Below are many resources for people with disabilities, which we hope you will find useful. If you are looking for even more information, we have a wealth of other hard-to-find books and excellent disability organizations listed in the Resources sections of our books Disabled Village Children, Helping Children Who Are Blind, and Helping Children Who Are Deaf.

Jump to sections below: Blindness, Deafness, Other Common Disabilities, Aids and Appliances, Women with Disabilities, Awareness Raising and Training.

Blindness

Blind Childrens Center
This is an organization dedicated to serving blind children 5 years of age and younger. They produce a lot of written materials for families with blind children.

Blind Babies Foundation
Source of materials and publications, videos, and fact sheets for families with infants and young children who are blind.

Christoffel Blindenmission International (CBMI)
Operates eye units, mobile eye-care services, village health centers, schools, and training institutions in 94 countries.

Eye Diseases in Hot Climates by John Sandford-Smith, International Center for Eye Health
A valuable resource for health programs. It teaches how to identify, prevent, and provide basic care for the most common eye diseases found in the tropics.

Helen Keller International
Founded in 1915 by Helen Keller and George Kessler, Helen Keller International (HKI) is among the oldest international NGOs (non-governmental organizations) devoted to preventing blindness and reducing malnutrition in the world. They currently work in 22 countries: 13 in Africa, 8 in Asia-Pacific, and the United States.

Hilton/Perkins Program
Founded in 1832 as the first school for the blind in the US. Today they also provide technical assistance and support for the development of programs for multi-handicapped blind and deaf-blind children in developing countries.

PLAN International
Plan is one of the oldest and largest children's development organizations in the world. They work directly with communities and families in 50 developing countries across Africa, Asia and the Americas.

Sight Savers International
Works with local partners in 25 countries, providing eye care, cataract surgery, education, and training.

World Blind Union
The World Blind Union (WBU) unites people with visual disabilities in member organizations around the world. They work to promote equal opportunities for the blind; to raise the status of blind women, DeafBlind persons, blind people with multiple disabilities; and to prevent blindness worldwide.

Deafness

Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (AG Bell)
AG Bell offers its members a wide range of programs and services about hearing loss, resources, and support and encouragement from people who know and understand deaf issues and needs. AG Bell publishes and distributes books, brochures, instructional materials, videos, CDs, and audiocassettes related to hearing loss.

Ali Yavar Jung National Institute for the Hearing Handicapped
Collects and shares information about deafness, offers training, and develops strategies for early identification, intervention, and rehabilitation services. Source for teaching aids, films, and audio visuals on vocational training, job placement, and other issues.

Deaf Africa Fund (DAF)
Promotes educational opportunities for deaf children in poor countries.

Delhi Foundation of Deaf Women (DFDW)
Established in 1973 as a club for deaf women in Delhi, DFDW today is a Rehabilitation Center for all hearing-impaired persons in India.

Disabled Children’s Action Group (DICAG) South Africa
DICAG is a campaigning organization that helps to raise the level of awareness of disability and challenges stereotypes and perceptions of disabled people in South Africa. DICAG aims to ensure equal opportunities for disabled children, especially in education.

Enabling Education Network (EENET)
This information-sharing network promotes inclusion of marginalized groups in education. They produce a regular newsletter which publishes case studies of exciting programs worldwide and includes contributions of parents’ groups. They offer many useful English language publications. The website has a section dedicated to deaf issues.

Gallaudet University
Gallaudet University is the only liberal arts university in the world designed exclusively for deaf and hard-of-hearing students. It is also an excellent source for finding deaf books, journals, and current research.

Hearing Aids: A guide, National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS), UK
Information about different types of hearing aids, care and maintenance, and simple repairs. Provides a range of information on the different types of hearing aids available. This booklet is aimed at both parents and professionals.

Hearing and Communication Disorders by Sheila W. Wirz and Sally W. Winward, TALC
A manual for rehabilitation programs that include or want to include services for deaf children or those with other communication problems. It simplifies a lot of techniques used by deafness professionals.

Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID)
The RNID has many online publications and useful links, as well as a large library database with detailed information about resources for people who are deaf. They also have a training and information resource called Deaf at Birth.

The Deaf Peer's Education Manual, Sahaya Deaf Kenya
A training manual developed by the Kenyan Peer Education Network, with interactive-based activities for basic understanding of sexual health, HIV and AIDS.

The Forest Bookshop
A comprehensive resource for books, videos, and CD-ROMs on deafness and deaf issues. Also distributes books published by Gallaudet University.

The Signing Exact English (S.E.E.) Center for the advancement of deaf children
Signing Exact English (SEE) is a sign system that matches signs with the English language. Unlike American Sign Language (ASL), which has its own grammar, syntax and idioms, SEE is is a visual form of English, with English sentence structure, idioms, verb endings, etc.

World Federation of the Deaf (WFD)
One of the oldest international organizations of deaf people, WFD includes national organizations of deaf people in 120 countries. WFD works for human rights and equal opportunity for deaf people, and the right of deaf people to use sign language to get education and information. WFD initiated the annual Deaf Awareness Week to celebrate the culture, heritage, and language unique to deaf people of the world.

Other Common Disabilities

Arthritis Foundation
A great variety of written materials on the different aspects of several types of arthritis, including juvenile arthritis. Updated information on current research and medical treatment to function with and manage arthritis.

Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation
Paralysis Resource Center Fact sheets with disability resources for 31 countries. Where possible the country fact sheets are in the native language of that country.

International Bureau for Epilepsy (IBE)
An international organization of laypersons and professionals that serves to develop, support and link national epilepsy organizations around the world.

International Federation of Anti-Leprosy Associations (ILEP)
ILEP publishes well-illustrated manuals for the diagnosis and treatment of leprosy and has member organizations in many countries.

Muscular Dystrophy Association, Inc.
Lots of pamphlets on all the different types of muscular dystrophy. This association can be very helpful for children who live in the United States because they provide, and can help find, many services. (Their main focus is finding a cure.)

National Down Syndrome Congress
Founded in 1973, the NDSC promotes the interests of people with Down syndrome and their families through advocacy, public awareness, and information dissemination. On-line information covering all aspects of Down syndrome in English and Spanish, with links to Down syndrome organizations in Latin America.

Post-Polio Health (formerly Polio Network News), Post-Polio Health International]
Quarterly report with international circulation. Focuses on long-term effects of polio. It promotes scientific research on polio and proposes the creation of a worldwide network of people with polio.

The International Federation for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus (IF)
IF is the world-wide umbrella organization for Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus organizations, with regional and national organization contacts in over 50 countries.

United Cerebral Palsy
UCP is a good resource for organizations who serve as global leaders in serving people with disabilities.

Aids and Appliances

Motivation
Designs, fabricates, and distributes a wide variety of wheelchairs, tricycles, and supportive seating aids that are all developed in collaboration with members of the disability community. This process relies heavily on feedback from actual wheelchair-users and other disabled individuals.

Whirlwind Wheelchair International (WWI)
WWI developed the Whirlwind wheelchair, a lightweight, low-cost, sturdy wheelchair designed for rough urban and rural conditions in developing countries. WWI works with an international network of wheelchair workshops to continually update its designs.

Women with Disabilities

ABILIS
ABILIS is part of the international Independent Living and Disability Rights Movement. They give grants for projects run by disabled people in developing countries that focus on human rights and women with disabilities.

Disabled Peoples’ International (DPI)
DPI promotes the human and economic rights, and social integration of people with disabilities. Information on issues including women’s health care, human rights, independent living, and social justice. Special focus on grass-roots development. Has local offices in over 110 countries.

Latin American and Caribbean Women’s Health Network
Promotes women’s health and women’s human rights through cultural, political and social transformation.

Leonard Cheshire International (LCI)
The work of LCI includes projects in education, employment, economic empowerment, rehabilitation and day care services, short and longer-term residential care, and community programs. Their website lists resources and training materials.

