Young People and Families Are Driving the Push for a More Inclusive Future

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Accessibility in the News — 4/10/2026.

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Feature Stories

 

JoCo mom follows daughter’s lead, helps get facilities for kids with disabilities

April 3, 2026    |   Source: Kansas City Star When she was a kindergartener at Corinth Elementary, Olivia Bloomfield sat at a folding table alone, watching her peers play on the playground because her wheelchair couldn’t navigate the ground’s mulch. “It was a very isolating and lonely experience,” said Sara Bloomfield, Olivia’s mother, who’s been living in Leawood for the last 13 years. “So then, the question became: How do we make this playground accessible?” Olivia was born with Congenital Muscular Dystrophy, a genetic condition that affects muscular function, like her ability to ambulate her arms or legs, and weakness in her internal organs, like her lungs…

Smithers teen advocates for more accessibility downtown

April 7, 2026    |   Source: The Interior News A school project for one teen is turning into a bit of a viral sensation in Smithers.  In most senses, Walker Vis is like any other teenager. He loves his dog and hanging out with his siblings. He likes going to the movies and the pool with his friends. He enjoys posting videos to social media. But unlike most other teens, his videos are gaining attention with an important message.  Walker has made it his mission to advocate for more accessibility in the downtown core and also raise awareness of the daily challenges faced by people in wheelchairs, seniors, and parents with strollers…

A New Hampshire school learned sign language to communicate with its only deaf student

April 4, 2026    |   Source: CBS and WBTV (Video) Seven-year-old Ben O’Reilly is deaf and has other special needs. A first grader at Campton Elementary in Campton, New Hampshire, his aide, Cheryl Ulicny, says that Ben had felt isolated at school. “He didn’t have relationships with his peers or teachers, for that matter,” Ulicny said. “He was very alone. And he acted very alone.” New Hampshire is one of the few states in the nation that doesn’t have a dedicated school for the deaf. In fact, Ben is the only deaf student in his whole school district. So, aside from Ulicny, there was virtually no one in this whole school community he could talk to. At least at first…

National News (U.S.)

 

Disabled People Are the Canaries in the Coal Mine

April 3, 2026    |   Source: Dollars and Sense Current initiatives at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are threatening the rights of people with disabilities. They are often the first to be hurt by policies likely to harm others (including the temporarily able-bodied) in the future. As Alice Wong, a prominent disability rights advocate and scholar put it, “We are modern-day oracles. It’s time people listened to us.” Some background explaining why disabled people are like canaries in a coal mine—safety indicators for society as a whole—provides context for a recent panel discussion video posted by New America, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, detailing the ominous changes at hand…

Hold off on Celebrating Trump’s Proposal to Increase Disability Education Funding

April 4, 2026    |   Source: Mother Jones On Friday, President Donald Trump released his budget proposal for the fiscal year 2027. Surprisingly, given the cuts that would be necessary to fund the $1.5 trillion the Trump administration is asking for military spending, the budget also included over $500 million more funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, for a total of over $16 billion. But disability experts are wary of other aspects of what the Office of Management and Budget head Russell Vought, Project 2025’s architect, put forward. Vought wrote in the proposal that the budget “continues the Department of Education’s path to elimination, returning control of education back to America’s families.”…

For young people with disabilities, here’s a different approach to life success

April 4, 2026    |   Source: Santa Fe New Mexican “I wanted to be a (fill in the blank), but who would hire me?” I find this sense of anticipatory rejection, when spoken aloud by teens and young adults with disabilities, to be the most heart-breaking. But not surprising. After a lifetime of legal advocacy and managing educational support services to open doors for disabled youth, I have found anticipatory rejection to be the persistent and reoccurring barrier that my legal skills and advanced degree in rehabilitation counseling could not penetrate in a meaningful way…

Children with Vision Loss Enjoy an Accessible Easter Egg Hunt with Special 3D-Printed Beeping Eggs

April 5, 2026    |   Source: People Dozens of children with vision loss got to enjoy a unique take on an Easter tradition. On Saturday, March 28, the Calgary Police Youth Foundation and the non-profit CNIB teamed up for an adapted egg hunt for children who are blind or have low vision in Calgary, Canada. Organizers hid “special 3-D-printed beeping eggs” that the children could hear while completing the search, according to Calgary Police’s Instagram post. Around 50 children who participated in their Easter egg hunt were given “colorful” baskets to use during the challenge…

For People With Autism, Can Restaurant Kitchens Be a Haven?

