Category: Living with Disability

Neurocognitive disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disorder are significant causes of disability in the United States and around the world. And while they are typically associated with old age, some individuals will develop these disorders when they are relatively young. Take for instance the beloved actor Michael J. Fox, who was diagnosed when he was just 29. Now 64, Fox returned to acting this year, as a guest star on Apple TV’s award-winning show, “Shrinking.”

For those who aren’t watching the show, Fox plays a character named Gerry, who gives Paul, an elderly psychotherapist with Parkinson’s, played by Harrison Ford, a window into what his own future with the disease may look like. As Gerry, Fox allows viewers the opportunity to see not only his intelligence, optimism and sense of humor, but also the true toll that Parkinson’s has taken on his body.  As he educates Paul about the progression of the disease, he’s also raising awareness among the Emmy Award-winning show’s huge audience.

Fox first became a household name as Alex P. Keaton on Family Ties, a role that earned him three Primetime Emmy Awards and a Golden Globe. He met his wife, Tracy Pollan, on the series, and the couple, who have four adult children, remain married today. His starring role in the Back to the Future films later made him one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. In 1991, while filming Doc Hollywood, Fox noticed a tremor in his pinky finger. It was the first noticeable sign of Parkinson’s disease.

He continued working for years while keeping the diagnosis private. During his time on Spin City, where he played Deputy Mayor Mike Flaherty, he won another Emmy, three Golden Globes, and two Screen Actors Guild Awards. But when Fox began having trouble remembering his lines during the show’s third season, he announced his retirement from acting and went public with his diagnosis.

Arguably, Fox’s most significant role began afterward. In 2000 he founded the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, now the world’s largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson’s research, supporting more than $2 billion in scientific work and helping drive major advances in treatment, policy, and biomarker discovery.

In addition to his entertainment achievements, Fox received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2025. He has written best-selling memoirs, been the subject of an Emmy Award-winning documentary, and continues to advocate for research and treatment. More than three decades after his diagnosis, he remains one of the most visible and influential figures working toward a cure for Parkinson’s.

Photo credit: Robert Voets/Apple TV

It’s been 10 years since we first introduced our readers to the Museum of Disability History in Buffalo, New York. The museum chronicled the history of the disability movement from its early beginnings — some artifacts date back to the 1750s — through the present day. In 2020, we were disappointed to learn that the pandemic had forced the museum to close.

Now, however, the museum has reopened, and in a larger and more comprehensive form than before.

The new museum building, located in Albertson, Long Island, is now part of The Viscardi Center, a nonprofit disability organization named for Dr. Henry Viscardi — a disability rights advocate who, after facing employment discrimination himself, founded a business that intentionally hired disabled workers. He later advised eight U.S. presidents and played an influential role in advancing disability-rights legislation, including the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Chartered in 1998 by the New York State Board of Regents and founded by Dr. James M. Boles, former president and CEO of People Inc., the museum is believed to be, according to its website, “the first museum in the United States dedicated exclusively to chronicling the history, struggles, and achievements of people with disabilities.”

Over time, the museum has evolved alongside the disability community, raising awareness and encouraging public conversation about disability issues in the United States.

Opening February 17, 2026, the new 4,500-square-foot, fully accessible gallery space in the Kornreich Institute for Disability Studies houses approximately 8,000 photographs, documents, books, and artifacts, mostly from the original museum, along with newly acquired items.

Among the most notable objects are early assistive devices, including a three-wheeled mobility cart and a Braille typewriter, tools people once relied upon to participate in everyday life before modern accessibility technologies. Another display examines a 1990 disability-rights demonstration at the U.S. Capitol, reminding visitors that many of today’s accommodations were the result of organized advocacy and protest. A new exhibition about Dr. Viscardi is located in what was once his office.

In addition to its on-site galleries, the museum offers a traveling exhibition program. These exhibits explore topics such as polio in America, African Americans and disability, adaptive sports, and the relationship between war and disability.

Museum officials hope the renewed interest generated by the reopening may eventually support the creation of a larger national disability history museum on the National Mall in Washington, D.C.

If you’re a sports fan but haven’t been able to enjoy the Olympics due to accessibility issues, you’re in luck! After years of frustration, viewers with disabilities will finally be able to enjoy the games without significant barriers.

Earlier this month, NBCUniversal (NBCU) announced it will be adding additional accessibility features to the program that will make watching the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics possible for a great many more people. The Games will begin on Feb. 6 and run through Feb. 22, 2026.

