Disability activism and organizing is powerful. Whether you want to advocate for yourself, organize your community, change policy, or challenge systemic ableism, there are ways to get involved that work with your disability and capacity.
Disability activists have transformed society. We've won rights, changed laws, and shifted culture. We've fought institutionalization, demanded accessibility, and built alternative systems based on care and justice.
You don't have to be an expert to organize. You don't have to sacrifice your health. You don't have to do it alone. This section covers ways to get involved in disability advocacy at different levels and with different capacities.
Beginning disability advocacy. Covers knowing your rights, speaking up, self-advocacy, and building confidence in your voice.
Working for policy and systemic change. Covers contacting elected officials, testifying, organizing campaigns, and lobbying for disability rights.
How to protest accessibly. Covers adapting protests for disabilities, accessibility roles, energy management during protests, and safety.
Disability-friendly volunteer opportunities. Covers finding meaningful volunteer work, flexible volunteering, and disability-aware organizations.
Starting your own disability group or organization. Covers organizing with other disabled people, accessible group dynamics, and sustainable organizing.
Principles and practices of disability community organizing. Covers base building, power analysis, campaigns, and disability justice organizing.
Advocacy 101 →
Policy Advocacy →
Accessible Protest Guide →
Volunteering →
Starting Organizations →
¶ I want to understand organizing
Community Organizing →
Self-advocacy means speaking up for yourself and your rights. It can be:
Individual: Requesting accommodation, complaining to a business, talking to your doctor
Systemic: Filing complaints, testifying at hearings, speaking publicly
Collective: Organizing with others for change
Self-advocacy is not selfish. It's your right. Advocating for yourself improves your life and often helps other disabled people facing similar issues.
Know your rights: Understanding what protections exist
Document everything: Keep records of discrimination or denied accommodations
Start simple: Small complaints build to bigger advocacy
Connect with others: You're not alone; others share similar experiences
Take breaks: Advocacy is emotionally and physically demanding; rest is necessary
Celebrate wins: Notice when things change; celebrate progress
Be persistent: Systems are designed to resist change; persistence matters
Changing law and policy:
Contacting elected officials:
- Email, call, write letters
- Clear, specific requests
- Personal stories help
- Persistence matters (contact repeatedly)
- Coalition organizing (many contacts more effective)
Testifying:
- At legislative hearings
- At agency meetings
- At public comment periods
- Speaking from lived experience
- Powerful advocacy tool
Organizing campaigns:
- Multiple people working together
- Clear demand/goal
- Strategy for achieving goal
- Media, public pressure, insider advocacy
- Can create significant change
Working with allies:
- Non-disabled people can help amplify
- But leadership should be disabled
- Clear roles and respect for disabled decision-making
¶ Accessible Protest and Direct Action
Disabled people protest and organize directly. Making it accessible:
Physical accessibility:
- Accessible route (no stairs, muddy ground)
- Places to sit or rest
- Bathrooms (not far away)
- Shaded/covered areas
- Parking considerations
- Shorter duration options
- Alternative participation (remote, support roles)
Accessibility roles:
- Not everyone marches; people do other things
- Holding signs for those who can't
- First aid
- Media and communication
- Supplies (water, snacks, medication reminders)
- Security and safety monitoring
- Community care roles
Energy management:
- Shorter protest duration
- Regular breaks
- Cool down areas
- Medical access
- Rest day after
- Flexible participation
Communication and safety:
- Accessible communication about protest
- Know legal rights
- Know where medical help is
- Buddy system
- Exit plans
- Safe word for "need help"
Volunteering while managing disability:
Finding accessible opportunities:
- Flexible scheduling
- Can be done from home
- Meaningful work matching skills
- Disability-friendly organizations
- Can decline tasks that don't work
- Paid or unpaid (paid is better)
Setting boundaries:
- You don't have to overextend
- It's okay to say no
- Your health is priority
- Flare days are allowed
- You can step back anytime
Disability-aware organizations:
- Understand disability
- Provide accessibility
- Respect boundaries
- Don't make you "prove" disability
- Value your contribution
Meaningful volunteering:
- Disability rights organizations
- Peer support work
- Crisis lines
- Community care
- Accessible activism
Starting a peer group or organizing:
Can be simple:
- Few people with shared interest
- Regular meetings
- Shared goals
- No formal structure required to start
Accessibility from start:
- Multiple meeting times/formats
- Accessible location or remote
- Communication access
- Plain language
- Flexible participation
- No pressure to attend everything
Group culture:
- Centered on disabled people's needs
- Decision-making that includes everyone
- Conflict resolution process
- Care for each other
- Boundaries and accountability
Growing over time:
- Start small, grow sustainably
- Learn as you go
- Seek mentorship from experienced organizers
- Stay connected to community
Disability justice principles for organizing:
Leadership of most marginalized:
- Disabled people in leadership (not allies in charge)
- Disabled people of color leading
- People with multiple disabilities leading
- People from Global South leading
- Poor disabled people's leadership
Collective power:
- "Nothing about us without us"
- Disabled people decide direction
- Community expertise valued
- Coalition with other oppressed communities
Intersectionality:
- Fight all oppressions, not just ableism
- Address racism, transphobia, classism alongside ableism
- Work with multiply-marginalized communities
- Understand how systems interconnect
Accountability:
- To disabled community, not just funders
- Responding to community feedback
- Addressing harm
- Long-term relationships
Sustain power and joy:
- Organizing is marathon, not sprint
- Building while resisting
- Joy and culture as political
- Care for each other
Not everyone can:
- Attend in-person events
- Speak publicly
- Attend every meeting
- Travel or commute
- Stay awake long hours
Ways to contribute:
- Online participation
- Emotional support
- Sharing information
- Writing and research
- Art and culture
- Care work
- Quiet organizing
- Strategic thinking
- Listening and support
- Whatever matches your capacity
Capacity changes:
- Some weeks you can do more
- Some weeks you can only do less
- That's normal
- Flexibility matters
Disability activists have won:
- Deinstitutionalization movements
- Rehabilitation Act and Section 504
- Americans with Disabilities Act
- Education rights (IDEA)
- Independent Living movement
- Disability rights to community inclusion
- Much more
You're part of a rich history of resistance and liberation.
Activism is important and can be exhausting:
Protecting your health:
- Your disability/health is priority
- Burnout is real
- Rest is resistance
- You can't fight oppression if you're destroyed
- Saying no is healthy
Building sustainable movements:
- Pace yourself
- Take breaks
- Have multiple people sharing work
- Share emotional labor
- Create joy and community
- Celebrate wins
- Build in rest
Support networks:
- Find co-organizers
- Build mutual aid
- Share burdens
- Support each other
- Remember you're not alone
Are you an activist? Know about ways to get involved? Have organizing strategies?
We welcome contributions from disability activists, organizers, and people finding their voice in disability movements.
Contribute →
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Maintained by: DisabilityWiki Activism & Organizing Team
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