April 5, 2026    |   Source: The New York Times For three Halloweens in a row, Joseph Valentino was Emeril Lagasse. He wasn’t the only kid in New Jersey who idolized chefs and wanted to be one when he grew up. For Mr. Valentino, though, the dream seemed especially hard to reach. Diagnosed with autism as a toddler, he still hadn’t spoken by age 5, when he first dressed as Emeril. Today, at 27, he is a cook at Point Seven restaurant in Manhattan, working the cold food, pastry and raw bar stations, sometimes all at once. He says the path he took to get there was strewn with rejection…

Out of focus: Fewer California kids receive vision care as access worsens, report says

April 5, 2026    |   Source: Local News Matters When Kekoa Gittens was 3, his preschool teacher told his mother he was a problem. He couldn’t sit still. He didn’t participate. When other kids learned the alphabet, he didn’t pay attention. The next year, Kekoa’s classroom problems worsened. His mother, Sonia Gittens, took him to his pediatrician, who referred the boy to an eye doctor. That doctor looked at the back of Kekoa’s eyes and diagnosed him with myopic degeneration, a dramatic form of nearsightedness. “They are too little. They don’t know how to express themselves and say ‘I cannot see it, teacher,’” said Sonia Gittens, who lives in the Marin County town of Corte Madera…

These blind students say their college blocked their education. A new rule could help

April 6, 2026    |   Source: NPR Miranda Lacy and Harold Rogers became fast friends during their undergraduate years. They both shared their dreams with one another: Rogers wanted to use his education to become a psychotherapist, Lacy a social worker. So, they were delighted to be reunited for graduate school – at an online Master’s in Social Work program at West Virginia University (WVU). Little did they know, their journey there would be much harder. Both students are blind and say learning materials, from course modules to readings for class, have been inaccessible to them at WVU…

How a blind man made it possible for others with low vision to build Lego sets

April 6, 2026    |   Source: AP News and Western Mass News Like a lot of young children, Matthew Shifrin loved building Lego sets. But because he was blind, Shifrin had to rely on friends and family to help him complete his creations — sometimes bribing them with tea to get them to come by his house. That all changed when he was 13. A family friend and babysitter came over to his house in Newton, Massachusetts and handed him a binder filled with accessible instructions for building a Middle Eastern palace. The instructions, written in braille, allowed him to complete the set without having to rely on the brightly colored pictures that typically come with Lego sets…

Ahead of ADA Compliance Deadline, Procurement Is Changing

April 6, 2026    |   Source: GovTech One way state and local governments are working to meet the April 24 Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance deadline — after which all digital products, including websites and apps, must be accessible for people with disabilities — is by updating their procurement processes and contract language. Digital products must meet specific technical requirements by the deadline: Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) Version 2.1 Level AA. The goal is to ensure governments are effectively serving all of their residents, including the more than 1 in 4 U.S. adults who have a disability…

A chemical linked to Parkinson’s is still legal. That must change.

April 6, 2026 Source: VTDigger Every week in my clinic, I sit across from Vermonters who have just heard the words “You have Parkinson’s disease.” They are farmers, teachers, small business owners — people who make Vermont the place we call home. Almost all ask the same questions: Why did this happen? Could I have done something differently? Parkinson’s disease occurs when brain cells that make dopamine, a chemical that coordinates movement, gradually fail and die, causing people to experience tremor, slowness, stiffness and walking difficulty and imbalance. Parkinson’s is a progressive disease that slowly worsens over time…