In a Jan.12 press release NBCUniversal announced that “Closed captioning, which provides on screen text of the program dialogue for people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, will be available for all Olympic events airing across NBCU’s properties, as well as the Gold Zone whip-around show on Peacock.”

Additionally, said the media conglomerate, “NBCUniversal will also provide closed captioning for digital livestreams with commentary across Peacock, NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app for all live events and full event replays from linear coverage.”

The announcement also noted that audio description (AD) — defined as “the integration of broadcast audio with trained narrators describing Olympic and Paralympic action and context”— will be available via the Secondary Audio Program (SAP) for viewers who are blind or have low vision.

NBCUniversal stated that this marks the first time the Olympic Games have offered audio description at this level and in such high-quality stereo sound. Audio description will be delivered by NBC Sports’ Paralympic broadcast team, including Tony Ambrogio, Adam Giardino, Pat McCarthy, Tony Simeone, and Norma Jean Wick.

Beyond its expanded use of audio description and closed captioning, NBCUniversal is rolling out broader digital accessibility upgrades. These improvements include more seamless keyboard navigation, enhanced visual contrast, and improved compatibility with screen readers on NBCOlympics.com, NBC.com, and the NBC Sports app. For livestreams and on-demand replays that feature audio description, viewers will be able to select English audio description directly from the platform’s audio or language settings.

“We’re thrilled to continue our commitment to providing all viewers with more accessibility to our Winter Olympics coverage than ever before,” said Amy Rosenfeld, SVP, NBC Olympic Production. “It’s only fitting that an event of such magnitude deserves top-tier audio description and closed captioning services, and we can’t wait to build off the momentum of Paris into the excitement of Milan Cortina.”

Said Tom Wlodkowski, Vice President of Accessibility at Comcast: “Comcast NBCUniversal has been dedicated to bringing viewers to the biggest moments in sports for over a decade now. NBCUniversal’s accessible Winter Olympics coverage, featuring audio description and closed captioning, is designed to continue that mission. The world will be watching all the action in Milan and Cortina come February, and these services will allow our blind, low vision, Deaf and hard of hearing viewers to fully engage in the experience.”

Now that the unofficial beginning of fall is here, many of us are being inundated with ads about the season’s fashion offerings. But finding accessible clothing that’s also stylish and comfortable is not always easy.

While it’s true that retailers like Target, J.C. Penney, Tommy Hilfiger and some others have introduced accessible lines in recent years, the fact remains: people with disabilities face limited options when it comes to fashion.

Dr. Richard Bedlack, founder of Duke University’s ALS Clinic, is trying to change that. In early 2025, the doctor, who’s known for his fashion sense, partnered with design students at North Carolina State University to create a program called “Stitching Strength.” Working with Sam Pearce, Assistant Professor of the Practice at NC State’s Wilson College of Textiles, Bedlack connected students with ALS patients to teach them about creating clothing that is both stylish and adaptive.

In an article in Axios Raleigh, Bedlack explained that “a lot of people don’t understand the power of fashion. People think it’s for vanity or to get more followers, but for some of us, it’s a really important component of who we are.”

Bedlack also told Axios that fashion can offer hope for people with diseases with poor prognoses such as ALS. “Hope is so much more than an emotion,” Bedlack said. “It’s so much more than a coping strategy. I actually think hope is a treatment, and I think a lot of doctors don’t get that. It’s not taught to us in medical school how to be a good hope-giver.”

To make his new venture successful, Bedlack enlisted the assistance of some of his patients who helped to educate the young designers about the clothing needs of people with disabilities. They explained how when muscle control is a problem, using buttons, zippers and hooks can be difficult. They advised designers to use Velcro™ or magnet closures instead and to consider designing pants without bottom seams, dresses with open backs and using materials with a lot of stretch.

One patient who helped with the training effort was social media personality Brooke Eby, who has ALS and has partnered with adaptive clothing vendor Silverts. In an email to Axios, Eby said, “I think the adaptive fashion space historically has been catered to an older generation but now there are so many young people living with disabilities that want to look just as cute as their peers.”

After a successful semester, the class is slated to be offered again, and Dr. Bedlack plans to continue his involvement.

Professor Pearce, who teaches the class, hopes that all fashion courses will embrace universal design theory. “It’s not something that has to stick out,” she told Axios. “It can be something that blends in with the normal fashion of today, and even if you weren’t disabled you could still wear it and enjoy it.”

