Disability News, Benefits, and Health Resources
Seventy million American adults live with a disability. Another 1.3 billion people worldwide (about the combined population of Europe and North America) share that experience, roughly 16 percent of the global population. Disabled World (DW), also known to many readers as Disability World, reports on the policies, research, benefits, and assistive technology that shape their lives. Coverage centers on the United States: Social Security and SSI payments, Medicare and Medicaid rules, accessibility law, and medical research relevant to American readers. International stories appear where they intersect with American policy or practice. Disabled World has been publishing since 2004 under the banner Towards Tomorrow. Learn more about us.
"Disability is the only minority group that anyone can join at any time." - a widely shared saying in the disability community, often attributed to American comedian Josh Blue.
Did You Know:
- 1 - Autism diagnoses have risen dramatically: about 1 in 31 eight-year-old children (3.2 percent) were identified with autism in 2022 CDC surveillance data, up from 1 in 36 in 2020 and just 1 in 150 when the CDC first began tracking it among children born in the early 1990s.
- 2 - Disability rises sharply with age: about 8.7 percent of adults aged 18 to 29 report a disability, climbing to 43.9 percent among adults aged 65 and older.
- 3 - Childhood disability tracks closely with family income - 18 percent of U.S. children in families below the poverty level report a disability, compared with 11 percent of children in families at or above 200 percent of the poverty level. View more Disability Statistics.
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Popular Pages
- Disability Loans and Grants: Financial assistance programs available for low-income families, seniors, and disabled students.
- Famous People with Disabilities: Lists of well-known people with various disabilities and conditions who contributed to society.
- Awareness Ribbon Colors: Guide to awareness ribbon colors for health, medical conditions, disability, and other causes.
- Adult Height to Weight Chart: Ideal weight-to-height ratio for adult females and males.
- Child to Teen Height to Weight Ratio Charts: Average height-to-weight ratios for children and teens organized by age.
Recent Disability News and Information
Social Security Adds 14 Compassionate Allowances
Social Security added 14 conditions to its Compassionate Allowances list, expanding to 314 conditions that speed disability benefit approvals for severe illness. Published: 11 Aug 2026.
Public Transit Barriers Limit NYC Disability Employment
How inaccessible buses, subways, and rail in New York City raise commute times and lower employment rates for working-age people with disabilities. Published: 6 Aug 2026.
Effective Altruism and Disability: A Critical Guide
An authoritative guide to effective altruism, its cost-effectiveness methods, and the sharp debates it has provoked among disability rights scholars. Published: 4 Aug 2026.
UK TV Disability Hiring Target May Not Be Met Until 2028
Independent Creative Diversity Network review finds UK television off-screen disability representation rose just 0.9%, delaying the Doubling Disability target. Published: 4 Aug 2026.
Newly Updated Pages
Social Security Compassionate Allowances List: Learn about the SSA's Compassionate Allowances program, fast-tracking disability benefits for severe conditions like cancer and rare diseases in as little as 10 days.
Ocumetics Bionic Lens: Development Updates and Facts: Updates on the Ocumetics Bionic Lens, an accommodative intraocular implant designed to restore natural vision at all distances and to prevent cataracts.
MagGlass: Digital Magnifier App for the Visually Impaired: MagGlass is an easy-to-use iOS digital magnifier app for the visually impaired, with binocular-style zoom and a flashlight for reading signs and traffic signals.
AI Wearable Neck Patch Enables Speech Without Vocal Cords: A soft wearable neck patch from UCLA reads laryngeal muscle movement and uses machine learning to translate it into audible speech with nearly 95% accuracy.