Disability Inclusive Video List
{Image description: screen shot of Dom Evans directing the music video Spaces. James Ian is on stage in the background, Dom is shown in a screen as they virtually direct from home}
These videos contain educational information about disability that ranges from documentaries, discussions, comedy, and so much more. There are great supplementary videos that can be used in your classroom and can support your understanding of diversity within the disability community.
As our audience ranges in age, be sure to preview videos before sharing with your class as there may be some content and language not appropriate for younger audiences.
This list is ever-growing so check back soon and let us know what other videos should be on this list. Let us know by emailing us!
The movement for disability conversation in the classroom is growing.
Documentaries, films, TV, streaming, and web series about people with disabilities and disability issues that could be used in higher education courses.
This is the story of a lesser known element to the civil rights struggle in the United States. Pennhurst State School, like hundreds of similar institutions around the country, is where the intellectually disabled were sent to live their lives outside of the view of wider society. In the late 1960’s and 1970’s a very dedicated group of school residents, their families and staff began a quiet revolution at Pennhurst State School that would ultimately change American society forever. This is a short documentary I created for the Pennhurst Memorial & Preservation Alliance to raise public awareness about this historic place, its brave residents and the important chapter their story represents in American history.
Amazing Things Happen by Alexander Amelines
Introduction to autism that aims to raise awareness among young non-autistic audiences, to stimulate understanding and acceptance in future generations.
Deaf People Tell Us Which Questions Annoy Them the Most
Deaf people teach us bad words, vent about what annoys them, and even teach us how to flirt in sign language.
Weaving together never-before-seen archival footage with reflective interviews and the personal stories of men and women with disabilities as they fought for independence and control over their lives, Defiant Lives details the rise of the disability rights movement in Australia, the U.K., and the U.S.
Disability Sensitivity Training Video
A comedic look at how to interact respectfully with people with disabilities.
Disney shorts
While a membership is required so we can’t link you to them directly, if you have access to Disney Plus, these are excellent shorts with great disability representation and storylines.
Float - A father discovers that his son floats, which makes him different from other kids. To keep them both safe from the judgement of the world, Dad hides, covers, and grounds him. But when his son's ability becomes public, Dad must decide whether to run and hide or to accept his son as he is.
Loop - In "Loop," two kids at canoe camp find themselves adrift on a lake, unable to move forward until they find a new way to connect and see the world through each other's eyes. This film breaks new ground by featuring Pixar's first non-verbal autistic character.
The Do’s and Don’ts of Disability
In this film, Michelle Middleton takes a humorous look at people’s reactions to her cerebral palsy. The 26-year-old has created the piece, with the help of Fixers, to encourage others not to treat her, or anyone else with a disability, differently.
Drawing What Anxiety Feels Like
A picture paints a thousand words. People living with anxiety draw what it feels like.
Drunk History Disability Rights
Judy Heumann and her fellow activists begin the Section 504 sit-in, paving the way for the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Scope’s “awkward experts” tell us the 4 most awkward things to avoid saying
Activist Annie Elainey: That person you think might be faking a disability is actually far more likely to be FAKING WELL (or what you incorrectly believe are indications that they are “well” enough to not be disabled).
While not a film to watch, this resource is so important to consider what the actual representation of disabled people in the media is. Learn about disability representation in the Film Dis reports on disabled representation in the media. There are comprehensive reports as well as condensed fact sheets with all the most important information from the studies & white papers.
Funny Disability Sensitivity Training Video
Well produced, humourous video.
Encouraged by civil rights movements of the 1960s, the Disability Rights Movement gained momentum leading to the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. Decades earlier in 1978, 19 individuals tossed aside their wheelchairs and blocked city buses deemed inaccessible for the physically disabled. Discover how this one act led to years of advocacy in Colorado and inspired the nation.
Girl Loses Consciousness When She Runs
Katie Cooke has a lifestyle clash few others can rival. The 19-year-old from Dublin is a competitive runner – but her chronic epilepsy means she has around 16 seizures a day, often during races. When other competitors see her fall to the ground, they naturally believe she needs to go to hospital – even though she normally recovers immediately and in her case, there’s no need for medical intervention. Even though she’s grateful for the public response, all Katie wants to do is carry on running. When she told the neurologist who’s treating her condition, he offered to become her running partner – and together they’ve become a marathon-running team.
Google Impact: ADA 25th Anniversary
Google is proud to celebrate the 25th anniversary of The Americans with Disabilities Act. Activists discuss the importance of the ADA.
