The News Show Made by and for People With Learning Disabilities

Floare de Cires addresses the employment barriers people with disabilities face by training them in culinary and hospitality skills that help them integrate into the workforce and build a sense of independence.

Nonprofits like L'Arche Boston North are using food service education, job coaching, and mentoring to connect adults with intellectual disabilities to meaningful employment. At least 30 graduates of the now-closing Breaking Grounds Café have gone on to work in food service, and multiple L'Arche participants have secured jobs in the industry.

Several churches in North Central Ohio are successfully removing barriers for families with disabilities through specialized ministry programs. Champions Club at Storyside Church serves children with trained volunteers in sensory-friendly spaces adapted to each child's needs. Pure Joy at Ashland Grace Church uses a buddy system to serve 17+ participants with varying needs. And Wonderful Works Ministry extends this impact globally by providing free online coaching to churches worldwide, having reached 200 pastors.

The Inclusive Friends Association, in partnership with SIMBED Learners School and Nigeria's National Information Technology Development Agency, implemented a targeted digital literacy program that trained 20 women and girls with disabilities across Abuja. The two-day workshop taught participants essential digital skills including content creation, social media management, Google tools, online safety, and advocacy techniques to show them how to create content and potentially generate an income online.

Disabled farmers in Kashmir are adapting agricultural practices through locally-fabricated tool modifications, adjusted work timing, and traditional soil/seed management techniques that reduce physical labor by 15-50% and enable them to continue farming despite increasing climate stress.

Before DOGE cut the program’s funding, Charting My Path for Future Success was helping students with disabilities learn ways to successfully transition from high school to college or the working world with greater self-sufficiency. Before it was canceled, 1,600 high school juniors enrolled in the program, learning how to set goals, take care of themselves and build their confidence and self-determination skills.

Lionheart Ability Leaders International Foundation (LALIF) uses a comprehensive training program to empower parents, teachers and those living with vision and hearing impairment. Their programming teaches educators how to understand tactile sign language, and also empowers parents on how best to support their children living with disabilities.

The International Board of Credentialing and Continuing Education Standards trains employees in the tourism industry to become autism certified, ensuring they know how to care for neurodivergent youth and their families when they’re at places like restaurants or theme parks. Several of these businesses have practices in place like offering noise-canceling headphones, access to quiet rooms or even hosting autism awareness weekends, helping to make the city the first Autism Certified City in the world.

Santa Ana College is developing a program that provides opportunities for the physical and social growth of adaptive students. The program trains student aides on how to help those with disabilities and also provides a class for students with disabilities to train with adaptive equipment. On top of improving equal access, the program also strives to provide opportunities for networking between students and aides. Within two years, the program has grown from a four-person class to a full class of 25 students.

Several companies’ newfound openness to remote work is leading to opportunities for people whose disabilities make in-person work difficult or impossible to find stable employment. The share of adults with disabilities who are working has soared in the past two years, far surpassing its pre-pandemic level and outpacing gains among people without disabilities.