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Disability Belongs™ Announces 2025 Disability Impact Awards Recipients

Congressman Steny Hoyer, Allison Hampton, and JPMorgan Chase to be honored on July 24th in Washington, D.C.

Disability Belongs™ is proud to announce the recipients of its 2025 Disability Impact Awards. Founded in 2022, these annual awards honor individuals and organizations creating meaningful, lasting change for the disability community.

This year’s honorees are:

Congressman Steny Hoyer, a key leader in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), who will receive the Steve Bartlett Award.
Allison Hampton, a Disability Belongs™ Leadership Program alumna and passionate disability justice advocate, who will receive the Ben Spangenberg and Justin Chappell Memorial Award.
JPMorgan Chase, receiving the inaugural Disability Champion Award for demonstrating a sustained and meaningful commitment to advancing disability inclusion through partnership and allyship.

All three winners will be formally recognized at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, July 24, 2025. [continue reading…]

Budget Reconciliation Issue Brief: Impact on People with Disabilities

This issue brief is intended for policymakers and disability advocates. Its goal is to inform and support a deeper understanding of how the proposed budget reconciliation bill may impact the lives of people with disabilities. It also offers policy recommendations aimed at strengthening protections and improving outcomes for the disability community.

Rethinking How We Discuss Disability

Rethinking How We Discuss Disability. two speech bubbles with different accessibility related icons inside of them Language has the power to shape how we see each other. The words we use to talk about disability influence how people feel, how they are treated, and how fully they are included in our communities.

At Disability Belongs™, we believe that respectful, accurate, and inclusive language is a cornerstone of true belonging. That includes using terms like “disabled people” or “people with disabilities” rather than outdated or euphemistic phrases like “special needs” or “the disabled.” It also means avoiding language like “suffers from” or “afflicted with,” which frame disability as a tragedy or a source of pain. Instead, we can simply say that someone has a disability—or even better, use the specific language they choose to describe themselves. [continue reading…]