How to Spot a Fake Disability - Annie Elainey
Spoiler Alert: You can't! This Vlogger speaks beautifully about invisible disabilities.
I Am Denver: 30 Years of ADA Impact
For the past 30 years, the Americans with Disabilities Act has been improving conditions for individuals living with disabilities — and for the rest of us, too. Some remarkably courageous people right here in Denver helped inspire change. We document that here in "30 Years Later: How the ADA enabled the disability community to 'boldly go where everyone else has gone before'.
It’s Our Story is a mixed-media digital history archive that houses the most comprehensive collection of video, photos and documents regarding life with disability in America. The It’s Our Story repository and its contents are testaments to America’s most fundamental values of freedom, autonomy, and independence. The national initiative that has developed from the archive has united hundreds of grassroots advocates, scholars, educators and civic leaders from nearly every state in the United States. It’s Our Story began as a father-son media project centering on the late Ed Roberts—a man often referred to as the “father of disability rights.” The project allowed both Scott Cooper and his son Eric Clow to come to terms with their own disabilities and, in the process, transformed their view of others with disabilities.
The filmmaker Jason DaSilva reveals the challenges for disabled people in navigating New York City’s public transportation system.
Medicaid Cuts and People with Disabilities
Recently, 43 disabled protesters were arrested outside of Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell’s office, and the clips went viral on social media. Since then, activists have kept up the pressure on the Republican health bill with similar actions across the country. For this short documentary, The Atlantic traveled to the heart of the disability rights movement in the San Francisco Bay Area to learn why some disabled people fear the bill. Mary Lou Breslin of the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund says cuts to Medicaid could ultimately cost 3 million disabled people their freedom and erode “40 years of hard won gains by the disability rights movement.”
Mental Health Education for Kids
A short video to explain mental illness and stop the stigma surrounding mental illnesses early.
Millersville University Disability Pride
A collection of images and interviews that describe just what Disability Pride at Millersville University is like.
The path to adulthood is a precarious one for those with disabilities. So Samuel Habib, 21, seeks out guidance from America’s most rebellious disability activists.
NOT SPECIAL NEEDS | #NotSpecialNeeds
Ask yourself: what “special needs” does a person with Down syndrome really have?
PISS ON PITY is a documentary project exploring the power of ADAPT, a grassroots, disability rights group working to create a barrier-free, inclusive society.
Protactile: A Language of Touch
Join author and disability rights advocate Rebecca Alexander as she meets the founders and educators of Protactile, a language based solely on touch. Historically, DeafBlind people have been limited to using interpreters to communicate. With Protactile, one-on-one and group conversations are not only possible, but they also allow for deeper and more meaningful connection.
Comedian Zach Anner searches for a rainbow bagel in NYC showing the difficulty of using public transportation in an electric wheelchair.
Rooted in Rights Mental Health in Prison
One day you’re in minimum security, the next you’re in solitary confinement. You’re released before you receive treatment, and you’re back in jail again before you know what hit you. That’s what 24 year-old Siyad Shamo has experienced in the jails in King County, Washington. Inconsistencies in how jails treat people with mental illness drives the cycle that sees the same people come in and out, year after year. Average stays in Washington State jails in Appendix B of Correctional Needs and Costs by the Office of Finance and Management, 2014. Rooted in Rights, in partnership with the AVID Jail Project, shares these stories to bring attention to the crisis of mental health in our criminal justice system. (be sure to explore all of the incredible videos produced by Rooted in Rights)
Spaces Music Video and The Making of Spaces
A behind-the-scenes look at the making of SPACES, a first-of-its-kind musical collaboration designed to highlight the talents and humanity of people with disabilities to a broader audience. SPACES was created for everyone with a disability by the spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) community from beginning to end – from brainstorming the message, to writing and performing the song, storyboarding and directing the music video and designing the album art. Through the power of music, SPACES aims to amplify the voices of the SMA community and spark important dialogue about disability representation. The song was written and performed by singer/songwriter James Ian, the music video was directed by Hollywood consultant and filmmaker Dominick Evans, and the SPACES album art was created by artist Zarek Elizondo, all of whom are living with SMA.
Special Books by Special Kids and SBSK YouTube Channel
Interviews with people in the disability/neurodiverse community with the intention of creating a more inclusive world.
Ten Tips for Kids Disability Etiquette
Video for kids by kids
is a two-hour documentary that explores almost 200 years of Deaf life in America and presents a broad range of perspectives on what it means to be deaf.
