why are we not calling it that? (Aug, Canary)

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Philippines

Supreme Court to adopt “Filipino Sign Language (FSL) in all courts nationwide by the first quarter of 2026 to ensure equal access to justice for the deaf community.” (Oct, Daily Tribune)

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South Korea

What the world needs now is not APEC. ‘The government and society must reflect on the reality that APEC has degenerated from a stage for "inclusive growth" to a showcase for a non-disabled society.’ (Oct, National Coalition for the Elimination of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities)

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Europe

EU Court of Justice’s decision enhances protection at work for carers of children with disabilities:

“This means that employers are obliged to provide adaptations to working arrangements for employees with a responsibility for caring for and supporting children with disabilities.” (Sep, EDF)

In Gender Equality and Women with Disabilities:

Gender (in)equality of women and girls with intellectual disabilities in Europe. “This report outlines their situation and calls on the EU to include their voices in the next Gender Equality Strategy.” (Sep, Inclusion Europe)

The Struggle for Humanity: Deinstitutionalization of the Post-Yugoslav Space in a Historic Perspective:

“Yugoslavia’s socialist social policy provided a vast network of residential institutions and boarding schools for people with disabilities and stripped them of their individuality and political subjectivity, as they were run as industrial plants, providing employment opportunities for women in rural areas. Whereas under state socialism women were regimented into paid employment, today they are employed in isolated contexts of home care as foster carers, long-term carers, and personal assistants. The current process of deinstitutionalization tends not so much to ideas of independent living, but to family-centered care of people with disabilities. The comparative material shows that deinstitutionalization in the post-Yugoslav space has many similarities; it has not achieved major systemic transformations, is slow, and partly relies on (and at the same time produces) new trends of repatriarchalization of societies instead of independent living.” (May, Problems of Post Communism)

In Independent Living and Deinstitutionalization:

Deinstitutionalisation and Later Developments in the Lives of Persons with Intellectual Disabilities. Lessons from the Nordic Countries:

“Challenging the popular idea of deinstitutionalisation as a “mission accomplished” in this region, it heralds discussion about how the relocation process has unfolded and what consequences it has had for people with intellectual disabilities in practice.” (Open Access Book, SpringerLink)

In International Cooperation:

Inclusion, Full Stop. In-depth interview with Marine Uldry, Senior Policy Coordinator, European Disability Forum. (Sep, They Said So)

In Politics and Elections:

“This should not be happening” Lessons on how backsliding democracy curtails disability rights:

“When democracies weaken, disability rights are threatened in many ways. Protest is quashed, the media silenced, rights mechanisms hollowed out and it’s harder for disability movements to organise in a climate of fear and mistrust.” (Oct, Disability Debrief)

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Denmark

In Relationships, Sex and Reproductive Rights:

Reclaim your body photo portraits of young people with disabilities as sexy, vulnerable and strong. (In Danish, no image description, SUMH)

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France

“Crazy and proud”: a Mad Pride march in Paris to denounce the violence of psychiatric institutions. (In French, Oct, Street Press)

In Policy and Rights:

The UN warns France that its assisted dying law could put people with disabilities at risk. (Sep, Evangelical Focus)

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Germany

In COVID-19:

Germany’s “Reha” clinics aren’t set up for Long COVID. And patients are reporting harm. (Sep, The Sick Times)

Care level 1 under scrutiny: “This would affect over 860,000 people who currently receive minor assistance and subsidies due to mild impairments.” (In German, Sep, Die Grüenen/EFA)

Germany’s “Reha” clinics aren’t set up for Long COVID. And patients are reporting harm. (Sep, The Sick Times)

In Health:

Germany’s “Reha” clinics aren’t set up for Long COVID. And patients are reporting harm. (Sep, The Sick Times)

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Malta

Human rights and the Department of Disability Studies in Malta in times of DEI cuts. (Sep, Disability & Society)

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Netherlands

Study on disability and unwanted loneliness in Spain:

Navigating sign language learning: insights from hearing parents of deaf and hard-of-hearing children. (Oct, Journal of Deaf Studies and Deaf Education)

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Poland

In Independent Living and Deinstitutionalization:

Collapse before implementation? Personal assistance for persons with disabilities in Poland:

“Our research finds that Polish users sometimes see personal assistance as a form of care or family support, rather than as a tool for independent living and self-direction.” (Oct, Disability & Society)

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Russia

In Culture, Entertainment and Media:

A Russian tattoo artist finds blind faith in his needle. (Short video, Sep, Reuters)

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Spain

In Independent Living and Deinstitutionalization:

“The report warns that long-term loneliness affects 40.4% of the population with disabilities, compared to 10.8% of the population without disabilities. This duration is associated with poorer health, employment difficulties, discrimination, and barriers to social participation.” (In Spanish, Feb, SoledadES)

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Sweden

Circles of Recognition: Deaf Identity, Sign Language, and Social Justice in Turn-of-the-Century Sweden. (Oct, Scandinavian Journal of History)

Circles of Recognition: Deaf Identity, Sign Language, and Social Justice in Turn-of-the-Century Sweden. (Oct, Scandinavian Journal of History)

In Independent Living and Deinstitutionalization:

Lack of staff, misuse of restrictions and technology. Report on residential services in Sweden. (Oct, Inclusion Europe)

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Switzerland

Police, justice and disability: reporting on the lack of information and preparation of police. (In French, Oct, Couper L'herbe Sous les Roues)

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United Kingdom

Brighton TikTok star's death prompts BSL interpreter concerns:

“The hearing was also told although Ms Nunn could lip read, she required a BSL interpreter to assist her mental health practitioners in providing support. Interpreters were not always available and meetings and assessments had to take place without an interpreter present.” (Oct, The Argus)

BSL is not for sale: a Deaf-led approach to AI procurement:

“British Sign Language (BSL) AI systems are being procured across UK public services without adequate Deaf community involvement, creating institutional risks. Current procurement approaches treat BSL as a technical accessibility challenge rather than recognising it as a complete language with legal standing under the BSL Act 2022. This generates predictable failures that undermine linguistic rights, compromise service effectiveness, and create serious legal compliance risks.” (Sep, British Deaf Association)

BSL is not for sale: a Deaf-led approach to AI procurement:

“British Sign Language (BSL) AI systems are being procured across UK public services without adequate Deaf community involvement, creating institutional risks. Current procurement approaches treat BSL as a technical accessibility challenge rather than recognising it as a complete language with legal standing under the BSL Act 2022. This generates predictable failures that undermine linguistic rights, compromise service effectiveness, and create serious legal compliance risks.” (Sep, British Deaf Association)

Obituary: Nabil Shaban (1953 – 2025) “disabled activist, actor and writer who was co-founder of pioneering disability-led arts organisation Graeae Theatre Company”. (Oct)

Accessible Transport Archive “The campaign for accessible public transport has been at the forefront of the Disability rights movement since the 1980s - this archive documents the history of Accessible Transport.” (Apr, Transport for All)

Disabled Victims Face Hurdles at Every Step of the Justice Process, Victims' Commissioner Review Finds. (Sep, Disability Rights UK)

In Lived Experience and Opinion:

The Punk Side of Disability Culture You’ll Never See. “But here’s what I think of when I think of disability culture: spiky, dyed hair; leather jackets and attitude. In other words, punk.” (Sep, The Persistent)

In Policy and Rights:

UN Experts “Dismay” at “Discriminatory” Actions of DWP Ministers. (Disability Rights UK)

In Violence and Harassment:

When technology hurts: supporting disabled women experiencing abuse. One woman with physical disability said:

“We had cameras in every room, listening devices, smart tech all through the home, that I did not want and did not set up, I had no access to any of the Apps. I often said I felt uncomfortable with the cameras and my ex-partner just dismissed me and said he only put them there for my benefit… He used my disability to abuse me, and everybody saw this as OK because I have less autonomy of my body and surroundings because of my disability, and this is wrong”. (Oct, Refuge UK)

