Celebrate the Season: Resources for a Joyful and Grounded Holiday in 2025

Written By Kyra Coates

Image: A woman who is a wheelchair user and a man wearing a ski hat take a selfie outside with holiday lights behind them.

The holiday season often arrives carrying many things at once — joy, connection, tradition, reflection, and sometimes stress. For people with disabilities, their families, and caregivers, this time of year can bring added layers of planning, accessibility challenges, and emotional fatigue alongside celebration.

We believe the holidays should be inclusive, supportive, and rooted in community. As we close out 2025, we’re sharing resources, stories, and inspiration to help make the season a little gentler and a little brighter.

Good News Highlights for the Disability Community in 2025


As we reflect on the year behind us, there is meaningful progress to celebrate across the disability community. This progress is shaped by advocacy, lived experience, and collective action.

Expanded Air Travel Protections
In 2025, new federal rules strengthened protections for wheelchair users during air travel, requiring improved training for airline staff, clearer communication with travelers, and stronger accountability when mobility devices are damaged or delayed.

Stronger Accessibility Standards in Public Spaces
Updated national standards for sidewalks and public rights-of-way are improving curb ramps, crossings, and pedestrian infrastructure, supporting safer navigation for people with mobility disabilities, blind and low-vision pedestrians, older adults, and families.

Improved Digital Access to Public Services
Expanded digital accessibility requirements are improving access to government websites, documents, and online services, benefiting people who rely on screen readers, captions, keyboard navigation, and alternative formats.

Growing Investment in Disability-Led Programs in Colorado
Continued investment through the Colorado Disability Opportunity Office has expanded support for benefits navigation, employment readiness, independent living services, and community-based programs across the state.


Independent Living in Action: A 2025 Milestone

Image: Michaela Benthaus is pictured exiting the Blue Origin New Shepard rocket with her wheelchair.

In December 2025, a historic moment captured national attention when Michaela Benthaus became the first person who uses a wheelchair to travel to space.

Benthaus flew aboard Blue Origin’s New Shepard suborbital rocket, crossing the recognized boundary of space and experiencing weightlessness before safely returning to Earth. An aerospace and mechatronics engineer, Benthaus sustained a spinal cord injury in 2018 and has since continued her work in engineering and advocacy.

While the journey itself was extraordinary, its deeper meaning resonates closer to home: when accessibility, innovation, and opportunity align, people with disabilities can participate fully in every arena of human endeavor. This milestone reflects the heart of independent living — choice, self-determination, and the freedom to pursue one’s goals without limitation.


Thoughtful Gifts and Inclusive Giving

The holidays are a powerful opportunity to support disability-led businesses, creators, and organizations. From adaptive tools that support independence to art, books, and products created by entrepreneurs with disabilities, gifting with intention helps strengthen inclusive communities.

If you’re looking for meaningful ways to give this season, consider supporting:

  • Rebekah Taussig
    An author and writer whose books and essays explore disability, identity, and belonging with honesty and warmth. Her work makes thoughtful, reflective gifts that invite deeper understanding.

  • Disabled And Here
    A disability-led creative project offering artwork, digital media, and visual resources that center authentic representation and inclusive storytelling.

  • Etsy (disability-owned shops)
    Many creators with disabilities sell handmade art, jewelry, home goods, and adaptive items through Etsy. Searching for disability-owned or adaptive makers can help connect you directly with small businesses.

  • Local artists and makers with disabilities
    Supporting local creators — through holiday markets, galleries, or online shops — helps keep resources circulating within the community and supports artists year-round. Check out East Window Gallery in Boulder, whose resolve is to bring visibility to historically marginalized artists who exist in all communities of color, including Black, Indigenous, Asian, LGBTQ+ Communities, Two-Spirit, Gender Non-Binary, and People with Disabilities and Chronic Illness.

You can also consider giving beyond physical gifts by donating to disability-led organizations, purchasing accessible media, or supporting programs that advance independent living and community connection.

Thoughtful giving is about intention, access, and honoring the creativity and leadership of people with disabilities.

