A New Q&A Series Helps Journalists Cover Disability With More Accuracy and Respect
People with intellectual and developmental disabilities, or IDD, are part of every community. They are students, workers, voters, family members, advocates, neighbors, and people directly affected by the systems journalists cover every day.
But too often, people with IDD are left out of stories about disability, Medicaid, education, healthcare, housing, transportation, employment, criminal justice, and community life. When they’re included, coverage can still rely on outdated language, inaccessible interviews, narrow sourcing, or images that don’t reflect the full reality of people’s lives.
That’s why The Arc partnered with the National Press Club Journalism Institute on a three-part Q&A series to help journalists cover disability with more accuracy, accessibility, and respect.
The series features practical guidance from Katy Neas, CEO of The Arc of the United States, on interviewing people with IDD, avoiding harmful framing, and choosing visuals that represent people with disabilities as diverse participants in everyday life.
Disability Reporting Guidance for Journalists
The Q&A series focuses on three common gaps in disability coverage: who gets interviewed, how stories are framed, and what visuals are used.
Together, the series gives reporters, editors, producers, and photo editors practical ways to make disability coverage more accurate, accessible, and rooted in the lives of people with disabilities.
How & Why to Interview People With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities
This Q&A focuses on how journalists can make interviews more accessible and respectful for people with IDD. It includes guidance on asking what would make the interview work best, sharing questions in advance when helpful, using plain language, giving people time to process, and making sure people with IDD stay at the center of their own stories.
It also explains why people with IDD can be important sources on the policies, systems, barriers, and supports that shape daily life.
How to Choose Better Visuals for Disability Stories
This Q&A focuses on the visuals newsrooms use when covering disability. Too often, disability stories rely on the same narrow visuals, like isolated wheelchair images, hospital scenes, or photos that frame people with disabilities through pity or dependency.
The guidance offers practical standards for reporters, photo editors, and producers, including how to choose visuals that show people with disabilities in all their diversity and in real settings: at school, at work, with family, in the community, using technology, advocating, and participating in everyday life.
How to Avoid Outdated and Harmful Disability Language
This Q&A focuses on language and framing. The words journalists choose shape how audiences understand disability. The guidance explains how to avoid stereotypes, respect how people describe themselves, and cover disability as part of public policy, civil rights, and community life.
It also reminds newsrooms that disability coverage shouldn’t default to pity, tragedy, or treating someone as inspiring simply for existing.
Why Accurate Disability Reporting Matters for People With IDD
Coverage shapes public understanding. It influences how people think about disability, what policymakers pay attention to, and whether people with IDD are included in stories about the issues that affect their lives.
Better reporting starts with better sourcing, better questions, better language, and better visuals.
People with IDD should be included early in the reporting process, and not just in stories focused on disability issues. They should be asked what would make an interview work best. They should be given the same respect, preparation, and clarity any source deserves. And they shouldn’t be expected to represent an entire community.
The Arc Is a Resource for Journalists Covering IDD
Through our national office and chapter network, The Arc can provide background on intellectual and developmental disabilities, connect reporters with experts, and help identify people and families who may want to share their experiences when appropriate. For media inquiries and more resources, visit The Arc’s Press Center.