Trump Budget Calls For Eliminating Key Disability Programs

April 7, 2026    |   Source: Disability Scoop President Donald Trump wants to stop directing federal funds to the nation’s university centers on developmental disabilities, multiple Individuals with Disabilities Education Act programs and much more. Trump issued his budget request to Congress late last week for the fiscal year starting in October. The proposal calls for a steep hike in military spending and deep cuts to domestic programs. “It’s not possible for us to take care of day care, Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things,” Trump said last week before releasing the budget…

Storm safety for all: OKC launches accessible alerts for deaf and blind residents

April 7, 2026    |   Source: KOCO News As Oklahoma prepares for another severe weather threat this weekend, Oklahoma City Emergency Management said being prepared means making sure everyone can access emergency alerts, no matter their ability. Emergency alerts can only save lives if people can access them. In Oklahoma City, leaders want to close that gap by making sure deaf and blind members of the community aren’t left out when storms hit. Oklahoma City is partnering with Deaf Link to provide accessible emergency alerts for residents who are deaf, blind, or hard of hearing, ensuring equal access to life-saving information during severe weather…

USVI Will Miss April 26 Federal Website Accessibility Deadline, BIT Warns of Legal Risks

April 9, 2026    |   Source: The Virgin Islands Consortium

City of Springfield provides update on ADA digital accessibility requirements and ongoing compliance

April 7, 2026    |   Source: KY3

SDOT removes the bike map PDF from website ahead of ADA rule change + It’s still on Seattle Bike Blog

April 9, 2026    |   Source: Seattle Bike Blog With less than 20 days remaining before a federal accessibility deadline, the V.I. Bureau of Information Technology told lawmakers Wednesday that it is making steady progress toward bringing government websites into compliance with disability-access standards, even as officials acknowledge the territory will not meet the April 26 target and could still face legal exposure if public-facing systems remain out of compliance. BIT Director Rupert Ross updated the Senate Committee on Housing, Transportation and Telecommunications on the government’s efforts to comply with a U.S. Department of Justice mandate requiring more accessible websites…

Making Disability Visible in History: A Conversation With Rosemarie Garland-Thomson

April 9, 2026    |   Source: Ms. Magazine Dr. Rosemarie Garland-Thomson is a pioneering scholar of bioethics, humanities, disability justice and culture, and professor emerita at Emory University. Widely considered the founder of feminist disability studies, Garland-Thomson is the author of several canonical works, including Extraordinary Bodies: Figuring Disability in American Culture and Literature (1997) and the influential essay, “Integrating Disability, Transforming Feminist Theory” (2002). Her op-ed “Becoming Disabled” (2016) served as the inaugural article for an ongoing series for The New York Times and is part of her collection About Us: Essays from the Disability Series…

A hiring rule meant to help people with disabilities get federal jobs instead left them more vulnerable to DOGE mass firings

April 9, 2026    |   Source: Government Executive At the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term, as part of the effort to slash the number of federal employees, his administration fired thousands of newly hired and promoted agency staffers who were still in their probationary periods. Such workers have weaker civil service job protections. While the probationary period for a new federal employee is typically one year, it’s up to two years for those hired under Schedule A — a mechanism for agencies to bring on workers with a “severe physical disability, a psychiatric disability or an intellectual disability.” …
Jack Fact — According to the WHO, 1 in 2 people globally who need cataract surgery don’t have access to that surgery. Hit The Road Jack — Culture, music and Mersey views – how to discover Liverpool’s accessible side and Yes, you can have a wild African adventure in a wheelchair — here’s how and Airline Accessibility Made Simple: Essential Advice for Tourists to Fly Comfortably, Confidently, and Stress-Free

International News

Have mental health labels like ADHD and autism gone too far? Some experts think so

April 2, 2026    |   Source: The Telegraph- UK Where distractibility or restlessness were once considered normal childhood traits, now, they are more likely to be considered signs of autism or ADHD. That is one of the findings of an interim government report, following a review designed to establish why demand for NHS services is skyrocketing. ADHD diagnoses have more than doubled since 2021, while autism rates among girls rose sevenfold between 2010-2022 – figures that the report said could be the result of “institutional incentives” associated with being officially labelled as having ADHD or autism…

