As we navigate an ever-changing world in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, philanthropy has a critical role to play in ensuring that the disability community is not left behind. To help guide you through the uncharted paths ahead, this page offers helpful resources and reading on COVID-19 and key disability issues. (Please note that some of the content may be triggering.)

Start Here

These links offer a starting point for learning more about disability perspectives and responses to COVID-19.

• Philanthropic Responses to COVID-19: 4 Disability-Inclusive Approaches
  Key approaches to disability-inclusion to inform your foundation’s current responses, with examples.
• Webinar – COVID-19 and Disability: A Call to Action for Philanthropy
  Hosted on April 22, 2020 by the Presidents’ Council on Disability Inclusion in Philanthropy, this webinar highlights leaders in the disability community who are working tirelessly at every level.
• Disabled Americans can’t be a Covid-19 afterthought
  An op-ed by Dr. Richard Besser, President and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and Co-Chair of the Presidents’ Council on Disability Inclusion in Philanthropy and Rebecca Cokley, Director of the Disability Justice Initiative at the Center for American Progress.
• In Covid-19 Crisis, Philanthropy’s Attention Must Focus on People With Disabilities
  An op-ed by Co-Chairs of the Presidents’ Council on Disability Inclusion in Philanthropy Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation, and Dr. Richard Besser, President and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
• COVID-19 Disability Rights Monitor Report highlights catastrophic global failure to protect the rights of persons with disabilities
  A report calling for urgent action to protect the lives, health and rights of persons with disabilities.
• 5 Things To Know About Coronavirus And People With Disabilities
  Key points to keep in mind about how the coronavirus outbreak impacts the disability community.
• A Disability Justice Response from Standing Up for Racial Justice to Covid-19
  A response addressing the impact of the virus on multi-marginalized disabled people.
• U.S. Civil Rights Office Rejects Rationing Medical Care Based on Disability, Age
  Information on the response from the Office for Civil Rights against rationing care for people with disabilities.
• How to Make Your Virtual Meetings and Events Accessible to the Disability Community
  An overview of best practices for accessible virtual meetings.
• Disability:IN COVID-19 Response Series
  Resources to support disability inclusion in the workplace during COVID-19.

Further Reading

​Responses and Resources by and for the Disability Community

• A Piece of My Mind: Prejudice
  A reflection from a disabled medical professional on COVID-19’s impact on the disability community, written by Vivian G. Cheung, scientific advisor for the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, a member of the Presidents’ Council on Disability Inclusion in Philanthropy.
• Workers with disabilities see disproportionate COVID-19 job losses
• Voices from the spectrum: Autistic people deal with the coronavirus
• People With Disabilities Fear Pandemic Will Worsen Medical Biases
• ‘It’s Hit Our Front Door’: Homes for the Disabled See a Surge of Covid-19
• Collection of articles on COVID-19 from Rooted in Rights
• COVID-19 Resources for the Disability Community
• A Deadly Poverty Trap: Asset Limits in the Time of the Coronavirus
• The coronavirus crisis: an unprecedented opportunity to advance authentic disability inclusion in our sector and beyond
• People with disabilities should lead discussions about their rights and needs, especially during pandemic

Health Care Rationing

• As A Disabled Person, I’m Afraid I May Not Be Deemed Worth Saving From The Coronavirus
• I’m disabled and need a ventilator to live. Am I expendable during this pandemic?
• “We’re being punished again”: How people with intellectual disabilities are experiencing the pandemic
• Stemming the Risk of Disability Bias During the COVID-19 Pandemic
• Don’t deny ventilators to disabled patients
• My Life Is More ‘Disposable’ During This Pandemic
• ‘I Will Not Apologize for My Needs’
• COVID-19 Medical Rationing

Statements from Disability Organizations

• Fighting For The Disability Community During COVID-19 – from the Autistic Self Advocacy Network
• Over 400 Organizations Urge Department of Health and Human Services to Issue Guidance to Prohibit Discrimination during Medical Rationing
• Responses from the National Council on Independent Living
• Disability Rights Fund: A Message to Our Community Regarding COVID-19
• Briefing Paper from The Arc: COVID-19 Impact on People with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, their Families, and the Direct Support Workforce

Intersections of Ableism and Racism

• People with disabilities protest police violence, COVID-19 discrimination
• Disability Rights Activists Take On Twin Pandemics of Racist Police Brutality & COVID-19
• Black Disabled Man in Texas Dies After Being Denied COVID Treatment and Starved for Six Days, Wife Alleges

Resources on Hosting Accessible Virtual Meetings and Events

• When Non-Disabled People Get Accommodations, Who Benefits? Things to Think About as We Work Remotely
• Digital Accessibility in the Age of COVID-19
• Video on Accessible Meetings
• Resources to Help Ensure Accessibility of Your Virtual Events for People with Disabilities
• Digital Accessibility and Other Best Practices for Remote Work
• Accessibility Tips for a Better Zoom/Virtual Meeting Experience
• Captioning Options for Video Conferencing and Learning Management Systems
• Accessibility Strategies for Deaf/Hard of Hearing People in Remote Meetings
• Google Hangouts Meet Accessibility Features