Access All: Disability News and Mental Health

Festival season is upon us and the access offerings at some mainstream events could be about to get better after one of the big providers was served with a legal notice to improve it. We speak to festival fans, the BBC's Annabel Rackham and Attitude is Everything to get the lay of the land. Plus we also meet Polly Shute, co-founder of Out and Wild Festival, for lesbians and non-binary people which...

When Vikki Walton-Cole became a wheelchair-user she had to quit her job as a social worker because the courts she worked in were no longer accessible to her. Years later, she was excused from jury service, against her wishes, for the same reason. Journalist Kateryna Pavlyuk digs into the accessibility of courts across England, Scotland and Wales, and reports back on what she found. We also hear fr...

(At 05:19) Rapper Professor Green, real name Stephen Manderson, has long been open about his mental health difficulties and has joined up with the British Association of Counselling and Psychotherapy which reports seven in 10 men don’t seek support until they hit crisis point. He explores why the figure is so high and goes on to tell Emma Tracey that his recent ADHD and Autism Diagnoses have helpe...

From 13 April, Motability customers who start a new lease, including drivers under 30, will get weekly traffic light scores via a black box, like those used for younger drivers to get cheaper insurance. If you don't drive smoothly you could have your car taken away. Northern Ireland has been trialling the Drive Smart technology since last year and one recipient, Eva, 21, says her scores are bad -...

The biggest sporting event of the year is here - the Winter Paralympics! (The Olympics was just the warm-up). We hear from the BBC's Sally Hurst who's in Milan-Cortina for all the action and find out why ice skating isn't included in the Games. We meet two skaters - Margarita Sweeney-Baird who runs Inclusive Skating, and Rhiannon Parker-Nicholls, an elite skater who had a stroke aged 19 - who are...

Disabled people are waiting up to 30 weeks for a decision on whether they'll get a grant to support them at work and wait times are getting longer. We hear from three people who have been affected: Danielle Verity, a visually impaired NHS psychologist has had her grant reduced causing her career stress and worsening mental health. And George Baker is waiting for a new agreement which means he pres...

There were celebrations last year when a GCSE in British Sign Language was approved...but a few months have passed and no accredited exam board has taken it on. What now for the exam which had a strong 10-year campaign behind it? Simon Want from the National Deaf Children's Society gives his reaction while BBC journalist Kateryna Pavlyuk talks us through it. Cyber correspondent Joe Tidy has been i...

It's a new year and we are finding out about the hopes and aspirations of three young disabled people around the UK. At 17, Niamdh is School Captain at her college in Scotland and hoping for a career in politics. She took her council to court not too long ago and won a case which now ensures she gets adequate BSL support in the classroom - since then, she's been flying. Seren has just started a ne...

The onset of motor neurone disease (MND) left Sarah without a voice and the use of her hands at the age of 34. It was within months of her becoming a mum for the second time. As they were growing up, her children Aviva and Eric only ever heard her speak through a machine with an emotionless robotic voice. But 25 years on, artificial intelligence (AI) has recreated their mum's real voice from just...

In our pick of the year's best interviews on Access All, we look back at a year of perceptive interviews by Emma Tracey with great people and their great thoughts on living this disabled life. We hear from author of The Vulpine, Polly Crosby, who has cystic fibrosis and tells us she writes "little and often" so she can write comfortably with the condition she has. Comedian Chris McCausland now fee...

Do you know anything about disability beyond your own? We test three well-known disabled people. Featuring BBC Chief North America Correspondent Gary O'Donoghue, Coronation Street's Jack Carrroll and writer-comedian Juliette Burton. In this poignant parody game, blind, cerebral palsy and mental health are respectively their HOME impairments so will our brave contestants choose to answer questions...

When Crystal Palace play Manchester City on 14 December, Neale Ormston will become the first visually impaired commentator of a premier league football match. That's thanks to a new headset which has allowed him to see games in detail for the first time in years. He’s nervous and excited to join Crystal Palace’s specialist commentary team and wants more clubs to buy into the GiveVision headsets wh...