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North America

Canada

Advocates protest changes to Alberta’s disability assistance program. (Sep, CTV News)

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Mexico

In Policy and Rights:

Supreme Court Risks Weakening Disability Rights. Decision Eases Requirement to Consult with People with Disabilities. (Oct, Human Rights Watch)

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Nicaragua

Predisposed: Race, Disability, and Death Investigations:

People with disabilities with more than two decades of service: an association providing service in the parking lots of Roberto Huembes market. (In Spanish, Sep, El Canal del Orgullo Nicaragüense)

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United States

In Accessibility and Design:

Robots Are Measuring ADA Compliance in Irvine, California:

“These robots are collecting a variety of information using sensors, Fontes said. This includes sidewalk level changes, running slope, cross slope, wheelchair pathway roughness index, low clearances and obstructions. They are collecting information from curb access ramps on running and cross slopes, lengths and widths, landing measurements, and obstructions, and are also taking images of the ground.” (Sep, Government Technology)

In Black Lives Matter and Racial justice:

“Disability, preexisting conditions, or underlying conditions might seem like uncontroversial factors to cite when determining an individual’s cause of death. However, many death investigators have also cited these conditions in deaths caused by state violence or neglect. For example, a 2021 study found that medical examiners cited sickle cell trait, a gene mutation, as a cause or significant factor in the deaths of forty-seven Black people who died in police custody in the past twenty-five years.” (Sep, UCLA Law Review)

Blind protester dragged, detained by feds says agents picked ‘the weakest person they could find’. (Oct, Oregon Live)

In Climate Crisis and Environment:

Disabled Power: “Disabled Power tells the stories of Texans with disabilities who endured the 2021 Texas power crisis, which forced millions of Texas residents to endure a dayslong winter storm without heat or water.” (Dec, NYU Press)

Americans are dying from extreme heat. Autopsy reports don’t show the full story. (Oct, the Guardian)

How a Deaf Quarterback Changed Sports Forever By Inventing the Huddle: “Paul Hubbard called for the football team at Gallaudet University to circle around him back in 1894”. (Oct, Smithsonian magazine)

The Structure and Geography of the ASL Signing Community in the Mid-Nineteenth Century: The Hartford Gatherings of 1850 and 1854:

“We matched the deaf individuals who attended those gatherings to their earlier student records to see what had happened in their lives—for example, whether they had married, found a job, or moved to a new city. We discovered that many individuals had married other alumni of deaf schools. We also discovered that the community had generally become more urban, located in large cities like New York and Boston.” (Aug, Cadernos de Linguística)

In Conflict and Peace:

Two Years of Genocide+: Crips Aren’t Done Sending eSims to Gaza. (Oct, Disability Visibility Project)

In Culture, Entertainment and Media:

Manual Labor. A new generation of deaf writers reimagines language, text, and sound. (Oct, Baffler)

The Haunting of Pennhurst. “Contradiction and fear at America’s only physical museum of disability” (Sep, Believer Magazine)

Pearl S. Buck:

“Through Pearl Buck’s compassionate portrayals of characters facing mental or physical impairment, Pearl Buck served as a heralding voice for the rights of persons with disabilities.” (Aug, De Gruyter)

How the portrayal of Deaf people in film has evolved over time. (Oct, PBS)

The Trump Administration’s Plans To Covertly Cut Social Security Disability Benefits: “An upcoming regulatory proposal would change the rules of Social Security disability programs to make it harder to qualify, particularly harming older adults.” (Oct, CAP)

I’m a veteran on disability. This reporting hurt me: Readers respond to a recent Post series about fraud in the VA disability benefits system. (Oct, Washington Post)

Explainer: What the Government Shutdown Means for SNAP, WIC, and Disability Programs. (Oct, AAPD)

Government Shutdown Has Disability Providers 'Running On Fumes'. (Oct, Disability Scoop)