Chatham man calls for more consideration for people with disabilities

April 2, 2026    |   Source: Chatham Daily News- Canada A Chatham man is growing frustrated at the lack of consideration for people with disabilities, which he often sees in the community. Dan Christian, 70, has diabetes and associated neuropathy that greatly impacts his legs, as well as early Parkinson’s disease. He recently contacted The Chatham Daily News to share some examples of inconsiderate behaviour he’s experienced. “I have a handicap people can’t see,” said Christian, who gets particularly riled when abled-bodied people occupy accessible parking spaces…

Dressing differently: the fashion industry begins to acknowledge physical disability and health conditions

April 3, 2026    |   Source: Fashion Network- France Fashion has long set the standards, requiring bodies to conform. Today, medical realities sometimes challenge that supposed absolute, spurred on by certain players in the clothing industry. From RougeGorge’s post-mastectomy bra to the Salomon x Hopper ski prosthesis, a number of initiatives are tracing the outlines of a more inclusive fashion landscape. For a women’s lingerie brand, breast cancer is an unavoidable issue. One in eight women in France is at risk of developing the disease. RougeGorge has been supporting women with breast cancer since 2011, initially through donations…

Malvern school praised for disability access improvements

April 3, 2026    |   Source: BBC- UK A primary school in Malvern has been praised for improving access for pupils with physical disabilities, two years after completing major upgrades. St Matthias CE Primary School said the changes had made it possible for children using wheelchairs to fully take part in school life. The work was funded by Worcestershire County Council as part of a wider programme to improve accessibility in mainstream schools. The improvements, completed in April 2024, removed barriers across the site including steps, narrow access points and a lack of suitable care facilities…

Orillia expands accessibility, but downtown businesses still lag, resident says

April 4, 2026    |   Source: Orillia News- CA Kenny Crisp knows all about accessibility and the lack of it as the 41-year-old man has been in a wheelchair for his whole life and grew up in Parry Sound when there was no accessibility. Now living in Orillia for the past 16 years, Crisp said the city has made great strides in improving accessibility. “They’ve done a really good job with all the public buildings, like the Orillia Recreation Centre. Accessibility is far better than what I’m used to over the years, so you can tell they’ve put effort into it,” he said…

Disabled man’s wait for housing finally over – ‘it’s taken its toll’

April 5, 2026    |   Source: 1News- Australia Disabled Auckland man Kallen Neki’s “exhausting” fight for an accessible home has at last come to an end after more than a year in unsuitable emergency accommodation. Neki lives with cerebral palsy, a permanent physical condition that affects movement and posture. He is now set to move into his new place on April 8, once final accessibility modifications have been made. “It’s a wonderful feeling,” said the 37-year-old, who has been waiting since the January 10, 2025 for a suitable home…

The sound of our cities: why the Australian pedestrian button belongs in our archives

April 5, 2026    |   Source: The Conversation- Australia The PB/5 pedestrian crossing button is an immediately identifiable product in our physical and aural urban landscape. Now inducted into the National Film Sound Archive of Australia’s 2026 Sounds of Australia, it is one of very few physical objects selected for the archive. It joins the Fairlight CMI digital synthesiser, inducted in 2015, and the Speaking Clock, inducted in 2024.The sound of the Australian pedestrian crossing was initially conceived as a priority to assist visually impaired pedestrians. But is also benefits other people…

Building Accessibility: How to Create Inclusive Spaces for the Deaf Community

April 7, 2026    |   Source: Glamour- South Africa Creating inclusive spaces for the Deaf community remains a pressing yet often overlooked priority. Founder of Yellow Owl and professional SASL (South African Sign Language) interpreter, Thuli Zikalala, has long been a champion for accessibility, empowering Deaf voices and challenging industries to rethink their approach to inclusion. Here, she shares her insights on what it truly takes to foster spaces where Deaf individuals can fully participate, collaborate, and thrive. From the importance of mindful partnerships to the practical steps content creators and brands can take, Thuli paints a vision for a future where inclusion is not just a checkbox but a foundational part of every creative process.”…

NB Update: Low-income woman with disabilities forced from her home by surging energy prices

