Disabled People’s Experiences of COVID-19

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected all New Zealanders, but it hasn’t impacted everyone equally. Our disabled and Māori communities have borne the brunt of this pandemic, experiencing major challenges to accessing essential services, and significant struggles during the nationwide lockdowns. However, disabled people have also pulled together to ensure our communities are kept safe, and our people have what they need to get by.

This accessible six part video series showcases the stories of disabled community members across Aotearoa, exploring their experiences of the pandemic during Alert Levels 3 and 4. From making sure they could get kai for their whānau to getting essential help to those who need it most – we hear from disabled kiwis in their own words so that we can ensure a more accessible future for our whole team of 5 million.

This series is brought to you by the DPO Coalition, with funding from the Office for Disability Issues, and proudly produced by Activate Agency. All videos contain NZSL, captions in English and te reo Māori, and Audio Description. Transcripts are available in English, and te reo Māori, and episode summaries are available in plain English.

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Episode 1: Food & Shopping

Date 3 years ago
For many New Zealanders, when Covid-19 Alert Level 3 was announced, food shopping was a top priority. However, our disabled community discovered that safe and accessible shopping provided a number…
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Episode 2: Food & Shopping

Date 2 years ago
JOYCE: Hi! My name’s Joyce, and I’m d/Deaf. I was born d/Deaf, and I grew up in a d/Deaf family. I work for Deaf Aotearoa, and I’m a really strong participant in…
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Episode 3: Remote Work & Education

Date 2 years ago
During the pandemic, many whānau needed to quickly adapt to new technology and ways of working and learning from home. The rapid shift to “remote” was challenging for a lot…
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Episode 4: Distancing

Date 2 years ago
Practicing good distancing has been essential for us to stop the spread of Covid-19 in Aotearoa. Disabled people are amongst the most at risk from the virus, so we know…
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