DISABILITY AWARENESS
RESOURCES

Songtrust believes that the music industry is for everyone and should be accessible to all people.

The music industry isn't just for one type of person, but for all. No matter your situation, you should have access to the resources, equipment, and people you need to grow your career. Below is a collection of organizations and resources to understand how to support persons with disabilities.

Organizations

  • RAMPD is a platform connecting the industry to a global directory of peer-vetted music/sound creators and industry professionals with disabilities, neurodivergence and other chronic or mental health conditions, to find source and hire. As a disability-led organization, RAMPD also equips the music and live entertainment industry with disability inclusive tools, programming and strategy, bringing competitive opportunities, visibility and community to its members while offering disability inclusion to Industry/Venue partners. Learn more.

  • Housed at Transgender Law Center through a 2019 Soros Justice Fellowship, the Disability Project magnifies the leadership, collective power, and visibility of LGBTQ disabled/Deaf/ill constituents. Led by a multi-racial, cross-class, cross-disability advisory board of transgender and gender nonconforming people, the Disability Project embeds disability, Deafness, and anti-ableism politics and expertise into LGBTQ movement work. The Project breaks isolation, grows connection, and builds leadership within trans disability/Deaf/chronically ill communities. Learn more.

  • An organization led by disabled people, set up to advance disability arts and culture through the pages of their journal. Their raison d’être is to support disabled artists, as much as anything by getting the word out about the fantastic art being produced by artists within the sector. Learn more.

  • The OHMI Trust’s objective is a simple one: enable children and adults with physical impairments to play the instruments they want to play, when they want to play them and where they want to play them. Learn more.

  • Open Up Music's mission is to make music accessible to young disabled people. Their Open Orchestras and National Open Youth Orchestra programmes create opportunities for them to play in ensembles. Learn more.

  • Half Access is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to making live music accessible. Our database provides accessibility info on any and all venues to help prepare disabled folks on what to expect before arriving at a show, and will be used by us to work with venues on improving accessibility in their spaces. Learn more.

  • Sins Invalid is committed to social and economic justice for all people with disabilities – in lockdowns, in shelters, on the streets, visibly disabled, invisibly disabled, sensory minority, environmentally injured, psychiatric survivors – moving beyond individual legal rights to collective human rights. Our stories, imbedded in analysis, offer paths from identity politics to unity amongst all oppressed people, laying a foundation for a collective claim of liberation and beauty. Learn more.

  • Project LETS is a national grassroots organization and movement led by and for folks with lived experience of mental illness/madness, Disability, trauma, & neurodivergence. We specialize in building just, responsive, and transformative peer support collectives and community mental health care structures that do not depend on state-sanctioned systems that trap our folks in the medical/prison-industrial complex. We work for and with multiply marginalized folks in our communities to provide access, political education, & material resources that are needed to survive and thrive. Learn more.

  • The Musical Vibrations project, from the University of Liverpool Acoustics Research Unit, aims to bring music to d/Deaf people in schools, live music venues and music production studios, using the power of vibration. Learn more.

  • The Deaf Professional Arts Network (D-PAN) a nonprofit 501 (c) 3 organization was originally founded to make music and music culture – the predominant shared language and experience of people worldwide – universally accessible by extending its reach to the Deaf and hard of hearing. Since 2006, D-PAN has pioneered the art form of creating high quality American Sign Language (ASL) music videos, translating the lyrics of popular songs through ASL. Learn more.

  • CymaSpace is a leading advocate for accessibility and inclusion within the performing arts. We are constantly striving to find new ways to ensure our venue and events are inclusive, especially to Deaf & Hard-of-Hearing communities. Learn more.

  • RespectAbility is a nonprofit organization that works collaboratively with employers, elected officials, policy makers, educators, self-advocates, nonprofits, faith-based organizations, philanthropists and the entertainment and news media to fight stigmas and advance opportunities. Led by diverse people with disabilities and allies, RespectAbility knows that people with disabilities and their families have the same hopes and dreams as everyone else. Learn more.

  • Silence the Shame is a nonprofit organization that focuses on education and awareness around mental health. Our programs and initiatives consist of Crisis Response Trainings, Community Conversations, Wellness Trainings, digital content, and outreach events. We aim to normalize the conversation, peel back the layers of shame, eliminate stigma, and provide support for mental well-being. Learn more.

  • MusiCares helps the humans behind music because music gives so much to the world. Offering preventive, emergency, and recovery programs, MusiCares is a safety net supporting the health and welfare of the music community. Founded by the Recording Academy in 1989 as a U.S. based, independent 501(c)(3) charity, MusiCares safeguards the well-being of all music people through direct financial grant programs, networks of support resources, and tailored crisis relief efforts. Learn more.

