For Deaf or hard of hearing students, the ADA requires "auxiliary aids and services," defined as qualified interpreters and “other effective methods” for communication access

Celebration of International Day of Persons with Disabilities should be accompanied by reflection for the global human rights movement. Honest reflection compels a consideration as to whether and how Amnesty International – and the human rights movement as a whole – is accommodating persons with disabilities and the disability rights agenda in its human rights work. This is especially germane in the light of the 10 year anniversary of the 2006 adoption of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD).

For more than 30 years, Judith Heumann has been involved on the international front working with disabled people’s organizations and governments around the world to advance the human rights of disabled people.

During the first 100 days of a new administration, it is worth reflecting on the prospects for advancing the rights of persons with disabilities both here and abroad.  Several factors suggest alignment between priorities of the Trump administration and a robust agenda for accessibility.  

The purpose of this blog series, prepared under the auspices of USAID’s Office of Education, is to address some potential challenges and solutions to increase student literacy rates as they relate to a variety of disabilities in diverse global contexts. This first blog in the series will provide an overview of issues related to disability and literacy around the world. Though not all students with disabilities will require reading interventions to become literate, we encourage you to use these strategies to help support all students to attain literacy, not just students with disabilities.

Over the years and around the world, especially in low-income countries, I’ve heard my sisters and brothers with disabilities express incredible frustration with the lack of employment among people with disabilities. Their aggravation is warranted: on average, across the globe, 44% of disabled persons are working, while 75% of people without a disability are employed.

An aging woman, hands rough from a post-polio life spent pulling herself around on the earthen floor of her roadside store in western Kenya, has no government assistance by which to achieve an education or gainful employment. She and her family live at the intersection of disability, gender, poverty, and Western capitalism.

After our first week in Belfast where we worked to set up interviews with local Deaf people about their experiences in the system of justice, the two of us took a break and flew to London for two days.

Nothing could dampen the excitement of the two-week journey that we were about to embark on as we met at Newark International Airport for our flight to Belfast, Northern Ireland (“Norn Iron,” as the locals say). 

Refugee (/ˌrefyo͝oˈjē/)- n. a person who flees for refuge or safety, especially to a foreign country, as in time of political upheaval, war, etc.

Crip, Deaf and Dumb, Deformed, Freak, Gimp, Idiot, Imbecile, Lame, Lunatic, Maniac, Mongoloid, Moron, Mute, Nuts, Pinhead, Psycho, Schizo, Spaz, Sperg, Stupid, Tard, Whacko