Recap: Gen Z and Disability

An Overview of the December 2025 Understanding Ableism Webinar: “Gen Z & Disability” 

By Sara Marshall, AmeriCorps KCDC Coordinator

(Watch the webinar here on our YouTube channel.) 

The final panel of the 2025 Understanding Ableism series featured personal experiences and conceptions of disability through the lens of Generation Z, emphasizing connection and contention in digital spaces, self-advocacy in school and life, and how disability justice has changed over time. On Tuesday, Dec. 16, panelists discussed the evolution of their disability identities and their thoughts on finding communities online, noting aspects of visibility and self-presentation that continue to be present both in-person and digitally. While social media can be used as a platform for building relationships and uplifting voices of the disability community, panelists also shared concerns over the danger of hate speech and ignorance online when unfiltered ableist narratives are not countered and continue to dehumanize people with disabilities. 

Background on panelists 

Charisma Mangahas is a member of Gen Z who went viral during the summer of 2024 when she posted on TikTok about being denied a Disability Access Service (DAS) pass at Disneyland under the theme park's recently updated guidelines. Mangahas is someone with Guillain-Barré syndrome who uses a tracheostomy tube to help her breathe and believes that social media enabled her to share her experience and connect with others facing similar issues. For Mangahas, social media can be a powerful tool, but she also recognizes the toll it takes on mental health, especially when people in the comments section spew derogatory narratives. 

Kate Wittenbreer-Moe is a disability theory scholar and activist who currently works as a Digital Communication Fellow for the ACLU in Alaska. As a member of the little person community, Wittenbreer-Moe bridged her undergraduate research with her own lived experiences and continues advocate for equal access for all members of the disabled population. She suggests that many online spaces, especially after the COVID pandemic, evolved to meet the need for socialization and community outside of in-person interactions and have become more integrated as viable options for participation in events. 

Colin Wilfrid served as the previous AmeriCorps King County Disability Consortium Coordinator at Disability Empowerment Center. He also serves on the board of Rainbow City Performing Arts and is a musical enthusiast and musician. Wilfrid has experience creating vlogs for the Magical Bridge Foundation in Palo Alto, where he promoted events and shared information about universal design. For Wilfrid, social media can act as a powerful political tool. He believes younger voters and progressives have turned to social media to demand accountability from corporations and mobilize communities during local elections, blending online discourse with in-person activism. 

Key takeaways 

A common theme mentioned by panelists was the need to balance visible advocacy with risk. As members of Gen Z, panelists grew up as the internet was first becoming integrated into everyday life. Although the internet and social media have grown to connect the disability community in unprecedented ways, panelists argued that it continues to present challenges, particularly around disability discrimination. When navigating digital spaces, it has become all too common to encounter instances where individuals with disabilities face exclusion or harassment. Panelists discussed the mental toll it can take to decide whether it is worth it to disclose a disability online when conversations can quickly become tempered with reactionary ignorance and harmful ableist narratives. 

Self-representation is a crucial aspect of this dynamic. Panelists shared how conscious creative choices and curated self-expression within an online environment can influence public perception when speaking about disabled experiences. Disability remains a complex topic, particularly in light of visible and invisible representation. As panelists described, information and experiences are not shared in a vacuum but are instead communicated in relation to larger societal structures, social media affordances, and disability discourses. 

Given the incredibly addictive nature of social media and its talent for spreading misinformation, panelists suggest that strategies for engagement are vital to online participation. Using online platforms for activism requires collective listening and learning from those who experience disabled discrimination and advocate for a more inclusive world. Recognizing biases and stereotypes helps everyone become better allies, regardless of ability. From a Gen Z perspective, the panelists' argument is clear: ask how our actions and content might affect others and work together to create a more supportive and equitable digital space for everyone.