Written by myself; originally published online here by the University of Leeds’ Disability Services
TW: ableism
I first planned to write this piece in December 2024, but the world has already changed a lot in these past three months. Donald Trump, after publicly mocking a disabled journalist (BBC News, 2015) and reportedly saying that severely disabled people “should just die” (Trump, 2024), was inaugurated again as US president and has promptly gutted equality, diversity and inclusion programmes (Wendling and Epstein, 2025) and set out to dismantle the Affordable Care Act (Zhang and Woodhouse, 2025) and other existing social security structures (Orlando, 2025).
Things aren’t looking much better on this side of the pond. Numerous times in previous years, the United Nations has found that the UK Government and governments of the devolved nations have breached disabled people’s human rights (Scottish Human Rights Commission, 2024) and caused “great misery” through their austerity measures (Booth and Butler, 2018). While the change of leadership at Westminster brought hope for progress, in the week I wrote this article, the new Government announced tighter restrictions and a £5 billion cut to disability benefits over the next five years (Crerar, 2025).
Whilst the world is undoubtedly a safer, better place for disabled people than it was 50 or 100 years ago, in large part thanks to the generations of disability activists before us, we still don’t have the same outcomes as our non-disabled peers. In the UK, when compared to non-disabled people, we are nearly 3 times more likely to leave school with no qualifications; more likely to be unemployed; less likely to own our own homes; and have a poorer well-being (Office for National Statistics, 2022). While these aren’t the only ways of valuing quality of life, it does highlight the failings of the state to facilitate our integration into society.
It’s easy to fall into a depression when faced with the reality we are facing, and protecting our own well-being should be paramount, but history has shown time and time again that general apathy and complacency only serve to cement the status quo.
What can I do then?
It’s worth acknowledging here that we shouldn’t have to do anything. Disabled people didn’t build the structures and societies that weren’t only inaccessible but actively ableist, and we shouldn’t have to be the ones who fix this mess. But as history shows, dominant groups rarely enact changes that could challenge their dominance, and it is often the oppressed who have to fight back against these structures and liberate themselves.
As I mentioned above, your own health and wellbeing should be first and foremost. Make sure to take regular breaks – campaigning can be exhausting, and burning yourself out doesn’t help anyone, least of all you. The Activist Handbook has a great section on dealing with activist burnout, which can be accessed here.
Secondly, joining an already existing campaign can oftentimes be the most efficient and effective way of affecting change. Not only will they already have an established organisation and structures, but you’ll have a community of people who have the same beliefs and interests, and who can help support you. Disabled People Against Cuts (DPAC) are a great national, grassroots campaign fighting against government cuts and for human rights for disabled people. Alternatively, many cities have their own, local campaigns – search for any disabled peoples’ organisations (DPOs) near you and whether you can campaign or volunteer with them. DPOs are a great space to meet other disabled people and learn from each other’s experiences.
If you choose to start your own campaign, the Independent Living Institute provides a good campaign guide here. It’s important to meet allies who will support your campaign – you could go to local events, campaigns, rallies or meetings and find like-minded people who may want to help. Organisations like Disabled Students UK and NUS Liberation are some great ways to meet other disabled students. And while I’m biased as a student in the field, learning about disability studies is a great way to explore the path we’ve already taken and the current state of where we are, which you can use to guide your campaign.
On a more micro level, you can speak to and educate others around you. Share your experiences, your challenges, and why you think more should be done to help disabled people. Ask them to spread the word and create more awareness about injustices. Social media can be a great way of disseminating a message to a large number of people in a small timespan, but don’t forget to have one-to-one conversations, too, as these can be much more memorable. While it’s often alluring to aim high and launch a huge campaign, this is what a lot of activism involves – speaking with the people around us and changing a few people’s minds, who will go on to change a few other people’s minds, and so on.
If you’re able to vote in elections, vote for parties and representatives that align with your values, who will support disabled people and reject harmful policies. Write to your local politicians with your concerns and ask them to enact policies that progress disabled people’s rights and outcomes while rejecting those that don’t. Sign or start a petition to a representative or institution. Or even run for office yourself! There are various ways of interacting with politics, inside and outside of the conventional means – be creative!
Campaign at the check-out! As a collective, we have power in a capitalist society. Join boycotts against companies that don’t support disabled people or inclusive policies, and shop with businesses that do (brownie points if they’re also disabled-owned!) Boycotts have been launched in the US against companies who have abandoned equality, diversity and inclusivity programmes and who support the Trump presidency. While it’s unclear whether this loss in revenue is what affects change, often these campaigns are enough to shame companies into reinstating these programmes (Barfield Barry, 2025).
Try to be hopeful
When things look bleak, it’s easy to fall into a pit of despair, but please don’t give up! Direct action can and does lead to meaningful change – Amnesty International wrote a great blog piece on reasons to be hopeful here. We have come so far as a community, and while things look grim just now, please remember that we can turn this tide. If we band together, supporting each other and fighting back against ableist institutions and structures, we’ll get through it again!
Acknowledgements
Thank you very much to Felix Henson for their advice and guidance in writing this piece.
Resources
Barfield Barry, D. 2025. ‘Our dollars do count’: These shoppers are using an economic blackout against companies. USA TODAY. [Online]. [Accessed 18 March 2025]. Available from: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2025/02/28/boycotts-protests-dei-target/80742681007/.
BBC News 2015. Donald Trump under fire for mocking disabled reporter. BBC News. [Online]. Available from: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-34930042.
Booth, R. and Butler, P. 2018. UK austerity has inflicted ‘great misery’ on citizens, UN says. The Guardian. [Online]. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/nov/16/uk-austerity-has-inflicted-great-misery-on-citizens-un-says.
Crerar, P. 2025. Liz Kendall unveils UK benefits cuts set to leave many sick and disabled worse off. The Guardian. [Online]. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2025/mar/18/liz-kendall-unveils-drastic-uk-benefits-cuts-to-fix-broken-system.
Office for National Statistics 2022. Outcomes for disabled people in the UK: 2021 [Online]. Office for National Statistics. Available from: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/disability/articles/outcomesfordisabledpeopleintheuk/2021.
Orlando, J. 2025. What has Donald Trump changed in Social Security so far? What to know as Elon Musk calls program a ‘Ponzi scheme’. Nashville Tennessean. [Online]. Available from: https://www.tennessean.com/story/money/2025/03/04/trump-social-security-elon-musk-doge-changes/81156952007/.
Scottish Human Rights Commission 2024. UN finds UK governments have failed to address violations of disabled people’s human rights. Available from: https://www.scottishhumanrights.com/news/un-finds-uk-governments-have-failed-to-address-violations-of-disabled-peoples-human-rights/.
Trump, F.C. 2024. My Uncle Donald Trump Told Me Disabled Americans Like My Son ‘Should Just Die’. TIME. [Online]. Available from: https://time.com/7002003/donald-trump-disabled-americans-all-in-the-family/.
Wendling, M. and Epstein, K. 2025. Trump makes ‘two sexes’ official and scraps DEI policies. BBC News. [Online]. [Accessed 20 March 2025]. Available from: https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czx84en1yp4o.
Zhang, R.C. and Woodhouse, S. 2025. Trump Administration Plans to Limit Obamacare Enrollment Period. Bloomberg. [Online]. Available from: https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/trump-administration-plans-to-limit-obamacare-enrollment-period/ar-AA1ADIrq.