A documentary about the program came out in 2025. Check out the trailer and learn about hosting screenings at the Stitching Strength website.

Labor Day has passed, but we’re not through celebrating. That’s because National Guide Dog Month is now upon us. Yup! From Sept. 1-30 we’ll be commemorating the remarkable bond between humans and dogs – especially blind and visually impaired humans and their guide dogs. Not only do guide dogs, aka seeing eye dogs, help their people find their way, they also enhance their independence, increase their safety, and may even help them form social connections.

We’ve done some digging (pun intended!) and discovered these fun facts. 

How did guide dogs come to be?

According to National.com, dogs were domesticated approximately 150,000 years ago and have coexisted with humans ever since. In fact, “ancient artifacts and scrolls show instances where dogs were guiding their human companions.” The earliest known attempt to train dogs to lead the blind was at Les Quinze-Vingts Hospital For the Blind in Paris, France.

When and why did they first come to the U.S?

After WWI, when many soldiers returned home having lost their eyesight in combat, demand for guide dogs soared. This led to the creation of the very first school for guide dogs in Oldenburg, Germany. Dorothy Harrison Eustis, an American breeder and philanthropist is credited with bringing the first guide dog to the U.S. Later, she founded a training facility for guide dogs in New Jersey.

What does it take to become a guide dog?

Only dogs with an exceptional temperament, high intelligence and excellent health make the cut. The journey to become a guide dog begins at eight weeks, when carefully bred puppies are placed with volunteer trainers who teach them basic commands and socialization skills. Dogs that do well start formal training at 14-18 months old. At that time, they begin work with professional instructors. Typically, training lasts for at least five months.

How do guide dogs help their handlers?

According to Guidedogs.org, guide dogs are trained to “lead their handlers around obstacles, indicate stairs and street curbs, target doorways and other useful landmarks, among countless their other tasks.” Once their training is complete, guide dogs are matched to a compatible handler and the relationship between dog and human develops.

How do guide dogs make a difference?

Guide dogs can be life-changing for blind people and people with low vision. Instead of relying solely on others for assistance, handlers take charge of their own comings and goings. This creates a meaningful sense of autonomy and confidence that may translate into opportunities in areas such as education, employment, socialization and community participation. The partnership between handlers and their guide dogs cannot be underestimated.

How can you get one?

The first step to getting a guide dog is finding a guide school. Guide schools are responsible for training dogs and prospective handlers. Look for schools in your area, as schools may have different catchment areas and programs. Once you find a school that seems right for you, review the eligibility requirements. For example, Guide Dogs Foundation in Smithtown, New York. mandates that prospective applicants “must be legally blind and can demonstrate the need for a guide dog to help them remain safe and effective in their everyday travel.”  In addition, Guide Dogs Foundation prefers applicants that are able to “independently travel practical and purposeful routes with their current mobility device.”

Once you establish that you meet the organization’s criteria, it’s time to complete an application and provide documents such as medical reports, references, and sometimes an application video that shows evaluators what your lifestyle is like and demonstrates your health, and independent travel skills. The next steps to qualify are typically an in-home interview and an evaluation that assesses what sort of guide dog will best meet your needs. Once accepted to the organization’s guide dog program, you’ll be matched with a dog and receive rigorous training for community and residential settings. The best part? Guide dogs are free to people who qualify!

Happy Guide Dogs Month!

Last year, Starbucks launched the Inclusive Spaces Framework, a new initiative designed to make its stores more accessible to people with disabilities. Now, major retailers including CVS Health, Sam’s Club, Walmart, LockNet, Step ’n Wash and Otis Elevator have joined the coffee chain in its effort to make their businesses more inclusive.

In collaboration with the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), Starbucks and the other retailers have formed The Access Coalition: Creating More Inclusive Retail Spaces. As members of the coalition, all of the retailers will adopt Starbuck’s Inclusive Spaces Framework.

The Framework provides businesses standards on everything from lighting and acoustics to power-operated doors to accessible equipment for business employees to wheelchair accessible passageways.

Maria Town, president and CEO of AAPD, lauded the collaboration in a July 9 AAPD press release that acknowledged the 35^th anniversary of the Americans with Disability Act.

“The Access Coalition demonstrates the remarkable possibilities when industries and communities unite to design spaces reflecting diverse consumer needs,” said Town. “It is coalitions like this that make the goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act, of equal opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency achievable, and it is the work of coalitions like this that make it easier for us to embrace our disability pride.”