Department of Education Condemned for Ending Support for Students with Disabilities. (Oct, AAPD)

Trump’s attempt to gut special education office has some conservative parents on edge. (Oct, the 19th)

The State of Critical Race Disability Studies. A White Paper Report from the Disabled Scholars of Color Collective:

“Gifts of the institutionalization of disability studies include increased visibility/recognition of our field, more jobs and funding for our work, and the ability to bring what we refer to as fugitive knowledge into spaces we as disabled scholars of color especially may not otherwise have access to such as medical, nursing, and pre-medical school programs. Challenges of the institutionalization of disability studies include the co-optation and misuse of terms and concepts like disability justice, our work being lost within or pitted against medical humanities, health humanities, medical anthropology and similar fields, increased gatekeeping of knowledge, tacit acceptance of institutional ableism in the name of individual survival, and a move away from the disability politics that have long been central and foundational to the field.” (Oct, Disability Visibility Project)

Predisposed: Race, Disability, and Death Investigations:

The Human Costs of Trump’s War on Government. “For many disabled workers, federal jobs were decent, human, and accommodating: everything the president hates.” (Oct, Mother Jones)

In Health:

“Disability, preexisting conditions, or underlying conditions might seem like uncontroversial factors to cite when determining an individual’s cause of death. However, many death investigators have also cited these conditions in deaths caused by state violence or neglect. For example, a 2021 study found that medical examiners cited sickle cell trait, a gene mutation, as a cause or significant factor in the deaths of forty-seven Black people who died in police custody in the past twenty-five years.” (Sep, UCLA Law Review)

Review of 'Constructing Disability After the Great War:’ Blind Veterans in the Progressive Era. (Oct, H-Disability)

The Radical Life of the Father of the Independent Living Movement. A new book explores disabled activist Ed Roberts’ revolutionary career. (Oct, Mother Jones)

The Haunting of Pennhurst. “Contradiction and fear at America’s only physical museum of disability” (Sep, Believer Magazine)

Down Syndrome in the Archives: Addressing Archival Description of Legacy Records Documenting Disability Histories. (Aug, The American Archivist)

The Structure and Geography of the ASL Signing Community in the Mid-Nineteenth Century: The Hartford Gatherings of 1850 and 1854:

“We matched the deaf individuals who attended those gatherings to their earlier student records to see what had happened in their lives—for example, whether they had married, found a job, or moved to a new city. We discovered that many individuals had married other alumni of deaf schools. We also discovered that the community had generally become more urban, located in large cities like New York and Boston.” (Aug, Cadernos de Linguística)

Pearl S. Buck:

“Through Pearl Buck’s compassionate portrayals of characters facing mental or physical impairment, Pearl Buck served as a heralding voice for the rights of persons with disabilities.” (Aug, De Gruyter)

In Humanitarian, Migrants and Refugees:

Disabled immigrants detained at Adelanto report abuse and neglect: “Disability Rights California found inhumane and unlawful conditions at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center, where a 39-year-old man died last month”. (Oct, Prism)

In Independent Living and Deinstitutionalization:

The Radical Life of the Father of the Independent Living Movement. A new book explores disabled activist Ed Roberts’ revolutionary career. (Oct, Mother Jones)

When Parents Age Out of Caregiving. Navigating a Tricky Transition. (Aug, New Mobility)

Disability Rights Enforcement 2025: The Uber Complaint:

“Don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting things are fine in this administration. What I'm saying is that, at least sometimes, they appear to be using disability rights in a fair and impartial way to alleviate discrimination.” (Sep, Converge Accessibility)

In Policy and Rights:

Disability Rights Enforcement 2025: The Uber Complaint:

“Don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting things are fine in this administration. What I'm saying is that, at least sometimes, they appear to be using disability rights in a fair and impartial way to alleviate discrimination.” (Sep, Converge Accessibility)

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Oceania

Australia

A Win for Blind Leadership:

