Disability Debrief

My lesson from 2024? More is possible than we first imagine. This was the year that I fully realised the mobility I lost after an accident and surgeries in the previous years. It's been a long breakup with walking that still sometimes makes me feel cut-off from my previous life. And it's the year that I adapted more to using a wheelchair, taking my first foreign travel. In this week's Disability Debrief I reflect on the personal and political changes of the year gone by. I get into elections and just one of the million ways a Trump Presidency impacts my future plans. I call generative AI the uninvited guest of 2024 and touch on the caution we need to take about its reckless use in disability advocacy. Read more: https://lnkd.in/ggjNa5Pa Epic illustration of my journey through 2024 by Kinanty Andini. And reporting support from Celestine Fraser.

I can say with zero hesitation that Peter is building one of *the most* important new media platforms of our generation. Get behind him. Independent work of such high quality cannot survive without community support.

I need your help. I make Disability Debrief to share news on disability from around the world, to shine a light on work done in our name, and to give a platform for stories of disabled people, told in their own words. The weekly newsletter is a resource trusted by activists, academics and policy makers. It's a unique reference in both its breadth, now covering news from over 160 countries, and in depth, reporting stories you won't hear elsewhere. Its impact led me to being recognised in the hundred most influential disabled people in the United Kingdom. There are two things I need help with to do even more in 2025. The first is finance. If you're comfortable to do so! - contributing financially. The second is visibility. You can help by sharing this work. See more: https://lnkd.in/gYjVQkiY And thank you. This is the most meaningful work I've had in my life and I couldn't do it without you. 🙏🏼 #DisabilityRights #Newsletter #IndependentMedia

If you are curious on this International Day of Persons with Disabilities and want to do some reading, sign up for the Disability Debrief.

A fantastic show ready for International Day of Disabled People on 3rd Dec 2025. Our guests Susan Scott-Parker and Peter Torres Fremlin tell you more. #IDPWD2025 Link to show: https://lnkd.in/e_8Z4c5c

Time for another tour of world disability news, from kinky airport wheelchairs to the world's forgotten conflicts. There's disability draft-dodging and - I know readers particularly love this - the head of a disability organisation who's getting way too many fancy flights. Whether it's the latest reports, insights from the community or using Star Trek for disability advocacy., stay in touch with the latest developments with this Disability Debrief, which curates 150 links across 46 countries. https://lnkd.in/e-TZPanC Featuring Shaw Trust, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF), The Continent News, International Disability and Development Consortium, European Disability Forum, Malick Reinhard, John Loeppky, Yo También A.C., et al #DisabilityPower100 #DisabilityRights

Last night I was named as one of the 100 most influential disabled people in the UK. I'm moved by it, and I also have awkward questions. #DisabilityPower100 Don't get me wrong. This is the first recognition like this that I've had in my career and it's moving on a deep level. As disabled folk working on disability rights so much of our lives and work involves challenge and high among them is limited acknowledgement of who we are or what we're doing. I'm particularly proud that it's my work Disability Debrief that has gotten this recognition. What started as a side project is now read as a trusted reference by thousands of activists, policy makers and academics all over the world. In a world where we drown in information trying to get attention on a media platform covering international disability news is hard. On a personal level my biggest hope from the night is that more people find the Debrief newsletter: https://lnkd.in/eJ4M-SEV Part of what the Debrief contributes is being a critical friend to the disability sector. It's important we explore questions about how the sector works, and that includes moments like this one. First I want to recognise the tension in celebrating individual achievement in what is, at our best, the efforts of collectives and wider community. Not to mention the millions of disabled people who go under the radar, both in terms of recognition and in how our initiatives don't reach them. And my second question is the more knotty one of the role of large charities and big business, and their relationship to the disability community. Yes, the recognition they give us is definitely important and validating. Shaw Trust were brilliant hosts - an event on this scale needs a big organisation to put together and run so smoothly, and it was fantastic to among so many brilliant people. And I agree with the premise that individual changemakers have an important role. But recognition is not enough. If charities and companies are going to celebrate individuals, they should also support them. Many of last night's winners got there through sheer hustle and grit. We do our work on budgets that are microscopic or non-existent compared to those celebrating us. Sponsoring awards nights is great, but where are the grants? #DemandTheChange

Schools get children ready for society. But society isn't one that includes people equally, and so schools establish barriers as well as breaking them. Today's Disability Debrief goes back to school, hearing the experiences of disabled people in segregated and mainstream education and our love-hate relationship with those educating us. I share how I almost missed mainstream education, and explore the persistence as well as the extremes of segregated education. Plus, the colonial roots of a “civilizing mission” and how that spread special schools around the world. https://lnkd.in/ex3p5YSE Illustration from Kinanty Andini who gives us a peak into some of her classroom experience. #DisabilityRights #Education

The #COP29 conference is underway, and I interviewed Áine Kelly-Costello for things to keep in mind when telling stories at the intersection of climate change and disability justice. For #COP29, Aine suggests that reporters ask disabled attendees about their experience with the newly integrated accessibility features. “There's a lot of distrust of the media in general from disabled people who've been harmed by coverage of their own stories or communities in the past,” Aine says. “Giving disabled people agency in the coverage is critical,” they say. “You could ask disabled people to tell you, for instance: “What do you want to say to the emergency response agencies about doing things differently? How are you and your community adapting under these circumstances?” With these answers you can get different stories coming through that can be beneficial for everyone.” Read the latest issue of #ReframingDisability for the complete interview, data and resources on the topic: https://lnkd.in/gJi5uice Also featuring the work of Disability Debrief, Unbias The News, Inherited Podcast, Ashli Blow, Meghan Wise, Julia Watts Belser Virali Modi Puneet Singh Singhal Subscribe, and share #ReframingDisability with someone who is interested in disability inclusive approaches in content: https://lnkd.in/gBb2WX4g #DisabilityInclusion #MediaRepresentation #InclusiveJournalism #Accessibility #a11y

Travelling-while-disabled has many mishaps, misunderstandings but also quite a bit of magic. Tanzila Khan, an activist and travel writer from Pakistan who takes us on some of her wild travels in today's Disability Debrief. We hear so much about travel from white men going about the world with their backpacks of privilege so it's fantastic to read someone who is far from our stereotyped ideas of what adventure looks like. Tanzila is someone who has had to make her own stories: https://lnkd.in/eyyAdvgH This edition blessed by the illustration from Sonaksha Iyengar. #DisabilityRights #TravelWriting #Adventure #Fairytales