Mainstreaming disability in development: lessons from gender mainstreaming
(PDF), by Carol Miller and Bill Albert
Explains mainstreaming, as a strategy of feminist advocacy in the context of development, and draws comparisons with the history of the disability movement. Includes recommendations for mainstreaming disability, and compares these with ‘good practices’ in gender mainstreaming.

Mobility International USA (MIUSA)
MIUSA works to empower people with disabilities through international exchange and development to achieve human rights. MIUSA’s website has a comprehensive listing of international disability organizations.

Mobility International India
Promotes community-based rehabilitation and mobility for persons with disabilities, especially in rural areas. Trains women with disabilities to make artificial limbs and provide rehabilitation services in their communities.

The Disabled Woman’s Guide to Pregnancy and Birth by Judith Rogers, Demos Medical Publishing
Pregnancy and childbirth information for women with disabilities, based on the experiences of 90 women with disabilities who chose to have children.

Awareness Raising and Training

Action on Disability and Development (ADD)
ADD supports active networks of disabled people in several countries. Many of ADD’s staff have disabilities themselves.

AIFO (Associazione Italiana Amici di Raoul Follereau)
AIFO, an Italian NGO, provides support to projects in the global South. At present AIFO is involved in over 180 projects in 57 countries, supporting projects on leprosy and primary health care; rehabilitation of disabled persons; and support for vulnerable children.

Arts and Disabilities by Florence Ludins-Katz and Elias Katz, National Institute of Art and Disabilities
Ideas for starting an art center for disabled people. Materials, equipment, aids, and instruction needed for many crafts and art forms.

Disability Awareness in Action
An organization dedicated to fostering the integration of disabled people and advocating respect for their rights. Excellent materials on how to organize and maintain an organization of disabled people.

Disability and Development Partners (formerly Jaipur Limb Campaign)
Disability and Development Partners (DDP) works with local partner organizations in developing countries to bring social and economic benefits to people with disabilities—especially to those who have lost limbs or the use of limbs through war, accidents, or preventable diseases.

Disability India Network
Disability India Network has a website with comprehensive information related to disability, and works for the empowerment of persons with disabilities and equal access to healthcare, education and employment.

Disability World
This is a great site that is an internationally focused news web magazine covering disability issues. The site is useful in sorting out relevant information and is in both English and Spanish. Internet users with slower connections can load the site as text only.

Handicap International
An independent international aid organization working alongside disabled and vulnerable people in over 60 countries worldwide in situations of poverty and exclusion, conflict and disaster. Extensive in-line library on many social and health issues that affect disability.

Inclusion International
A global federation of family-based organizations advocating for the human rights of people with intellectual disabilities. II represents 200 member federations in 115 countries.

Rehabilitation International
Founded in 1922, Rehabilitation International (RI) is a worldwide network of people with disabilities, service providers, government agencies, academics, researchers and advocates working to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities. Member organizations in 100 countries and in all regions of the world.

Source International Information Support Centre
Source, is an international information support centre designed to strengthen the management, use and impact of information on health and disability. Source now has over 25,000 information resources on a range of subjects including HIV and AIDS, disability and inclusion, mother and child health, information and communication technology and participatory communication. Resources are available online, by CD-ROM and as printed materials.

Swedish Organizations of Disabled Persons International Aid Association (SHIA)
SHIA aims to strengthen the efforts of persons with disabilities to achieve equality and participation through development co-operation and partnerships between persons with disabilities in Sweden and elsewhere.

The Ragged Edge
A bi-monthly on-line magazine by disabled people. A constant critic of disinformation and false ideas about people with disabilities. Good articles and analysis.

The Southern Africa Federation of the Disabled (SAFOD)
A non-governmental human rights organization founded in 1986 in Zimbabwe by disabled people for disabled people as an umbrella organization for the national Disabled People's Organizations in the Southern African Development Community.

Training in the Community for People with Disability, World Health Organization
Very basic information—sometimes too basic. This latest edition has been improved, but it takes a rather top-down, authoritarian approach. Very simple language. Many pictures. Part of a total plan for a ‘community-based’, government-directed program. Insert non-formatted text here