A Year of Reframing Disability
The past year, summed up, and training and webinar announcements
Dear Readers,
Can’t believe it’s Reframing Disability’s first birthday, already! Where are you celebrating? 🥳
I’ll be speaking at the Splice Beta media gathering in Chiang Mai next week and would love to celebrate with you if you are around!
One year ago, I launched Reframing Disability with the goal of challenging the dominant narratives about disability in content, sparking conversation, and sharing best practices and voices of people working for disability inclusion in India and the Global South.
Since then, each issue of the newsletter has been an opportunity to explore the nuances of disability as a fundamental part of human diversity.
With your engagement, feedback, and commitment, which I’m hugely grateful for, you've made this newsletter dynamic and impactful, and given me the motivation to go on.
I’ve heard from readers who’ve used the newsletter to inform their training, reporting, accessibility practices, initiate dialogue on disability inclusion in their workplace or with friends, or just enjoy a good read. Most of my over 665 subscribers from 47 countries have come through readers’ recommendations or word of mouth, so every issue has been read widely, with an open rate between 50% and 60%.
Knowing that these resources are being applied so widely has reinforced my commitment to bringing you fresh perspectives each month.
Support the work of Reframing Disability
This year has also shown me the importance of sustaining this work. Working on Reframing Disability has meant I have had to give up a lot of other journalism work that I counted on to earn a living. I realised that to continue working on this newsletter, bring you the best resources, and hire other talent to write, I need your contributions, and yet, I don’t want to put Reframing Disability behind a paywall.
So, if you can, I would be so grateful for your support of Reframing Disability’s mission on a pay-as-you-can basis.
Donate a custom amount from anywhere in the world, one-off or on a monthly basis. Write to me at pritisalian[at] gmail[dot]com or hit reply for UPI or bank details.
A look back at the year that went by
I’m deeply proud of everyone who has enriched Reframing Disability with their unique insights and contributions. A conversation with Jody Santos, founder of the Disability Justice Project, highlighted how making filmmaking accessible for disabled creators needs dedicated work. Set Hernandez, director of unseen, spoke about integrating accessibility as an artistic aesthetic in film. This approach to inclusion as a creative element in filmmaking pushes us to see accessibility not just as a requirement but as a form of expression that enhances storytelling.
Shweta Ghosh, who brought her academic insights into the conversation, reminded me that inclusion begins with a genuine curiosity about disability itself. Her words reinforced my belief that curiosity and openness are powerful tools for meaningful inclusion in any field.
I was inspired by Tania from Dream A Dream, who detailed how the organisation has worked patiently to embed inclusion in its events. Their gradual, intentional approach underscores a key lesson: inclusion doesn’t happen overnight but is a journey that requires commitment and patience.
Hearing from Indian newsrooms like Behanbox and Newslaundry affirmed my hope that disability stories can resonate broadly. Behanbox shared how their disability-focused stories are quite well-received by readers, while Newslaundry noted that integrating digital accessibility has allowed them to reach and build trust with new audiences with access needs. This feedback strengthens my conviction that newsrooms can gain so much by embracing accessibility, not just in their content but in their operations.
I appreciated journalist Shreya Raman’s humility when she described how people with disabilities were patient with her mistakes, even helping her correct them. It’s a reminder of the grace and generosity often extended by the disability community. Shreya’s call for more disability inclusion training in journalism echoed what I feel strongly about, and I was glad to hear Irish journalist Niamh Ní Hoireabhaird reiterate that having journalists with lived experiences in the newsroom can foster richer, more inclusive reporting globally.
In covering neurodivergent perspectives, Aditi Gangrade from Much Much Spectrum, emphasised that to be neurodiversity-affirming, the media should speak directly with neurodivergent individuals rather than relying on family members or caregivers. Therapeutic storyteller Shivani Dhillon’s tips on telling children’s stories about disability without overtly naming it offered a fresh approach. And when I spoke with children’s author Aditi Sowmyanarayan, a non-speaking autistic teen, she stated that she would rather be recognised for her engaging writing skills rather than her disability. Her mantra—to focus on talent rather than disability—is a reminder of the importance of asset-based framing of content.
