Disability Advocates Push Inclusion Across Schools, Safety

Reports highlight efforts and shortcomings in making public spaces and emergency services more inclusive for people with disabilities. In Vico del Gargano, a school’s new access ramp ends at six steps, leaving a wheelchair-using student unable to use the main entrance and prompting her mother to call attention to the barrier. In Missouri, disaster-planning coordinator Deb Hendricks develops preparedness resources and alert cards to help people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, their families, and first responders prepare for emergencies. Maryland’s butterfly symbol on state IDs—and a similar voluntary program adopted by Montgomery College—aims to help first responders and campus staff recognize when someone with a non-apparent disability may need a different communication approach; meanwhile, Ohio self-advocates shared perspectives on digital safety and disability at a statewide conference.