Traveling with a Physical Disability in Japan
Many people are aware that Japan has excellent public transportation. If you’re a keen observer, you may have noticed the many wheelchair accessible facilities, but perhaps have not seen physically disabled people make use of them. In this video, Yuriko Oda (Wheelchair Walker) and Josh Grisdale (Accessible Japan) show what it’s like to travel with a physical disability in Japan’s trains, buses, cars, taxis, and planes.
This is part of new series of social documentaries about Japan that I’m making. Future episodes will attempt to answer questions like: what are the living conditions of the homeless, what does social housing look life and how affordable is housing, what is it like to work in Japan and is there any work/life balance, and what is it like to go to primary school?
The word “disability” means different things to different people – and sometimes people don’t identify as having a disability at all. Rooted in Rights explains.
What Does it Mean to Overcome Disability?
Activist Annie Elainey: I hear this phrase a lot in a few variations, “overcoming disability”, “defying disability”, “disability did not stop them from…” and on and on, so I wanted to really sit with how this statement is used, what it implies, and if it is accurate.
Comedian Zach Anner takes you through a hilarious workout!
Easterseals Disability Film Challenge
Each year since 2014 The Easterseals Disability Film Challenge gives filmmakers—with and without disabilities—the opportunity to collaborate to tell unique stories that showcase disability in its many forms.
The film challenge is a weekend-long competition in which filmmakers write, produce and complete an original three-to-five minute films. Filmmaking teams receive an assigned genre along with a list of required props and locations.
View all of their playlists with each year’s nominees and winners as well as all of the submissions on their YouTube Playlist Page.
Two of our favorite films are Human Helper, and Take It Back. Human Helper tells the story where in the near future, artificially intelligent robots, otherwise known as human helpers, are a regular part of life. However, they’re not very inclusive. Dr. Rachel Hubbert and her assistant Tony have made it their mission to make them not ableist. Set in the year 2030 “Take It Back” follows a woman who travels back in time to prevent the accident that left her paralyzed when she was a young girl, making a few unexpected stops along the way.
Check out our Lesson Plan that uses these short films.
“Kids Meet” series: ages 5 and up
Curious kids meet–and interview–people with different lived experiences.
Kids Meet a Deaf Person
Kids Meet a Guide Dog for the Blind
Kids Meet a Woman With Tourette's https://tinyurl.com/KidsMeetWomanWithTourettes
Kids Meet a Guy in a Wheelchair for the First Time https://tinyurl.com/KidsMeetGuyWheelchair
Kids Meet a Little Person
TED talks:
Ben Myers - The Disability Conversation
Ben Myers talks about the importance of disability advocacy at the TEDxOStateU 2015 event at the Oklahoma State University campus on April 10, 2015.
Caroline Casey: Looking past limits
Activist Caroline Casey tells the story of her extraordinary life, starting with a revelation (no spoilers). In a talk that challenges perceptions, Casey asks us all to move beyond the limits we may think we have.
Maysoon Zayid TED Talk - I got 99 problems... palsy is just one
“I have cerebral palsy. I shake all the time,” Maysoon Zayid announces at the beginning of this exhilarating, hilarious talk. (Really, it’s hilarious.) “I’m like Shakira meets Muhammad Ali.” With grace and wit, the Arab-American comedian takes us on a whistle-stop tour of her adventures as an actress, stand-up comic, philanthropist and advocate for people with disabilities.
Stella Young TED Talk - I'm not your inspiration, thank you very much
Stella Young is a comedian and journalist who happens to go about her day in a wheelchair — a fact that doesn’t, she’d like to make clear, automatically turn her into a noble inspiration to all humanity. In this very funny talk, Young breaks down society’s habit of turning disabled people into “inspiration porn.”
American Sign Language (ASL) Videos
A Few Things to Know About American Sign Language | NPR
Here are a few things to know about American Sign Language from five people who use it every day.
Best Sign Language Music Videos - You Tube list
“The best sign language music videos ever done on this planet, from a deaf film director's perspective-- in terms of performance, quality of work and sign language translation/expression. Most of the sign language done here is done at a moderate to advanced level.”
Nyle DiMarco’s YouTube Channel
Deaf actor and activist Nyle DiMarco. Find his signing instruction videos and a few music videos here.
Spongebob Squarepants American Sign Language Video
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles American Sign Language Video
Why Sign Language is so Important
Deaf comedian Jessica Marie Flores talks about why sign language is so important to her.