Disability Rights Center - NH

11/25/2025

Save the date! is next Tuesday, Dec. 2nd. Every photo tells a story. Support and help ensure every story includes people with disabilities. Give early at https://drcnh.org/donate/.

11/25/2025

Attached is the November Edition of Access Insights, the Council’s Off-Session (June to November) Newsletter.

Link here: https://www.nhcdd.nh.gov/publications-and-resources/publications

This month, the Council is highlighting Autism Hikes!, a hiking group for people with autism and their families.

If you would like to read more about the group, please use the following link: https://newhampshirebulletin.com/2025/10/17/hiking-group-helps-those-with-autism-use-new-englands-outdoors-as-an-outlet/

This is the final issue of Access Insights for 2025. Look for the first issue of 2026 Access Insights starting in June.

11/14/2025

WARNING: Story describes abuse of people with disabilities.
The abuse of people with disabilities detailed in this final article of the New Hampshire Bulletin series is unacceptable. We are investigating this abuse and will issue a report on our findings and recommendations for change. If you have witnessed the mistreatment of people with disabilities or are disabled and have been subjected to it yourself, please contact us at 603-228-0432.

[Image Link] Barbed wire fencing runs alongside an overgrown driveway leading to a large brick building of the former Laconia State School. Article is titled 'New Hampshire's disability system has a horrific past and advocates say the path forward is unclear'.

As a monthslong Bulletin investigation into New Hampshire’s modern disability care network has revealed, systemic problems of abuse and neglect haven’t gone away. Tragic story after tragic story — many of them reported this week for the first time — provide the evidence.

11/12/2025

WARNING: Story describes abuse and death of a person with disabilities.
In this second of a three article series, Will Skipworth of the New Hampshire Bulletin continues his coverage detailing the heartbreaking failures of our state's system serving people with developmental disabilities.

As New Hampshire’s Protection and Advocacy agency, we investigates incidents of abuse and neglect of people with disabilities. Until the state is legally required to share this information with us and with the state’s Incapacitated and Vulnerable Adult Fatality Review Committee, incidences of horrific abuse and neglect of people with disabilities, like those revealed in these articles will continue to occur in the shadows.

They call it the disability cliff. When young people with intellectual and developmental disabilities finish high school, they lose access to the extensive services provided by public school special education programs. Most parents work, and while that allows them to help support their adult childre...

11/10/2025

WARNING: Story describes abuse and death of people with disabilities.

Thank you to Will Skipworth of the New Hampshire Bulletin for his powerful coverage of this difficult topic. The horrific tragedies detailed in this reporting demonstrate a devastating failure of the developmental disabilities system which should be supporting people with disabilities to live the lives that they want to live. This can only happen when people with disabilities are safe from abuse and neglect. Systemic change is desperately needed.

A video recorded at a Dunbarton care home for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in February 2019 captured caretakers pinning Lucas Houle to the ground and slapping him repeatedly. Amid his pain and fear, Houle made a tearful plea: “I want to go home.”

11/10/2025

Next highlight from the NH for All Magazine, our podcast, That's Inclusive!

Once a month, the DD Council releases a new episode
of our podcast: That’s Inclusive! Along with our guests,
we talk about disability and what it means to live a full
life engaging in our communities. We look to find out
what that looks like and how we can work together to
make our world a more inclusive place.

To check that out, and plug into the latest episode (all about voting!!) click the link below
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSZ0ToOx_ZE

11/10/2025

It costs the state of New Hampshire roughly three times more to place someone with physical disabilities or older adults in a nursing home than it does to pay for in-home care. More importantly, most of these people want to stay in their own homes.

11/06/2025

Planning a trip? Our page on Flying with a Service Animal includes information about service animals and air travel - including the differences between the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA.) Make sure you’ve covered your bases and know your rights. Learn more about traveling with a service animal here: https://adata.org/service-animal-resource-hub/flying

11/06/2025

You are not alone. 💚

If you or someone you know needs immediate support, you can call, text, or chat confidentially with a trained crisis worker 24/7 through 988 at no cost.

More 24/7 Support: https://www.naminh.org/crisis-lines/
LGBTQ+ Mental Health Resources: NAMINH.org/LGBTQ

11/06/2025

GSIL is excited to kick off Advocacy in Action—a brand-new series of online and in-person trainings that put advocacy front and center!

Join us to learn how to make your voice heard through skills like writing persuasive letters to the editor, navigating the State House website, understanding how a bill becomes a law, and much more.

Ready to take action? Click here to learn more or register for a training:
https://www.facebook.com/GraniteStateIndependentLiving/events

11/06/2025

Due to current barriers with SNAP, many of the individuals GSIL supports are at risk of experiencing food insecurity in the coming weeks. Every donation helps advance our mission of promoting independence for all our participants.

Please assist us in caring for our fellow community members by donating a canned or non-perishable food item. Donations can be dropped off during normal business hours at GSIL’s main office, 21 Chenell Drive, Concord, NH or the satellite office at 60 Rogers St., APT 209, Manchester, NH.

Unable to make it to one of our offices, but still want to make a difference? Click the QR code or the link below to make a monetary donation and note in the comments that you would like it to support the food drive!

GSIL is a nonprofit organization based in Concord, NH, assisting people with disabilities and spinal cord injuries. Learn more at www.gsil.org or donate at https://bit.ly/FoodDriveGSIL.