Discrimination Against the Disability Community in 2026
At this point in history, discrimination is something society likes to imagine is already resolved. We like to believe as a developed society in western culture that we have evolved past the point of discrimination. And in some ways, this delusion is proven true. Right? We have laws protecting the wheelchair ramps and handicapped parking spaces, fair housing, equal opportunity employment, federal resources allocated to benefitting the disabled, advocates and public office support, and even social pressure and consequences all playing a part in protecting our disabled population from discrimination. Unfortunately, however, the lived experiences of our disabled population tells a grim story about the effectiveness of these programs in protecting people from discrimination. Worse yet, the statistics paint a darker picture of the discrimination disabled people experience systemically in the United States as well as the entire geopolitical spectrum worldwide. It is disappointing and as caregivers and advocates for the community, it is our responsibility to reject the delusion and turn up the heat for world, federal, and state level public officials, but especially for our local community members.
Research estimates that up to one half of people killed by police are disabled. If you are disabled in the United States, you are four times more likely to experience nonfatal violence than the average individual per capita. Children with disabilities are at an extreme risk of sexual violence at the distressing statistic of one in four, isolating disabled girls into the most at risk population to sexual violence in the United States. On average, being disabled makes one less likely to receive adequate health care in comparison to average due to discrimination as well. But I don’t have to explain any of this to you. The lived experiences of the people in our community speak for themselves, and it’s time we do too.
More than just systemically, we see discrimination show up in visceral ways in our community. We experience it in the lack of accommodations to the medical, physical, or social limitations of our group in community environments. We experience it in the enforcement of unaccommodating, rigid social rules written without consideration of the impossibility for some members of our community to stay compliant, excluding real innocent people from spaces that they have a right to. We experience it in the horrifying events in July of 2026 when our group was victimized and threatened while using public transportation. In macro and micro aggressions alike, discrimination against the disabled community is rampant in our society, and we brush up against it on a daily basis.
All hope is not lost, however, the disability community is still only just beginning to break discrimination prevention ground. Systemically, socially, and geopolitically, we have our work cut out for us. The key to ending mindless hate is to increase knowledge, empathy, and understanding in the everyday interactions with individuals surrounding our community. Many of us have no power in public office as well as no platform so we deeply underestimate the power of our voice. However gutsy, educating people around us is easier than ever before with AI technology at our fingertips. Speaking out about the real lived experiences of the members of our community to society is our obligation as advocates, whether we are heard or not.
