Disability Rights

Katherine Weaver, Chicago Tribune Sat, July 26, 2025 at 2:31 PM CDT You wouldn’t guess that Matt Keeth has a severe visual impairment from the way he skateboarded up and down Chicago’s Disability Pride Parade in the Loop — if not for the red-and-white striped cane he rolls in front of him. Keeth, 31, a…

July 22, 2025 5:00 AM ET By Emily Chen-Newton CINCINNATI — July is Disability Pride Month, commemorating the date, July 26, that the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law in 1990. This year, cities across America are celebrating 35 years of the ADA with parades and festivals. In Cincinnati, there are a slew of events,…

Kayla Jimenez, Madeline Mitchell July 19, 2025 Stacy Staggs’s 11-year-old daughter will never eat or breathe on her own. Five times a day, Staggs or a nurse feeds her daughter, Emma Staggs, doctor-prescribed formula through a feeding tube at home. The formula comes at $25 per bottle, amounting to $125 per day. The formula is…

By Miranda Green July 14, 2025 / 5:00 AM EDT In the wake of January’s deadly wildfires, Los Angeles County leaders are weighing a disaster registry intended to help disabled and senior residents get connected to emergency responders to bring them to safety during disasters. County supervisors approved a feasibility study this spring for such a voluntary database.…

By Lauren Victory July 11, 2025 / 6:45 PM CDT About 60,000 children with developmental disabilities qualify for a free Illinois program that provides speech, physical therapy, and other services. It’s called “early intervention” and can be a game-changer. The problem is that the service is delayed for more than 2,000 kids. Meet the Heath…

By Derek James July 8, 2025 / 5:11 PM CDT A young man with a heart as big as his smile dedicated a hot summer day to helping others like him. Joe Carr has been organizing an annual fundraiser by setting up a lemonade stand in Richfield for a decade now. “Welcome to the 2025…

Republicans have touted Medicaid work requirements both as a way to reduce federal spending on the program and as a moral imperative for Americans. June 30, 2025, 1:53 PM CDT By Bram Sable-Smith | KFF Health News Four years before Kimberly Gallagher enrolled in Medicaid herself, the public health insurance program’s rules prompted her to make…

BY Javari Burnett Cincinnati PUBLISHED 5:30 AM ET Jun. 30, 2025 CINCINNATI — A sweeping federal budget proposal under debate in Congress is raising alarms among disability advocates, who say it could threaten critical services for millions of Americans, including more than 1.7 million people with disabilities in Ohio. What You Need To Know The Senate is deep…

June 30, 20256:00 AM ET Jon Hamilton People who have lost the ability to move or speak may soon have a new option: surgically implanted devices that link the brain to a computer. More than two decades after researchers first demonstrated that a person could move a computer cursor with their thoughts, several firms are poised to…

Natalie Eilbert June 26, 2025 A bill introduced in Congress this month would end the disparity in how long-term disability insurance carriers treat physical conditions and mental conditions or substance abuse disorders. Today, jobs with long-term disability benefits typically provide insurance coverage for physical ailments until retirement age. However, no matter how severe and persistent…