disability rights Archives - TPR: The Public's Radio

Bob Kafka, a disabled Vietnam veteran, talks with an Austin Police Officer as he and others try to enter a hotel property.

NPR

Disability rights advocate Bob Kafka dead at 79

by Alana Wise December 27, 2025December 27, 2025

Bob Kafka was an organizer with ADAPT (American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today), a group which advocates for policy change to support people with disabilities.

Left: Ed Martin was one of the authors of the law now known as IDEA. Before the law, children with disabilities were often turned away from public schools. “They were invisible,” says Martin. Right: Maggie Heilman and her daughter, Brooklynn, 14, at their home in a Kansas City suburb. Brooklynn has Down syndrome and her own special education plan thanks to IDEA.

NPR

50 years after the birth of special education, some fear for its future under Trump

by Cory Turner December 3, 2025December 3, 2025

The Trump administration has fired, or tried to fire, many of the federal staff who manage and enforce federal disability law in schools.

Taylor Carty, who has cerebral palsy, long dreamt of becoming a doctor. She hoped to one day help children and young adults with disabilities.

NPR

One woman’s fight to remove barriers for aspiring doctors with disabilities

by Kristin Wright May 15, 2025May 15, 2025

After her dreams of becoming a doctor were denied, one California woman is working to make the profession more accessible to those with disabilities.

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