  • Live music is for everyone. Attitude is Everything improves Deaf and disabled people's access to live music by working in partnership with audiences, artists and the music industry. Learn more.

  • Drake Music Scotland is the nation’s leading arts organisation providing music making opportunities for people with disabilities. Our expertise in inclusive music technology and specialist teaching methods support people of all ages and a wide range of disabilities to play, learn and compose music independently. Learn more.

  • For almost 100 years, Help Musicians has been providing help, support and opportunities to empower musicians at all stages of their lives. They are an independent charity which aims to make a meaningful difference to the lives of musicians, offering a wide spectrum of support which includes: Health & Welfare services, Creative development funding, ground-breaking research, a mental health helpline for the entire music industry and an incredibly popular hearing health scheme which aims to prevent hearing problems that would otherwise bring musicians’ careers to an untimely end. Learn more.

Articles, Books, and General Resources

  • This online resource empowers individuals with disabilities to explore arts careers and access resources to support their success. It also educates arts employers, educators, and grantmakers about the critical role they play in fostering disability inclusion and the resources available to help them successfully do so. Learn more.

  • One in five people in the United States lives with a disability. Some disabilities are visible, others less apparent—but all are underrepresented in media and popular culture. Now, just in time for the thirtieth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, activist Alice Wong brings together this urgent, galvanizing collection of contemporary essays by disabled people. Learn more.

  • Published to the GRAMMY website in partnership with RAMPD, dive into this must-read article for invaluable tips and key ways the music industry can support creators and creative professionals with disabilities on a year-round basis and in a meaningful manner. Learn more.

  • Music resources for people who are blind or have other visual impairments, as well as those who work with, or are family or friends of those who are blind or have visual impairments.

     Learn more.

  • From the vantage point within Sins Invalid, where they incubate the framework and practice of disability justice, this emerging framework has ten principles, each offering opportunities for movement building. Learn more.

  • From an early age, artist with cerebral palsy Leroy Moore Jr. said he recognized the limited opportunities for people with disabilities. Now, he and a collective of 800 musicians, poets and visual artists are shifting the dialogue within hip-hop culture through Krip-Hop Nation. Learn more.

  • Artists and industry leaders are coming together far and wide to share their stories about mental health and to raise awareness. It’s crucial to take care of your mind, but sometimes it can be difficult to know where to turn. We at Output want to shine a light on seven outstanding organizations making a difference in support of musicians and mental health. Learn more.

  • This Disability Justice Primer, based in the work of Patty Berne and Sins Invalid, offers concrete suggestions for moving beyond the socialization of ableism, such as mobilizing against police violence, how to commit to mixed ability organizing, and access suggestions for events. Skin, Tooth, and Bone offers analysis, history and context for the growing Disability Justice Movement. Learn more.

  • Mia Mingus is a writer, educator and trainer for transformative justice and disability justice. She is a queer physically disabled Korean transracial and transnational adoptee raised in the Caribbean. As her work for liberation evolves and deepens, her roots remain firmly planted in ending sexual violence. Learn more.

  • For more than 25 years, ABILITY Magazine has been the leading publication for health, disability and human potential. It shatters myths and stereotypes surrounding disabilities and brings attention to the issues, showing disability is part of the fabric in our lives. Learn more.

  • Each of the sites on this site provides information relevant to many different types of disabilities. The list is organized in the following sections: Music Organizations, Federal Agencies, and Nonprofit Organizations. Learn more.

  • Visually impaired music producer Jason Dasent has had a successful music career for 25 years. But his work of partnering with manufacturers to make music production accessible for the visually impaired could prove to be his greatest legacy. Learn more.

  • The OHMI Trust is a UK based charity that works to remove the barriers to music making faced by people with physical disabilities. Rachel Wolffsohn, General Manager of the Trust, explains how. Learn more.

  • MusiCares helps the humans behind music because music gives so much to the world. Offering preventive, emergency, and recovery programs, MusiCares is a safety net supporting the health and welfare of the music community. Founded by the Recording Academy in 1989 as a U.S. based, independent 501(c)(3) charity, MusiCares safeguards the well-being of all music people through direct financial grant programs, networks of support resources, and tailored crisis relief efforts. Learn more.

  • The National Federation of Blind has many members and friends who pursue careers and hobbies related to music. They collected a list of resources to assist Blind music creators. Learn more.

  • In this interview published on Dice, Suzanne Bull and Lachi, two leading disability rights activists, share advice for venues on how to create an equitable and inclusive culture for disabled fans. Learn more.

Video and Audio Resources