It's 3 December, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD). While everyone chooses to mark it differently - from focusing on leveling up work places, to reminding people to be more inclusive - we've decided to celebrate with some big names from the disability world! Dr Shani Dhanda speaks to us from Tokyo where she's delivering a keynote speech at the world's first Accountability S...

The Autumn Budget was pronounced today and, as expected, it came with some changes to VAT exemptions on higher-end Motability cars and the types available. Emma Vogelmann from Transport for All gives us the charity's reaction. It's the BBC's Scam Safe week and, as Trading Standards reveal that neurodivergent people are 50% more likely to fall for a scam, we speak with cybersecurity expert Holly Fo...

We pay tribute to US writer and community-builder Alice Wong who died this week at 51. Known for her Disability Visibility project and #CripTheVote, we hear from her friend Nichola Griffith who collaborated with her on a writing project called #CripLit. She never actualy met her offline yet they made a big connection. If you didn't know of her in life, here's your chance for her to inspire you wit...

Comedian and author Cariad Lloyd says her "heart exploded" when she was invited to take part in her latest TV project, Playtime. The show sees neurodivergent comedians work alongside students who receive SEND support to come up with a play and perform it. Joining the conversation is Playtime’s autistic director, Céin McGillicuddy, who explains the joy of making the programme in just one day. Emily...

After a summer of discontent and rebellions around welfare reform, the government has announced how it will look into the future of Personal Independence Payments (Pip) with the Timms Review, named after the Government minister in charge. That Minister is Sir Stephen Timms and he joins Emma to reveal who will be working with him on the review and how you can get involved. He also admits delays wit...

There have been lots of rumours and speculation around Motability recently, especially when it comes to eligibility and price rises. The scheme enables some disabled people to lease and adapt vehicles using an element of their Personal Independence Payments. We get myth-busting with the CEO of the Motability Foundation, Nigel Fletcher, to find out what's really going on. And buildings around the w...

The first driverless taxis are coming to London in 2026 courtesy of Google's sister company, Waymo. They'll be on trial in the capital, but will they become an access wonder or woe? Emma Tracey and Paul Carter quiz Amanda Ventura from Waymo on all the ins and outs on what the new vehicles could mean for disabled people. We also speak to American tech journalist, Steve Aquino, who as a man with anx...

Since appearing on Strictly Come Dancing last year, and winning, comedian Chris McCausland tells Access All that he's "more open" and hadn't appreciated that showing vulnerability and a struggle to achieve really connects with people. Tune in for a really insightful conversation between Chris and Emma Tracey, who is blind like Chris, and asks questions other interviewers would never think of. He a...

Black people are four more times likely to be sectioned compared to white people, according to the mental health charity, Mind. That number is rising, but why? As the new Mental Health Act 2025 rumbles through Parliament, hoping to address some of these inequalities, we meet Shocka, a former member of the grime collective, Marvell. He has been sectioned four times and tells us what time in a psych...

John Davidson has been the poster boy for Tourette syndrome since 1988, when a documentary about him called ‘John’s Not Mad’ aired on BBC One. It showed the then 16-year-old from the Scottish Borders, living with explosive, often sweary tics, in a world that didn’t understand the condition. Three decades on, we’re much more aware of Tourette syndrome and that’s in no small part down to John and hi...

It's not often the BBC has to debunk announcements made by presidents for public health reasons - but that's the case this week after President Trump claimed that taking Paracetamol during pregnancy may cause autism. We speak with Eric Garcia, an autistic political journalist in the US, who tells us what the autism community is saying and why focusing on the mother as the catalyst for autism has u...

Disabled people are reporting that their Access To Work grants are being cut back, and at a time when the government is encouraging disabled people to get back into the workforce. As the ATW grant is awarded to help you hold down a job, or enable self-employment, it's causing confusion and concern. Disability correspondent Nikki Fox joins us to share her findings and what government is saying. The...

An impromptu cabinet reshuffle last Friday has seen Pat McFadden take the reigns at the Department of Work and Pensions, DWP. But who is he? And could this mean that the benefits arguments will reopen after the big government climbdown back in the summer? A report this week shows that people with learning disabilities are still dying significantly earlier compared to the general population. The Le...