University of Kansas Institute for Health and Disability Policy Studies

02/19/2026

A Message from Theo Braddy: We Cannot Fix What We Refuse to Define

Listen to the audio version of this message: https://bit.ly/4tHk8c6

Hello again. This is Theo W. Braddy, Executive Director of the National Council on Independent Living, bringing you another message. This one I call “We Cannot Fix What We Refuse to Define”.

I recently logged off a high-level stakeholder meeting with a disturbing realization. People in the room were very smart. They were well-intentioned. They were responsible for implementing supports and services for people with disabilities, and yet they were making major decisions about Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) without a shared understanding of what those services actually are.

The conversation moved quickly, but underneath it all was something more basic and more troubling. We were not speaking the same language. Core services were described in ways that did not reflect the lived realities of people who rely on them every day. Terms were used interchangeably, imprecisely, and sometimes incorrectly.

Read more: https://bit.ly/4tYiYth

Image: Group of 16 gathers on a sidewalk during NCIL's 2025 March to U.S. Capitol, including Theo Braddy and Victor Pineda. Participants are standing in front of a banner that says ADA35 with March and Rally sponsor logos. They are holding signs reading “Listen to Disabled Voices,” “Disability Rights are Human Rights,” and “Speak Up, Stand Out, Fight Back.”

02/17/2026

Congrats to KUCD - Kansas University Center on Disabilities! They are among five national recipients of the Excellence in Community-Engaged Partnerships Award.

They were awarded for work partnering with the disability community as active members of inclusive research and dissemination teams.

02/12/2026

In their new blog, NBCUniversal Tony Coelho Scholarship recipient Melina List writes about the importance of paratransit. Because Melina relies on paratransit for their transportation, they have learned the importance of interdependence and reconsidered their relationship with the concept of time. Read their blog: https://ow.ly/MHFQ50Y8nII

ID: Headshot of a white person with long, brown, wavy hair. They are wearing a multi-colored floral shirt and have a bright orange marigold flower tucked behind their ear. Beneath that, a quote from them that says: "In my case, taking paratransit instead of driving feels like a rebellion against a culture which values people based on how much money they can make. We are constantly encouraged to be fast, agile, and productive, no matter the personal cost or limitations. So to slow down is to say my worth comes from being a human being, not from dollars."

02/10/2026

Assistive Technology for Kansans is hosting the grand opening of their new demonstration space and celebrating Assistive Technology Awareness Day! Fill out the form below to register for the event! https://forms.gle/DL7UaGrArNnrEv398

When? April 22
Time? 11 am - 3 pm
Where? Dole Human Development Center 1000 Sunnyside Ave Lawrence, KS 4th floor
Accessible parking is available. Please use the yellow lots or the garage near Allen Fieldhouse. Free parking is available for the first 100 registrants who complete the KU Parking email.

02/05/2026

The NIDILRR-funded Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Disability Statistics and Demographics (StatsRRTC) will host a special episode of the National Trends in Disability Employment (nTIDE) Lunch and Learn, 2/6, 12p ET. https://loom.ly/90gZE8E Presenters will discuss trends in employment participation for people with disabilities, including the latest BLS Jobs Report. Guest speakers will offer an in-depth discussion of disability employment beyond traditional workforce models. Free registration required.

02/03/2026

By delivering a digital “toolbox” to 300 countries, researchers at the Center for Community Health and Development are bringing life-saving lessons back home to Kansas.

01/28/2026

The National Rehabilitation Information Center (NARIC) has collected a list of resources for emergency preparedness and recovery from NIDILRR organizations.

NIDILRR grantees shared some timely resources to help people with disabilities and others in the community prepare for, and recover from, the winter weather!

01/28/2026

01/23/2026

Stay safe and warm, friends.

01/23/2026

Today we celebrate Ed Roberts on what would have been his 87th birthday — a day we call Ed Roberts Day. Ed Roberts is considered one of the fathers of the disability rights movement. His area of focus was independent living, work that — like Ed Roberts’ impact — still lives on to this day.

Ed Roberts was admitted to Berkley in 1962, where he had trouble finding housing that would accommodate the 800-pound iron lung that he slept in at night. The director of the campus health service offered him a room in an empty wing of the Cowell Hospital. Roberts accepted on the condition that the area where he lived be treated as dormitory space, not a medical facility. His admission broke the ice for other students with disabilities who joined him over the next few years at what evolved into the Cowell Residence Program.

Ed Roberts would go on to have a huge influence on Berkeley creating the first Centers for Independent Livings (CIL), the first independent living service and advocacy program run by and for people with disabilities.

Now, CILs help disabled people across the country access independent living. In 1976 Roberts was appointed as the director of the California Department of Vocational Rehabilitation by then-governor Jerry Brown.

Ed Roberts' influence and impact on the disability rights movement cannot be overstated.

ID: Black and white portrait of Ed Roberts, with the years 1939-1995 and text that says "remembering Ed Roberts".

01/22/2026

💪♿ University of Kansas' Life Span Institute is exploring functional fitness that supports strength, independence, and confidence for people with disabilities.

Learn more at the link in our comments!