Face coverings are key to stopping spread of the coronavirus, but also slow communication, especially for people who don't hear well. Volunteers and companies suggest some transparent alternatives.
Gene therapy has helped a 9-year-old boy regain enough muscle strength to run. If successful in others, the treatment could change the lives of thousands of children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
NPR's Michel Martin speaks with Beth Ziebarth, director of Access Smithsonian, about how the museums are adjusting their approach to accessibility as museums begin to reopen amid the pandemic.
Natural disasters are already deadly for the elderly and people with disabilities. During the pandemic, advocates say disaster preparation has fallen short in meeting the needs of the most at risk.
Face masks may be a public health essential, but they come with some social downsides. They can be especially challenging for people with hearing loss, and one couple has come up with a solution.
A narrow majority approved the ballot measure, making Oklahoma the 37th state to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. An estimated 200,000 uninsured adults will now qualify for coverage.
Wisconsin was already facing a shortage of caregivers who provide crucial health services and help their clients live and work independently. The pandemic has eroded this workforce even more.
At least 711 nursing homes reported running out of N95 masks at the end of May, and 1,963 said they had less than a week's worth. "The federal government has got to step up," says one advocate.
There's growing evidence of high rates of death from COVID-19 for a population that doesn't get a lot of attention: People with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
A study of more than 800 health workers, first responders and others finds that taking hydroxychloroquine to prevent COVID-19 is no better than a placebo in preventing the illness.
Feda Almaliti is the mother of a 15-year-old son with severe autism and an advocate. She describes how the challenges of the coronavirus crisis are exponentially more difficult for families like hers.
NPR's investigations correspondent and Jennifer Mizrahi, president of RespectAbility, answer listener questions about people with disabilities navigating the new reality during the pandemic.
Car traffic took a big dip beginning in late March, and headlines celebrated clean air around the U.S. But an NPR analysis of EPA data tells a more troubling story.
NPR's Michel Martin speaks with attorney and disability rights advocate Haben Girma about the fears disabled people have of being last in line for life-saving care during the coronavirus pandemic.
States are releasing "Crisis Standards of Care" guidelines, aimed at helping desperate hospitals discern how to allocate scarce resources. But the guidance doesn't factor in health care inequalities.
New York and New Jersey want nursing homes to accept recovering hospital patients, regardless of their COVID-19 status, to free up space in hospitals. What's to keep the virus from spreading?
New Yorker writer Michael Specter covered Fauci's early work in the AIDS epidemic. "He's always taken an open-minded approach to the problems," Specter says of the infectious-disease expert.
Sharing a home with someone who has COVID-19 raises your risk of catching the virus. But the sick person needs your support, as well as good hygiene skills. Try these "best practice" tips.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden proposes letting 60-year-olds enroll in Medicare. He'd pay for the expansion out of general tax revenue, he says, not the Medicare fund.
People with disabilities are asking the federal government to stop state and hospital policies that they fear will ration care in favor of younger and healthier people.
As classes move online, many schools fear students with disabilities could be left behind, in violation of federal laws. The department calls this reading of the law "a serious misunderstanding."
Fifteen percent of hospital pharmacists who prepare injectable drugs are going without the protective masks they typically rely on, or are using substitutes for the masks.
In severe cases of COVID-19, as lungs become inflamed, membranes that transfer oxygen into the blood can become blocked. Some hospitalized patients need mechanical breathing support to recover.
