As a News Feature in last week's Nature amply demonstrated, people with disabilities have a considerable array of talents to bring into science (see Nature 435, 552–554; 200510.1038/435552a). But they face an array of obstacles in pursuing scientific careers. According to specialists in the field, the barriers start going up early on: many parents and schoolteachers are reluctant to press disabled children into subjects perceived to be challenging, such as science and mathematics. This is particularly unfortunate because these individuals may well have characteristics, such as problem-solving skills and perseverance, that would stand them in good stead in science.

Later on, the incentives and the equipment that could help individuals to function in the world of science are often lacking. In funding agencies and at universities, active support for the disabled as a group is sometimes patchy.

In the United States, the number of people with disabilities in higher education has tripled in the past 25 years, but they are still under-represented in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. According to the National Science Foundation (NSF), 7% of people in these areas have some degree of disability, compared with 13% of the working population as a whole. Figures for the severely disabled are hard to find, but anecdotal evidence suggests that this group is badly under-represented in science.

Some noteworthy efforts exist to recruit, train and assist students with disabilities. The NSF's Research in Disabilities Education programme, for example, is spending $3 million over five years to establishing ‘regional alliances’ to address the issue at a local level. The American Association for the Advancement of Science's Entry Point! programme collaborates with industry and government agencies to identify talented students and place them in paid summer internships. And NASA has recently established an initiative to help visually impaired students who would like to work there.

US institutions are legally obliged to make provision for the disabled under the landmark 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act. The European Union adopted a vaguer commitment to equal opportunities in 1996, but its application varies between nations. Mentoring of disabled scientists in Germany is encouraged, for example, by the Tandem Project at the Paul Ehrlich Institute in Frankfurt. In Britain, TechDis in York has prepared a host of valuable information for students with disabilities and their teachers. In addition, many colleges now include disability as a diversity issue, opening up funding opportunities previously allocated to women and ethnic minorities to people with disabilities.

Although laudable, these efforts are relatively small. Their limited scope contrasts with the extensive push that has been made to improve the opportunities for women and ethnic minorities in science. This is partly because the disabled are a smaller group, although not as small as you may think: there are an estimated 365,000 people with disabilities in science and engineering careers in the United States alone. But the more telling factor is the lack of direct political pressure on funding agencies to accommodate people with disabilities. That's a weak excuse for inaction in a sphere that cries out for some imaginative attention.