18 Excellent Longreads You Need In Your Life Right Now

The best longform reporting, feature stories, and personal essays from BuzzFeed UK over the last month.

1. This Is What It Feels Like To Live With An Invisible Disability – Victoria Sanusi

Tim Lane / BuzzFeed

There are 13.3 million disabled people in the UK, but there are no statistics on how many have an "invisible" or "hidden" disability – the term used for a condition that isn't visibly apparent when you meet someone.

Five people in the UK who live with hidden disabilities told BuzzFeed News what the experience means to them.

2. 7 Moments Of Solidarity From Strangers – Mariam Ansar

Rebecca Hendin / BuzzFeed

I think I only partially understood what it meant to stand out before I discovered the solidarity that could come with it.

3. These Parents Say Their Kids Lost Their Blue Badges Because The Government Doesn’t Think They Are Disabled Enough – Rose Troup Buchanan

Laura Gallant / BuzzFeed

Parents across the country are fighting to get their children’s Blue Badges back after the government “shifted the goalposts” for which forms of disability qualify for one.

4. I Went Out On The Streets With One Of Scotland Yard's Elite Gang Crime Units – Hannah Al-Othman

Laura Gallant / Rebecca Hendin / BuzzFeed

In a bid to tackle gun and knife crime, Scotland Yard has a series of elite gang units working in problem hotspots who keep tabs on London's gangs and work to disrupt their activity. BuzzFeed News went out on patrol with Lambeth's gang squad.

5. This Is Why Men Meet For Sex In Public Toilets – Patrick Strudwick

Rebecca Hendin / BuzzFeed

“I was looking for some kind of acknowledgement of my existence.” Six men tell BuzzFeed News what leads them to seek sex in public toilets and how the police have cracked down on "cottaging".

6. This Is What It’s Like To Be A Paramedic In London On Friday Night – Patrick Smith

Tim Lane / Mohamed Abdulle for BuzzFeed

BuzzFeed News joined a paramedic on the frontline of the emergency services’ battle against drunken behavior, a crisis in mental health provision, and street violence.

7. How Your Chances Of Getting An NHS Wheelchair Vary Wildly Depending On Where You Live – Emily Dugan and Tom Phillips

Marco Kesseler for BuzzFeed News

A BuzzFeed News investigation also reveals 96% of areas are failing to supply wheelchairs within the 18 weeks guaranteed by the NHS constitution.

8. Here’s How You React To Your Son’s Autism When Your Language Has No Word For Autism – Aisha Gani

9. The Politics of Being Me – Lucy Webster

Eleanor Shakespeare for BuzzFeed

So much of modern feminism relies on the ideal of female bodies that work as expected. For me and lots of other disabled people, that’s a model we simply don’t fit.

10. Inaccurate or Misleading News Stories About Muslims Have Been Shared Hundreds Of Thousands Of Times This Year – Aisha Gani and Tom Phillips

Laura Gallant / Tim Lane / BuzzFeed

Research by BuzzFeed News reveals that stories about Muslims that have been changed or entirely retracted since publication have received over 165,000 shares in 2017.

11. These LGBT Clubbers Say They Feel Shut Out Of The Scene Because They Are Disabled – Chris Godfrey

Laura Gallant / BuzzFeed

It’s no secret that space is at a premium in the capital; many of the scene’s bars, whether they focus on LGBT visitors or not, are confined to cramped basements where accessibility for some wheelchair users is incredibly difficult.

12. 6 Inventions Changing British People's Lives In 2017 – Kelly Oakes

Open Bionics / Remap / Blatchford / Lepmis / Phil Han / BuzzFeed

From a pair of "glasses" that can help some legally blind people see, to the latest in prosthetic knee technology that's now available on the NHS – here are some of the products helping make people's lives better.

13. This Is What It Is Like To Rely On 24-Hour Social Care As A Teenager – Rose Troup Buchanan

Laura Gallant / BuzzFeed

“They are not just my carers. In some ways they are my friend, my mum, they are everything wrapped in one.”

14. This Is What It's Like To Be The Son Of A Child Killer – Hannah Al-Othman

Laura Gallant / BuzzFeed

Nick Castree was 27 when his father Ronald was charged with the murder of an 11-year-old girl, a dark secret hidden from the family for more than 30 years.

15. These Couples Say They Can’t Move In Together Because One Of Them Will Lose Their Disability Benefits – Laura Silver

Rebecca Hendin / BuzzFeed

Couples who would lose disability benefits if they lived together told BuzzFeed News the situation makes them feel they “don’t deserve to have a normal life”.

16. How "The Last Leg" Went From Joking About The Paralympics To Taking On The Government Over Disability Cuts – Matthew Champion

Laura Gallant / Tim Lane / BuzzFeed

“With great power comes great responsibility,” Adam Hills told BuzzFeed News. “I’m like a disabled Spider-Man; I was bitten by a radioactive prosthesis.”

17. How Online Filter Bubbles Are Making Parents Of Autistic Children Targets For Fake “Cures” – Tom Chivers

Tim Lane / Getty / BuzzFeed

Analysis by BuzzFeed News found that more than half of the most-shared scientific stories about autism published in the last five years promote unevidenced or disproven treatments, or purported causes.

18. This Is Why I Quit Exercise Therapy – Camilla Maxted

Sian Butcher / BuzzFeed

When it comes to my illness, I've learned to listen to my symptoms, trust my body, and give it the one thing it really needs: rest.