April 8, 2026    |   Source: NB Media Co-op- Canada Last week, NB Power won another rate increase at the Energy and Utilities Board. The exact rate hike hasn’t yet been determined, but it’s expected to be upwards of four per cent. It’s the latest in a series of annual rate hikes that have exceeded inflation amid a larger cost-of-living crisis. The surging prices are especially hard to manage for low-income people with disabilities like Moncton resident Maddie Mitton. She says that high electricity costs are forcing her to leave an apartment building where she has lived for more than 18 years…

Statement on the discrimination by the United Nations concerning accessibility to information and communication

April 9, 2026    |   Source: Japanese Federation of the Deaf- Japan Statement on the discrimination by the United Nations concerning accessibility to information and communication- The statement released by the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD Committee) in February 2026 revealed that the UN notified the CRPD Committee in January 2026 that they could not provide mandated accessibility services, such as International Sign interpretation and captioning, due to the financial situation of the UN. It was the abrupt notification right before the 34th session opening on March 9 through March 27 in Geneva…

Catholic Charities panel links poverty, disability

April 9, 2026    |   Source: The Catholic Register- Canada Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Toronto is launching a two-part expert panel series that explores how poverty and disability intersect to deepen barriers to food and housing, with virtual sessions set for April 20 and 27. The sessions, offered in collaboration with the Jesuit Forum for Social Faith and Justice, come as post-pandemic food insecurity and homelessness remain stark in Toronto and across Canada. According to the 2025 Disability Poverty Report Card, of the roughly 1.5 million people with disabilities, 16 per cent live in poverty, nearly double the 9.5-per-cent rate for non-disabled Canadians, with the depth of poverty worsening to an average of 30-per-cent below the poverty line…

Indonesia: from isolation and dependency to inclusion and entrepreneurship

April 9, 2026    |   Source: Lutheran World Federation- Indonesia From successful duck and pig farming to a growing handicrafts business, 10 people with disabilities in Indonesia’s Pakpak Dairi Christian Protestant Church (GKPPD) share remarkable stories of economic empowerment, inclusion and acceptance by families, friends, neighbors and whole communities. Using resources from a small project, supported by The Lutheran World Federation (LWF), they have acquired skills and confidence to become independent and valued members of their local congregations and communities in two districts of North Sumatra province…

The not-so-blind leading the blind

April 9, 2026    |   Source: Architecture and Design- Australia Physical disability affects mobility or dexterity for people with ambulatory difficulties, or with cerebral palsy, spina bifida, or amputations. Australia has a proud recent history of changing its building regulations to acknowledge these disabilities, even if many think of it only in terms of design for wheelchairs. Our codes that require ramps (in new or existing buildings) with gentle gradients, handrails correctly positioned and appropriate signage not only work for wheelchairs but also for those with ambulant difficulties, walking frames or sticks, difficulty mounting stairs or a pram or shopping trolley…

New disability review system rejects prior status in 11% of cases

April 9, 2026    |   Source: Interfax-Ukraine In more than a year of operation, expert teams in Ukraine’s daily functioning assessment system, which replaced the old medical-social expert commissions (MSEC), did not confirm previously established disability status in 11% of reviewed cases. According to the Health Ministry, during more than a year of work the new system’s expert teams issued 688,000 decisions. Disability status was confirmed for 587,326 people, or 85.3%, including 255,000 who received it for the first time, while more than 310,000 had their previously established disability status extended…

The government is now making disabled people wait to 2029 for more ‘recommendations’ on inaccessible transport

April 9, 2026    |   Source: Disability News Service- UK Transport Accessibility campaigners have warned that the Labour government’s new integrated transport strategy “doesn’t deal with the real issue” and needs to demonstrate more than “warm words”. The Department for Transport (DfT) published the new strategy on 2 April. Originally promised for publication before the end of 2025, the document, titled Better Connected: A Strategy for Integrated Transport, laid out the government’s “vision” for an overhaul of domestic transport across England. Some have welcomed the new strategy, including Sue Sharp, the interim chair of the Disabled Persons Transport Advisory Committee (DPTAC)…

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