People With Disabilities

APA Services advocates for broader access to services and equitable treatment for people with disabilities.

Our focus

Expanding access to mental and behavioral health services for children and adults with disabilities
APA Services continues to advocate with coalition partners to ensure that people with disabilities—including but not limited to mental health and developmental disabilities—can access the full range of clinically appropriate services in their homes, at school, and in their communities.
Utilizing psychological science to end harmful and discriminatory practices that disproportionately affect people with disabilities
APA brings the science of psychology to the conversation in demonstrating how certain practices—such as use of corporal punishment in schools or police encounters with citizens—can disproportionately affect and cause long-term psychological harm to people with disabilities.
Ensuring adequate resources to investigate effective psychological interventions for people with disabilities
We advocate for adequate funding for the National Institutes of Health, which includes the National Center for Rehabilitation Research, as well as the department of Health and Human Services’ National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research, to support psychological research to evaluate the efficacy of new approaches to treating the mental and behavioral health needs of individuals with disabilities.

APA supports the use of services, supports, and environments that are least restrictive, most integrating, and most effective in allowing people with mental and physical disabilities to participate in their communities.
—APA Council of Representatives

What you can do

Stay informed

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Get involved

Learn more about the process behind federal legislation and policy and how to effectively voice your concerns with members of Congress.

Join an APA division

APA’s 54 divisions provide many ways for you to network with professionals in your field and become an influencer in your area of interest.

Health equity

APA works to advance health equity by supporting policies to reduce or eliminate disparities in health outcomes, as well as those that address underlying social determinants that affect the health and well-being of populations that have experienced economic and social marginalization.

View more health equity advocacy issues

Contact us

Andrew Strickland, JD
Senior Legislative and Regulatory Officer

Email APA Advocacy Office

Recent APA advocacy on disability issues

View of the U.S. Capitol building dome and American flag against a clear sky.

Urging Congress to preserve federal protections for students with disabilities

June 25, 2026

Along with coalition colleagues, APA Services called on Congress to block the transfer of Education Department offices that oversee programs for students with disabilities and civil rights protections

APA Services welcomes five new members to the Advocacy Coordinating Committee

November 4, 2025

APA Services welcomes five new members to its Advocacy Coordinating Committee, which guides the association’s advocacy priorities each year. Meet the new appointees shaping psychology’s voice in public policy

Investing in psychology: Policy grounded in science

February 24, 2025

Members of APA’s Council of Representatives press Congress during Hill Day to invest in the psychology workforce and the NIH, as well as to protect behavioral health services in Medicaid.

Three members appointed to the Advocacy Coordinating Committee

October 2, 2024

The Advocacy Coordinating Committee (ACC) is charged with recommending the association’s advocacy priorities to the Board of Directors. Evelyn Burrell, Tamara Morris, Christopher Nguyen have been appointed to serve on the ACC.

More on disabilities

Disability Mentoring Program

Fosters inclusive, supportive relationships between mentors and mentees to advance diversity in psychology

Accessibility and Inclusion Maturity Model

A conceptual framework for advancing disability inclusion at APA

Comments to Proposed Rules RIN 0945-AA15 (PDF, 277KB) opens in new window

November 2023 response to proposed rules updating the implementation of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act

APA Resolution

APA, Psychology, and Human Rights (PDF, 152KB) opens in new window

APA pledges to integrate its longstanding concerns for human rights and related initiatives into a framework that will underpin its decision-making

Psychology topics

Disabilities

There are more than one billion people worldwide with a disability. APA’s topics page on disabilities links to information about what you can do, news on this topic, and related publications.

Last updated: October 2025Date created: October 2021