A conversation about music accessibility with Muskan Bhatia, a young person from the d/Deaf and hard-of-hearing community, left me thinking about how often young people are excluded from creative spaces that could otherwise bring them joy. Her love of music but feelings of exclusion due to the lack of sign language interpretation at events brought home the importance of truly accessible design in all public spaces. Then, Willy Chowoo told Reframing Disability about how he is combating dis- and mis-information among the d/Deaf community by training sign language interpreters as news verifiers in Uganda.
CK Meena, editor of Everyone Is Good At Something, spoke about how her role allows her to engage with stories of people from diverse backgrounds across India. Her love for exploring others’ lives and experiences aligns with what I value most about journalism—the chance to connect with and amplify voices from different perspectives.
Journalist Padma Priya’s reflections on her experience with Long COVID and comments on the media’s struggle to cover Long COVID due to medical confusion about the condition reminded me of the importance of persistence in reporting underrepresented issues.
I wrote a few essays reflecting on what constitutes good disability storytelling, one of them being on an American documentary about three blind friends. In it, I reiterated the importance of stories of disabled people focusing on fun and pleasure.
In other pieces, I tackled narratives around violence against disabled women, challenged the “special needs” and “overcoming disability” tropes, and critiqued the harmful effects of “ableism” and “inspiration porn” in storytelling. Writing it reminded me of the power—and the responsibility—journalists have to tell authentic and nuanced disability stories.
Reframing Disability also featured essential disability reporting topics such as key disability topics to report on during the elections, republished my piece on election accessibility, and highlighted stories on women doctors with disabilities, ableism in the Paralympics, and a personal essay by Tarini Mohan on internalised ableism. Each piece was a small step towards broadening the understanding of disability.
Deaf journalist Aman Misra’s point about giving people with disabilities representation in government and his call to mainstream disability discourse by placing disabled voices in decision-making roles is something I’m passionate about too—it’s a necessary step towards true inclusion and systemic change.
And Johny Cassidy’s words—“progress over perfection”—continue to be a grounding mantra for me: aiming for steady improvement rather than instant perfection in the pursuit of accessibility. Every step taken towards accessibility counts.
What’s next?
New topics
I’ve worked tirelessly to make Reframing Disability a valuable resource, and as we look ahead, I’m excited to explore topics such as the intersections of disability and climate, health, theatre and activism, and bring in expert contributors. Hit reply and tell me what else I should cover!
Webinars
As a thanks to all of you, I’m happy to announce Reframing Disability’s first webinar later this month: “Disability Activism on Social Media". Learn from the hugely successful Indian disability activists Puneet Singh Singhal and Virali Modi how they fire up their social posts. Then, apply their actionable tips to your posts, irrespective of the field you work in!
Keep an eye out for the schedule soon, and reply to this email if you’d like to participate!
Training
Over the past year, I have been invited by many organisations to conduct workshops. To name a few, Indian NGO Rising Flame hired me to conduct a workshop for NGOs on creating newsletters centred on disability. I was at Bonn Institute’s b° future festival in October to speak about effectively applying disability inclusion in journalism. This month, I’m off to Chiang Mai where at the Splice Beta media gathering, I’ll conduct a workshop on disability inclusion in social media. I’m glad to see media festivals recognising disability inclusion as a vital part of journalism's future.
And of course, as an instructor at the Disability Justice Project, I taught the DJP fellows rights-based and inclusive journalism for 14 weeks. As the organisation’s community engagement director, I have conducted sessions on various aspects of disability inclusion for our monthly webinars.
In December, Reframing Disability will offer its first free training, “Understanding Disability Inclusion in Storytelling”. More details will be announced in the next issue. Hit reply if you’d like to participate.
Hire me
As a trainer on disability inclusion in communications and storytelling or any other kind of content. Write to me for a customised training for your organisation.
Reporting or research for your publication/organisation: My byline appears in the BBC, Guardian, The Lancet, The British Medical Journal, CNN, Stanford Social Innovation Review and the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism. Check my portfolio for my recent work.
Thanks for making disability inclusion a part of your conversation. Like always, write to me with your thoughts and suggestions. Your messages warm my heart and I always write back. Let’s also connect on LinkedIn and Twitter!
Warmly,
Priti Salian
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Great Going! 👏🏻👍👏🏻