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
Cane Colors and Patterns That Signal Vision or Hearing Loss
What white, red and white striped, and green canes signal about blindness, low vision, and deafblindness, plus the history and laws behind each color. Published: 11 Sep 2026.
Christian Nationalism and Disability: A History of Harm
How Christian nationalism and organized religion have harmed disabled Americans, from eugenics sermons and church ADA exemptions to modern ableism. Published: 11 Sep 2026.
Epistemology and Disability: How We Know What We Know
An authoritative guide to epistemology, the study of knowledge, and how disability reshapes ideas about evidence, testimony and epistemic injustice. Published: 10 Sep 2026.
TMVII Ringworm: The New Sexually Spread Fungal Infection
Facts on TMVII ringworm, an emerging sexually transmitted fungal skin infection - how it differs from normal ringworm, symptoms, spread, and treatment. Published: 10 Sep 2026.
Living With Bipolar Disorder and OCD: A Life Story
A personal account of living undiagnosed for years with bipolar disorder and OCD, covering diagnosis, work struggles, disability, stigma, and family life. Published: 9 Sep 2026.
Northern Improves Disability Training After ORR Review
Northern Trains completed 23 actions to fix disability awareness training for passenger-facing staff after an Office of Rail and Road investigation this year. Published: 8 Sep 2026.
Newly Updated Pages
When Our Murdered Uncle and His Stories Are Lost Forever: A personal essay on the murder of a Native American uncle, cultural loss, fierce family advocacy, and raising neurodiverse siblings across many backgrounds.
Disability Marriage Penalty: Benefits, Law, and Rights: How the disability marriage penalty forces disabled adults to stay unmarried to keep Social Security, Medicaid, and Medicare benefits under US law.
HCBS Reform: Expanding Community Living Over Institutions: Learn how Home and Community Based Services reform supports seniors and people with disabilities to live independently, cutting costs and expanding choice.
Senators Oppose Removing Gender Dysphoria Disability Status: Three U.S. senators urge HHS to rescind a proposed Section 504 rule that would remove gender dysphoria from the Rehabilitation Act disability definition.
Proprioception: The Sixth Sense in Aging and Disability: Explore proprioception, the sixth sense that enables body awareness, its decline in seniors and disability, and surprising links to consciousness theories.