Currently, the Union Market Starbucks location in Washington, D.C., is the only store designed in accordance with the Inclusive Spaces Framework, but the corporation says it will be using the framework in new and renovated stores across the nation.

Other coalition members including Sam’s Club and Walmart have already begun piloting the Inclusive Spaces Framework in their stores throughout the United States. The retailers are also encouraging other businesses to join the coalition.

“At Starbucks, our inclusive design practice ensures that our coffeehouses are places of belonging for all, said Dawn Clark, Senior Vice President of Coffeehouse Design and Concepts, Starbucks. “There is enormous value in partnering with other businesses to create more welcoming places in the communities that we serve. We’ve learned that this approach improves the experience for everyone, especially people with disabilities, and is also good for businesses.” 

Charley Golden, Senior Vice President, Real Estate, Construction and Property Administration, CVS Health agrees with Clark. “At CVS Health, we know the importance ensuring every individual feels welcome on their health care journey,” said Golden. “We believe that everyone deserves access to care and resources they need, and we’re proud to ensure our spaces that reflect that commitment. Meeting the many health and wellness needs of the communities we serve is a priority and we know that building partnerships to drive accessibility is essential.”

Planning to be in New York City between now and April 20?

If so, you may want to check out the Big Umbrella Festival at Lincoln Center. The Festival features a diverse series of performances and programs geared toward neuro-diverse audiences of all ages. Lincoln Center refers to these events as “relaxed” which means that attendees can come in and out of the theaters as needed; vocalize without being “shushed” by other audience members and move around the venues freely. “Chill out spaces” will be available at all performances and workshops and accommodations are fully accessible.

The Big Umbrella Festival originated in 2018, several years after Lincoln Center presented Trusty Sidekick Theater Company’s show “Up and Away.” According to Playbill, “Up and Away” was “the nation’s first production commissioned by a large cultural institution for young people on the spectrum.” The production was a huge success, selling out performances and attracting media acclaim.

In 2017, Lincoln Center followed the success of “Up and Away” with “Campfire,” another production of Trusty Sidekick. Once again, the show was a sell-out. By that point, it was clear to then Lincoln Center Education Executive Vice President Russell Granet, that more offerings for neurodiverse audiences were needed. Lincoln Center rose to the challenge.

“We have a single unified mission, which is to bring the greatest art to the largest possible audience,” Granet told Playbill in 2018. “If we’re serious about that, then we have to be serious about working with people with disabilities. With 1 in 68 young people diagnosed with ASD [most recently the statistic is 1 in 36], this is a hugely underserved population.”

This year’s festival will offer three multisensory productions including “When the World Turns,” a presentation of Polyglot Theatre and Oily Cart. Playbill describes this production as “an immersive theatrical experience that celebrates the senses, inviting audiences into a wondrous landscape of foliage, light, sounds, and shadows.”

Big Umbrella will also present a production based on Shakespeare’s “Hamlet.” Created by Peruvian theater company Teatro La Plaza, the production, in Spanish with English subtitles, brings the stories of people with Down syndrome to the stage.

Another Big Umbrella offering is Second Hand Dance’s “The Sticky Dance: For Sensory Groovers,” an interactive dance production especially for young children and families. In addition, kids can participate in the workshop, “Magical Miniature World, where they can use accessible supplies to make artistic creations.

Finally, Lincoln Center will present a comedy night by ReelAbilities Film Festival – “the largest festival in the world dedicated to films by and about people with disabilities,” and two relaxed classical concerts for children on the spectrum.

To celebrate this year’s festival, Lincoln Center has produced a limited edition Big Umbrella Festival poster, given free to attendees while supplies last. The poster artwork (pictured above) was painted by Marlon Muller of the NIAD Art Center.  NIAD is a progressive art studio for adult artists with developmental disabilities. Mr. Muller’s work has been exhibited in galleries and museums worldwide and he currently has a solo exhibition at MoMA through April 20th.

For more information and to purchase tickets to the Big Umbrella Festival, click here.

Starting college is an exciting transition in the lives of disabled and non-disabled young adults alike.

Yet, a 2025 report by the National Disability Center for Student Success found that “the disabled student experience on campus is very different from the non-disabled student experience. Disabled students are less socially engaged, struggle with daily barriers, perceive their campus differently, feel isolated and misunderstood—and some decide to transfer or drop out as a result.”

To better serve students with disabilities, some students and administrators have created disabled student unions.

At Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, the disabled student union recently re-opened after an 18-month closure. That’s thanks to Saturday Rojas, a sociology major and president of the DSU. Rojas told her student newspaper, the Los Angeles Loyolan why the DSU matters.

“The main focus and importance of the DSU, at least as of right now, is that social aspect, and just being able to bring people together, or helping bridge the gap between the individual and the overall community. Instead of just focusing on academics and how to work with your disability to succeed and whatnot, [DSU] actually lets you find other people that you can get along with.”

On the East Coast, New York University’s DSU is a club “that advocates for students with both visible and invisible disabilities.”

When Emely Recinos first arrived at NYU, she struggled with feelings of isolation and frustration.

“I thought I was the only student facing accessibility issues on campus, says Recinos, who is now DSU co-president. “Becoming part of DSU gave me a space to share my feelings and find the social support I was looking for.”

American University in Washington D.C. also has an active DSU. It began after the COVID-19 pandemic, when students—especially those with chronic medical issues—felt more vulnerable and isolated than ever.

As Izzy Scholes-Young, a student at AU explained in her school newspaper, The Eagle, “the primary goal for me has just been creating a space where people can talk about their experiences with disability and helping other disabled people find each other, because that’s really, really difficult.”

In addition to providing safe spaces and social opportunities for people with disabilities and their allies, most DSUs also work to increase awareness of disability issues and campus accessibility.  A 2021 article in Inside Higher Ed quoted AU student Katherine Greenstein, then a member of the university’s DSU.

Said Greenstein: “On American University’s campus, disabled students struggle with uneven, impassable sidewalks; a lack of COVID-19 testing protocols; delayed responses from the accommodations office; and classrooms in buildings that are not wheelchair accessible.”  According to Inside Higher Ed, AU administrators acknowledged that on-campus accessibility is “a work in progress.”

During the COVID-19 pandemic, UCLA’s DSU collaborated with other campus organizations to create “a petition requesting that all in-person lectures be live-streamed, giving students the option to attend in person or watch online. The petition also sought to eliminate mandated in-person attendance for students and teaching assistants, and to provide recordings of classes for students with COVID-19 or with a modified attendance accommodation.” As of press time,  the petition [had received] over 28,000 signatures.”

DSUs also sponsor relevant programming. Programs include film festivals, parties, panel discussions and “hangouts.”

At NYU, students with disabilities had questions about studying abroad. So, the university’s DSU presented “Abilities Abroad: Adventures for Everyone,” an annual event to address their concerns.

“During this event, students with disabilities talk about the challenges they encountered while studying in a different country and how they ultimately overcame them, said co-president Christina Beck. “It’s a great way for students to ask specific questions related to their disability.”

Individuals living with disabilities don’t always agree about how to talk about disability. But it’s important to recognize that language matters.

Take, for example, the word “disability.” While some people prefer person-first language like “person with a disability,” others are more comfortable with identity-first language like “disabled person.” The best way to know what terminology is preferable is by asking the individual how they wish to be described.

Unfortunately, many people outside the disability community worry that “disability” is a pejorative term and wonder how to use it without offending anyone.

A new public service campaign in Michigan aims to change that perception.

The campaign, created by Disability Network Southwest Michigan (DNSM) and funded by local advertising agency Adams Outdoor Advertising, features huge billboards in the Kalamazoo area that read “#DWord.”

People who pause to read the rest of the billboard text are directed to the campaign website DWordPride.org, where they can learn more about the campaign and DNSM, a nonprofit run by people with and without disabilities working to advance “justice, access and inclusion for the Disability Community.”

According to the website, the #DWord campaign seeks to destigmatize the way the word disability is viewed in our society: “Instead of avoiding the word with euphemisms like special needs, handicapable, or differently-abled, simply use the word disability.”

Disability is a “natural part of the human condition,” say campaign creators. “Having a disability isn’t inherently good or bad; it just is. Like being female, or short, or Latino, or gay, or left-handed, disability is simply a characteristic. It is society who decides what characteristics are desirable and which ones are less so.”

So, how do we change our society and the commonly held assumption that disability is inherently negative? The DWord Pride website says we can do so by “recognizing and celebrating the unique identities, cultures, and experiences of disabled people and rejecting society’s notion that disability is somehow bad. By embracing disability pride, we build stronger communities and a movement of inclusion and acceptance for all.”

People with disabilities are encouraged to join the disability pride movement by posting on DWord Pride’s Instagram and Facebook pages or on their own social media platforms using #DWORD or #DWORDPRIDE.