WBFO Disabilities Beat
The WBFO Disabilities Beat aims to promote equity and acceptance by elevating marginalized voices, holding corporations and government accountable, and combatting misinformation and stigmatization through education about the disability community.
Reports from the Disabilities Beat provide Western New York residents with essential information about the challenges facing people with disabilities and content that promotes understanding. In-depth, original, long-form reporting addresses issues relevant to people living with disabilities, their families, caregivers, community leaders, and decision-makers. Coverage also contextualizes important regional and national news to consider the unique and often-overlooked implications of economic, education, policy and environmental impacts on the disability community. Reporting will also tie disability rights to discussions about the economy (e.g., wage gaps for employees with disabilities), civic participation (e.g., accessibility of ballot machines), mobility (e.g., paratransit availability), and more.
Every Wednesday, hear 7-8 minute Disabilities Beat reports on WBFO during Morning Edition and All Things Considered.
Reports from the Disabilities Beat provide Western New York residents with essential information about the challenges facing people with disabilities and content that promotes understanding. In-depth, original, long-form reporting addresses issues relevant to people living with disabilities, their families, caregivers, community leaders, and decision-makers. Coverage also contextualizes important regional and national news to consider the unique and often-overlooked implications of economic, education, policy and environmental impacts on the disability community. Reporting will also tie disability rights to discussions about the economy (e.g., wage gaps for employees with disabilities), civic participation (e.g., accessibility of ballot machines), mobility (e.g., paratransit availability), and more.
Every Wednesday, hear 7-8 minute Disabilities Beat reports on WBFO during Morning Edition and All Things Considered.
The WBFO Disabilities Beat is funded in part by the Peter & Elizabeth Tower Foundation.
Latest from the WBFO Disabilities Beat
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The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is now requiring the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company to submit a plan to install temporary pollution control measures at their Niagara Falls chemical plant by the end of the month, and install permanent pollution control measures by October 2026. -
Twenty-six years ago this month, a thirty-two-year-old Fredonia native died after being pushed in front of a New York City subway car. New York state hasn't been the same since. Just months after Kendra Webdale's death, a law was passed in her name, allowing for adults with a history of non-compliance with mental health treatment to be placed under an Assisted Outpatient Treatment Order, or AOT. This year, the governor is proposing changes to this law and involuntary commitment. -
The United Steelworkers union (USW) is now urging Goodyear to reduce emissions of a bladder carcinogen being released into the air around their Niagara Falls chemical plant. USW represents about 40 workers inside the plant. -
The order, issued in the case of Glidedowan, LLC d/b/a All-American Homecare v. New York State Department of Health, prevents the DOH from requiring the petitioner to convey to "any third party" information about consumers and their personal care workers, or notifying those consumers and their personal care workers about a transition. -
This week on Voices of Disability Pride, advocate Courtney Deuro discusses with WBFO’s freelance disability reporter Mason Ald the importance of self-advocacy in medical settings and the current gaps in support services. Deuro shares how maintaining contact with disability services and medical professionals can help prevent those with fluctuating support needs from falling through the cracks. -
On Tuesday, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that Independent Living Centers will be included in the new fiscal intermediary structure for the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, or CDPAP. -
Colleen Kristich, senior researcher for partnership for the public good explains what a community responder program is, and how everyone in the community can benefit from the program. -
![[Stock Photo] Senior woman sitting alone in her kitchen. She is looking at an empty chair beside her with a serious expression.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/eeb065b/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5184x2888+0+284/resize/280x156!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F6e%2F51%2F49f2e6584b3d97b993bd0967ea96%2Fgettyimages-665789980.jpg)
Disabled CDPAP activist Julie Farrar, who recently went viral for confronting Gov. Hochul in an Albany mall, worries the state is “commodifying” the lives of personal care recipients with the switch to a single fiscal intermediary in the coming months. -
It’s now less than a week until we ring in the New Year. Ball drops, streamers, and fireworks are all sensory experiences people seek out on New Years. But what if someone in your family has a disability impacted by sensory stimuli? -
Advocates canvassed Niagara Falls’ LaSalle neighborhood with a plume map last weekend showing neighborhood exposure to a bladder carcinogen. They want to see the EPA intervene and stop Goodyear from releasing ortho-toluidine into the air at high rates. Residents are angry, but not surprised. -
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The modeling, by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, shows that levels of ortho-toluidine in some areas are seven times the state’s safety guideline.
![[Stock Photo] Senior woman sitting alone in her kitchen. She is looking at an empty chair beside her with a serious expression.](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/dcf8bd6/2147483647/strip/true/crop/5184x2888+0+284/resize/560x312!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F6e%2F51%2F49f2e6584b3d97b993bd0967ea96%2Fgettyimages-665789980.jpg)
Additional WBFO Disabilities Reporting
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The closing of a prominent Buffalo pain doctor's clinic several years ago raised questions. But forgotten in the mix was what happened to his chronic pain patients, that came to him with a legitimate concern? The aftermath of Dr. Eugene Gosy's clinic closure has highlighted the challenges Americans face in getting chronic pain treatment while our country confronts the opioid epidemic. -
Governor Kathy Hochul’s Executive Budget included $1 million for Special Olympics New York. WBFO’s Disability Reporter Emyle Watkins first reported in December that the organization was asking the state for at least $1.5 million in the next budget to prevent program cuts. Watkins spoke with their CEO after the budget was released to get her reaction. -
On Tuesday, New York Governor Kathy Hochul shared her vision for New York in her State of the State address, which often previews what may be included in her budget proposal. WBFO’s Disability Reporter Emyle Watkins spoke with the head of a local disability services agency to get her reaction. -
Ahead of New York Gov. Kathy Hochul's State of the State address, one disability organization is asking the state to make a change that could rescue important programs for people with disabilities. -
Delaware North committed to a $100,000 donation to support unified sports programs in local schools. -
If you’ve ever been to a fundraiser at a restaurant, you know it’s a chance to have a great time with friends and support a cause. But for a local woman with a disability, a trip to Tully’s Good Times in Cheektowaga for a Special Olympics fundraiser, ended up being a bad time, as she was left to eat her meal off of a chair. -
One hundred years after a league we all know, the National Football League, was founded, another league launched with the hope of expanding access to football. WBFO’s Emyle Watkins shares how this new sport held a national tournament in New York State for the first time ever this October. -
Five months after WBFO published an investigation into at-its-face violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the City of Buffalo quietly welcomed its first full-time ADA coordinator. WBFO’s Disability Reporter Emyle Watkins sat down with her to learn more about her background and goals for the city. -
This back-to-school season, Walmart announced sensory hours. WBFO asked parents and neurodivergent adults if these sensory hours were helpful to their experiences. -
Summer - it is a time of year widely romanticized in books, movies and TV. Grand adventures, grand gestures, falling in love…. But how much feels really authentic, like something you could have gone through? This summer, a local author has a new book that brings a fresh and relatable take on the great summer romance novel. WBFO’s Emyle Watkins has more.