“Yesterday marked an important win for United Blind Leaders, (UBL), as Vision Australia announced the appointment of a CEO with low vision. The announcement is the result of a successful campaign led by UBL which convinced Vision Australia to change course and conduct an external CEO recruitment process in order to appoint a blind leader to the role.” (Oct, United Blind Leaders)

Social media trend threatens years of advocacy:

“The viral social media hashtags #BlindChallenge and #BlindKidChallenge prompts users without disability to imitate, or rather mock, members of the blind community in the name of entertainment, audience viewership and social media engagement, according to Guide Dogs NSW/ACT.” (Oct, Powerd)

Art and music therapies can be ‘life changing’ for people with disability. And are due to be classed as therapy supports under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). (Sep, The Conversation)

What the future holds for Sydney's former psychiatric hospital sites with storied pasts. (Oct, ABC News)

In Humanitarian, Migrants and Refugees:

Social connections, service access, language: how disability can make things even harder for refugees:

“Developing connections outside their own communities posed significant challenges for refugees with disability. Most found it hard or very hard to make friends in Australia (77%), to talk to their Australian neighbours (76%) and to understand Australian ways or culture (68%).” (Sep, The Conversation)

In Independent Living and Deinstitutionalization:

Audit finds that:

“A South Australian government aged care home, which looks after 23 people with dementia or complex disabilities, inappropriately used lap belts and other mechanical restraints to stop falls and control residents' behaviour, the ABC can reveal.” (Oct, ABC News)

In Lived Experience and Opinion:

Yes, the NDIS is ableist, and fighting it takes a personal toll:

“Self-advocacy is hard work. It’s another emotional and physical price we pay for being disabled, and it’s seemingly endless: booking doctor’s appointments, managing our conditions, dealing with bureaucracy and, perhaps hardest of all, trying to advocate for ourselves to people who lack basic empathy yet boast an abundance of unflinching judgement — and power.” (Sep, Autistic Self Advocacy Network Australia and New Zealand)

Calls for change after Qantas refuses to fly British woman with mobility scooter due to its battery. (Sep, the Guardian)

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New Zealand

Denied right to learn Braille: Woman shares historical experience at Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind's apology. (Sep, RNZ News)

The grinding war of attrition of seeking a disability allowance:

The cost of being: A disability beneficiary who can only work one day a week. Describing her own financial situation:

“I try to stay positive about it, otherwise it’s just another thing wearing me down, which is not good for my health.” (Oct, The Spinoff)

“I worked for years ensuring goods could cross oceans smoothly, that documents aligned, that deadlines were met. I never imagined that, decades later, the most complex logistics challenge of my life would be getting government departments to process a basic disability payment.” (Oct, The Press)

‘We can speak for ourselves’: Hope and a commitment to redress at RNZFB apology to survivors. (Sep, The D*List)

In Independent Living and Deinstitutionalization:

Apology and response “Chief Executive Andrew Crisp apologised on behalf of IHC to survivors, members, and whānau on October 23, 2025.” (Oct, IHC)

A 'complete distrust' between Deaf community and police. (Sep, RNZ News)

Woman with disability twice denied permission to fly with assistance dog by Air New Zealand. (Oct, ABC News)

In Relationships, Sex and Reproductive Rights:

Abortion Is a Human Right and Health Issue: Disabled people’s experiences of abortion services in Aotearoa New Zealand. (Apr, Ministry of Health)

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South America

Brazil

In Health:

Disability inclusion in the Brazilian health system: results of a health system assessment:

“Examples of good practise that other countries could learn from include the presence of a General Coordination for the Health of People with Disabilities within the Ministry of Health and the progressive rights-based policies, including the National Policy on Comprehensive Health Care for Persons with Disability and the Brazilian Law for Inclusion. Another important initiative, lacking in other settings, was the national accessibility audit of primary health facilities conducted in 2012”. (Sep, Global Health Action)

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Colombia

In Policy and Rights:

Colombia's Reckoning With Dignity: Euthanasia Access Expands Amid Unfinished Debate. (Sep, LatinAmerican Post)

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Peru