Stories That Warm the Heart

When winter settles in, stories have a unique ability to bring comfort, perspective, and connection. This season, we’re highlighting recent films and series that reflect authentic representation of people with disabilities. These stories are rooted in joy, complexity, humor, and humanity.

Image: A scene from the movie Lucca's World. A young boy with cerebral palsy is seen smiling as he rides in a wheelchair

  • Lucca’s World
     A moving drama following a family navigating life with cerebral palsy, offering a compassionate look at advocacy, caregiving, and resilience.

  • A Little Something Extra (Un p’tit truc en plus)
    A French box-office hit that celebrates disability through warmth and humor without relying on stereotypes.

  • I’mPerfect
     A groundbreaking romance film featuring two adults with Down syndrome in leading roles, centered on love, agency, and joy.

These stories reflect a growing cultural shift toward nuanced, dignified representation.

Reflective Reading for the Season

For quieter moments, books, essays, and poetry by writers with disabilities offer space for reflection and connection. Recent releases from 2024–2025 explore identity, care, creativity, justice, and belonging — making them meaningful companions during a season often shaped by introspection.

Here are several recommended reads centering the voices and lived experiences of people with disabilities:

Image: The cover of the book A Face for Picasso

  • Disability Intimacy (2024 paperback edition)
    This powerful anthology brings together essays, artwork, and conversations exploring how people with disabilities experience intimacy, relationships, care, and connection. The collection challenges narrow definitions of intimacy and highlights interdependence, access, and community as sources of strength.

  • Unbroken (2024)
    In this warm and affirming essay collection, Keah Brown reflects on disability, joy, self-worth, and visibility. Her writing blends personal storytelling with cultural commentary, offering readers moments of honesty, humor, and encouragement.

  • A Face for Picasso (2024)
    Ariel Henley’s memoir explores growing up with a facial difference, navigating medical systems, beauty standards, and social expectations. Through vulnerability and strength, Henley shares a story of reclaiming identity, agency, and self-definition.

  • The Future Is Disabled (2024 expanded edition)
    This expanded edition of a beloved disability justice text offers essays on survival, mutual aid, creativity, and care. Piepzna-Samarasinha explores how people with disabilities build resilient communities and imagine futures rooted in access, compassion, and collective support.

Reading stories told by people with disabilities helps expand understanding while honoring lived experience — and reminds us that disability narratives are diverse, evolving, and deeply human.


Community Resources


For many, the holidays can feel less like a time of joy and more like a season of stress and overwhelm. To help you navigate this intense time, we’ve gathered tips and resources to support your well-being and bring balance to the season.

Stress Management Tips

Eat Healthy
Holiday treats are everywhere, and while indulging is part of the fun, balance is key. Pair festive sweets with nutritious foods that fuel your body and mind. Too much sugar can lead to energy crashes and mood changes, while balanced meals help support steady physical and emotional health.

Get Moving
Movement plays an important role in mental well-being. Exercise releases endorphins and boosts serotonin levels, helping improve mood and energy during shorter winter days.

Prioritize Sleep
Rest supports clear thinking, emotional resilience, and overall health. Recharging helps you fully enjoy the season.

Stay Connected
If travel or schedules make it difficult to see loved ones, finding other ways to connect can make a meaningful difference.

Mental Health Support During the Holidays

If you’re feeling isolated, overwhelmed, or in need of additional support this season, you’re not alone. The following resources are available to provide connection, care, and crisis support.

CPWD Peer Support and Holiday Closure


CPWD Peer Support Groups offer in-person opportunities to connect with peers, build friendships, and access resources for Independent Living.

Please note: CPWD offices will be closed December 24 through January 4. Peer support groups and regular services will resume after the holiday closure. Please check the CPWD service calendar for updated schedules.

From all of us at CPWD, we wish you a season filled with warmth, connection, and moments of ease. However you celebrate, may you feel supported, valued, and at home in community.

Happy Holidays and a hopeful New Year.

Kyra Coates
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