A New Zealand manufacturer who adapts cars for wheelchair users says he has been forced to go overseas after officials here banned his design.

I once read a news article where a young boy was beaten by his harried mother for lying when he claimed, "Grandma scares me when her eyes slide off her face".

A 12-year-old autistic boy who had his electronics and birthday presents stolen in a burglary has been gifted a new laptop by a Hawke's Bay Today reader.

Wheelchair users who can't get into a new bank branch in downtown Auckland say its inaccessible design makes New Zealand look like a "Third World" country.

A New Zealand academic is living her own high-seas adventure tale, dodging flying fish and fending off squid during a 4000km row across the Pacific Ocean.

Community Spirit category: When Earlwyn Uncles' son was injured in a car accident and began playing wheelchair rugby, so too began Mr Uncles' involvement in the sport.

Even in Brazil where football is a religion, the miraculous sight of wheelchair-bound fans leaping from their seats has prompted calls for a police investigation into claims of ticket fraud.

Being accepted by her peers has been something a young Auckland teenager has always wanted.

Danielle Wright connects with a group of special children getting active on horseback.

Disabled athlete Daniel Holt had only just found his sporting niche in the swimming pool when it was ripped away from him.

Thanks to New Zealand research funded by the International Rugby Board, revolutionary prostheses and hearing aids are close to fruition.

A 13-year legal battle by parents seeking the right to be paid caregivers for their disabled adult children has ended in bitterness, with only a handful of parents being paid.

Some people choose to make changes in their life, sometimes personal, others are work related. For other people, though, that change is forced on them.

If things went really well, Sionann Murphy was expected to be able to walk one day. She would certainly never run, much less do a triathlon.

Last night was the 10th birthday of the Raukatauri Music Therapy Centre in Grey Lynn at Galatos Bar in Auckland.

A senior nurse who roughly undressed an elderly mental health patient, made derogatory comments about her, left her sitting naked in a bath and kneed her in her back has been fined nearly $30,000.

There are dogs that see for the blind and those that hear for the deaf - but for the first time in New Zealand young pups are being trained to assist people with severe epilepsy.

An intellectually disabled teenager has lost a Supreme Court battle for a share in his stepfather's $2.2 million estate because he was unborn when his mother married.

Thousands of people may be ending up on the wrong side of the law due to an alcohol-related brain disability caused before birth, a New Zealand judge says.

A Kiwi invention is helping the blind to see - virtually.

KFC has been contacting laid off disabled workers with offers of re-employment. Some workers have leaped at the chance but at least five turned it down.

Cerebral palsy is no obstacle for 16-year-old Auckland schoolboy Kieran Lane, who will run alongside his sporting and celebrity heroes as part of a transtasman race this month.

Muskan Devta admits she sometimes talks too much. She also writes a lot and can often be found hunkered down with a good book at the library.