In a series of nationwide meetings, family carers are being encouraged to talk about the pressures of supporting disabled family members and what would make a difference to them.

Riding for the Disabled Coach Sharon Aldersley is saddling up for her role as Roving Coach. This year she will share her expertise with 20 Riding for the Disabled groups throughout the country, thanks to a grant from the IHC Foundation.

Autistic children and their whānau attending Victoria University’s Autism Clinic may feel more at home with a new style of support on offer this year.

Air New Zealand has offered a new café space at its Auckland head office to the operators of Flourish, a training café for people with intellectual disabilities.

Tupperware parties have disappeared from the scene in New Zealand, but a newcomer has arrived to be the next cool thing.

Since it launched in 2009, the IHC Foundation Charitable Trust has paid out nearly $7.7 million for projects to improve the lives of people with intellectual disabilities.

Students who might finish secondary school with no formal qualifications are now leaving with awards that recognise their skills and community connections.

Tom Russell has just finished a day’s work at the Te Tuhi Training Café in Pakuranga working at the till, taking orders, and baking a batch of almond friands.

Scientist Dr Whitney Whitford is skilled at finding missing pieces of DNA. Her complicated version of a jigsaw puzzle involves things called copy number variants (CNVs). They are responsible for the duplications and deletions of genes or parts of genes that cause neurodevelopmental disorders.

Eight families have diagnoses for rare genetic disorders thanks to the latest work by a team of researchers at the University of Auckland.

On a summer day in January, Caitlin Fleming built a large sandcastle on the beach in the remote Te Kainga Bay in Queen Charlotte Sound. She sat in it, looked out across the sea and told a story – “it’s about a beautiful Queen Elizabeth”.

Project SEARCH in Canterbury is finding great jobs for disabled school leavers. The challenge now is to share that success with many more young people.

Sailability Tauranga sponsors were recently given a front row view of its sailing programme for disabled sailors.

Actor Lily Harper, riding the wave of success in her first leading role, did it all again in a Wellington season of Up Down Girl at Circa Theatre.

Two long-established organisations that are going out of their way to include young people with intellectual disabilities have attracted partnership funding from the IHC Foundation.