Featured Special Project Archives - Disabled Journalists Association

Featured Special Project

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott speaks at a “CREATING JOBS” lectern beside the Buc-ee’s beaver mascot and staff.

What the defeats of Greg Abbott and Ken Paxton, foes of disability rights, mean for Texas

Put simply, last Tuesday’s midterm elections mean that two of the biggest thorns in the side of the disability...

By John Loeppky

November 10, 2026

Featured Special Project

Josh Turek, in a navy polo, sits at a table with a drink, with a wooden deck and grill behind him.

Josh Turek’s complicated victory is a mandate for community building

We’ve written extensively at DJA about how responses to disasters like tsunamis and earthquakes tend to be inaccessible. That...

By John Loeppky

November 5, 2026

Featured Special Project

Illustration with the words “The Disability Tax” in bold letters on a light blue background. A blue line zigzags upward like a rising price chart and ends in a red rocket blasting off. Below it are a shopping cart, stacks of copper coins and a small house with a red roof.

The Disability Tax: Why extra costs of being Disabled aren’t just dollars and cents

Laura White, 40, of Michigan, paid the same fee as everyone else when she applied for her professional license...

By Kelli Finger

November 2, 2026

Featured Special Project

Illustration with the headline “The Accessibility Premium.” Beneath the headline, a zigzag arrow climbs from a shopping cart and ends in a rocket launching upward, next to a small house and stacks of coins.

The Accessibility Premium: When the cheaper option isn’t really an option

Tiana, 33, of Windsor, Colorado, who asked that her last name not be published, expected her ride home from...

By Kelli Finger

October 30, 2026

Featured Special Project

Illustration with the headline “The Price of Maintaining Independence.” Beneath the headline, a zigzag arrow climbs from a shopping cart and ends in a rocket launching upward, next to a small house and stacks of coins.

The Price of Independence: Why freedom of choice comes at great risk

For Ricole Wicks, 38, an entrepreneur from Greensboro, North Carolina, independence means preserving enough energy to get through the...

By Kelli Finger

October 29, 2026

Featured Special Project

Illustration with the headline “The Cost of Living Crunch,” with “cost” and “crunch” in red. A zigzag line climbs from a shopping cart to a rocket blasting upward. Below are stacks of coins and a small house.

The Disability Cost-of-Living Crunch: When you’ve cut everything and still can’t live

Affordability has remained a major national concern through the past two election cycles. Americans continue to wrestle with the...

By Kelli Finger

October 28, 2026

Featured Special Project

An extreme closeup photo of an artichoke growing in a field.

The heart of money matters: Inside the building of a credit union for Disabled people

When Ed Roberts was a child, he overheard doctors telling his mother that polio would force him to live...

By John Loeppky

October 28, 2026

Featured Special Project

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz smiles while wearing a navy blue suit, white shirt, rust-colored tie and American flag lapel pin. The background is blurred.

Troubled Medicaid Housing Program in Minnesota to be replaced

The Minnesota Department of Human Services is planning to replace Housing Stabilization Services, a Medicaid program that was so...

By Alyssa Chen, Minnesota Reformer

October 12, 2026

Featured Special Project

Portraits of Congresswoman Debbie Dingell in an orange top and pearl necklace and Congressman Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick in a dark suit and lavender tie, shown side by side.

Congressional resolution affirms Disabled people’s right to live in communities

A bipartisan committee in the U.S. House of Representatives is affirming the rights of Disabled people to live in...

By R.L. Nave

September 30, 2026

Featured Special Project

Male judge in a courtroom with the gavel and working with holy book and brass scale on wood table.

‘Make a stink’: After Trump Judge Deals Blow to Disability Community, Advocates Urge Vigilance to Protect Rights

Fear not — Section 504 is still the law. That's the message disability rights attorneys and advocates are stressing...

By John Loeppky

September 25, 2026

Featured Special Project

The Art Deco facade of the former Daily Telegraph Building on Fleet Street in London, a pale stone building with fluted columns, a colorful clock and gilded window frames, under a bright blue sky.

Analysis: Telegraph’s ‘Sickfluencer’ Story Is More Ableism With an English Accent

Every once in a while an overtly ableist article trounces its way into the social media discourse. Last year,...

By John Loeppky

September 24, 2026

Featured Special Project

An outdoor basketball hoop with trees visible in the background.

Iran Skipping the World Wheelchair Basketball Championship Raises New Questions about Para Sport and Geopolitics

The hoop dreams of the Iran men's wheelchair basketball team have been stopped short/LinghuiXu via Pixabay The...

By John Loeppky

September 14, 2026