Author: Grace W. Dow

Millions of disabled people and their families struggle every day to access the support they need. Once they have the right support, disabled people can often thrive. Unfortunately, that support is sometimes taken away. That’s what George Mulcahy’s family is facing. George, 22, is autistic. He spent three years at St. Piers College, where his… Continue reading Across the World, People Are Fighting the Same Battle

CW: Mental Illness Sometimes, stories are so difficult to hear because they show a painful reality about living with disabilities or getting mental health care. When it comes to children, parents are often told to push harder, make more calls, challenge denials, and never quit. But what happens when they do all of that and… Continue reading When Love Isn’t Enough

For many families raising children with developmental disabilities, finding a dentist can become a challenge long before anyone sits in a dental chair. Parents often describe making call after call, explaining that their child has autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, or an intellectual disability and asking whether a provider can accommodate sensory sensitivities, communication challenges,… Continue reading A Dental Appointment Shouldn’t Be This Difficult

CW: Ableism Thousands of disabled people across the UK are set to be offered a fast-tracked job as part of the government’s Jobs Guarantee scheme. Earlier this year, an interim report by Alan Milburn revealed that 45 percent of young people in the UK who were neither in education, employment, nor training reported having a… Continue reading Disabled Workers Are Ready, Are Employers?

CW: Discrimination Felicita Piñón is an eighth grader living with cerebral palsy. In 2024, Felicita wanted to join a cheerleading team at her middle school in Crowley, Texas, but her mother, Liz Piñón, learned that the school wasn’t willing to provide accommodations. She felt like that was discrimination. Piñón knew that there were other nearby… Continue reading When the Complaints Stop Coming Back

To many people, a decision by a federal judge on Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act seems esoteric, a matter of law. But for disabled people such as myself, this is personal. I have cerebral palsy, and I’ve lived in my own apartment for the last six years. Living in my own home and being… Continue reading For Disabled Americans, This Section 504 Ruling Is Personal

CW: Filicide & Death For a parent of a child with an intellectual or developmental disability (IDD), there have probably been moments where they have wondered: What will happen to my child when I’m gone? Members of Ireland’s parliament were recently discussing the reality faced by aging parents of adults with IDD. Independent TD Seamus… Continue reading Who Will Care for Them?

Kelli Stuart’s 11-year-old son Sawyer has autism and a genetic disorder. His family converted a trampoline into a bed in order to keep him safe. For the last year and a half, Stuart has been trying to get Medicaid to approve an enclosed safety bed. Five different doctors have written letters of medical necessity for… Continue reading We Already Proved It

Earlier this year, MassHealth took away my overnight personal care assistant (PCA) hours. This meant that I lost fourteen PCA hours per week. On paper, it was another reassessment and another determination about what support I supposedly needed. Sadly, it was a reminder of how fragile independence can be. I spent almost two months fighting… Continue reading When Care Becomes a Question

For many people, Medicaid might not seem very political. They might think of it as healthcare coverage for low-income Americans. For many disabled people, Medicaid is far more than a government program. It pays for the services that make it possible to live in the community rather than in an institution. That’s why advocates are… Continue reading What Happens When Medicaid Gets Disability Wrong?