Beyond Ramps: Three Policy Frameworks for Disability-Inclusive Cities, Energy, and Climate Action

This blog summarizes key messages from Nagendran, GDI Hub’s Inclusive Climate Researcher’s talk at Access & Opportunity Learning Lab, Session 4: Policy Frameworks to Foster Inclusion during the Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) Asia.

Think of Disability, Think of Diversity

Bala noted that public perceptions of disability often default to visible impairments—ramps and wheelchairs. The same narrowing happens with visual impairment, where the stereotype is “glasses and a cane,” not the broader range of needs and tools that support independence. These assumptions shape the accommodations policymakers prioritize, and the ones they overlook.

Bala emphasized the diversity of disability, including vision, hearing, mobility, and cognitive differences, as well as barriers related to self-care (for example, making payments or dressing independently), communication, and pain. Disability inclusion in policy and practice cannot stop at the impairments that are easiest to see.