> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # 10/19/26 - Firing squad update, Medicaid and SNAP, and disability fashion - URL: https://disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io/10-19-26-firing-squad-update-medicaid-and-snap-and-disability-fashion/ - Published: 2026-10-19T18:30:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-19T18:29:59.000Z - Author: Andrew Pulrang ## Good afternoon! It should be a busy couple of weeks ahead, at least here in the U.S. I'm going to try to share more posts on the Midterm Elections from a disability angle. Unfortunately, it's not as easy to do that this time around as it's been over the least few election cycles. Maybe it's just because I haven't been doing [#CripTheVote](https://cripthevote.blogspot.com/2022/11/whats-next-for-cripthevote.html?ref=disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io) stuff for a while now. But, I do also think that there has been a bit of a loss of momentum in disability communities around voting and electoral politics. Anyway, I'll see what I can find to share. Feel free to suggest disability and election links too if you find them, emailing them to me at: [apulrang@icloud.com](mailto:apulrang@icloud.com). ![Fall leaves illustration divider](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/51/9951e709-0bb8-4ee3-8557-6b5a3d3af05b/content/images/2026/09/Autumn-Trim.png) ![Monday Links](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/51/9951e709-0bb8-4ee3-8557-6b5a3d3af05b/content/images/2026/09/Monday-2.png) ## [**8 in 10 Americans oppose live-streaming execution of Fort Hood shooter**](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/10/15/8-10-americans-oppose-live-streaming-execution-fort-hood-shooter-poll-shows/?ref=disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io) Amy B. Wang, Washington Post - October 15, 2026 > "On Thursday morning, a few hours after this poll was published, President Donald Trump said Hasan’s execution [would not be live-streamed](https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/10/15/trump-cancels-hegseths-plan-live-stream-fort-hood-shooters-execution/?ref=disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io) after all, saying in a Truth Social post that 'many very good and well meaning people would rather not watch him die, through streaming, or through any other visual device.' ... Hasan, an American-born Muslim and former U.S. Army psychiatrist, killed 13 people and injured 32 others after he opened fire at the Soldier Readiness Processing Center in Fort Hood, Texas, in 2009\. Hasan was left partially paralyzed after being shot by officers responding to the attack and uses a wheelchair." The second part of the quote above is the only mention in this article of Nidal Hasan's disability. And nowhere in either the article or the poll it references is there any mention that he uses a wheelchair. I'm glad that for now at least, [Hasan's execution *won't* be televised](https://disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io/10-14-26-monthly-essay-by-firing-squad/). But, I still wonder how opinions on the idea might change in either direction if the questions included something about his disability. I honestly don't know how people feel these days about disability as a visual, emotional factor in moral and ethical questions. Are old-fashioned, sympathetic reflexes still strong enough to overcome harsh moral judgements? Or, do most people shrug off disability now to such an extent that they'll overlook it in *every* conceivable situation? And why do so many public opinion polls still neglect disability as a factor, in the questions they pose, and as a relevant demographic in the people answering these sorts of questions? ## [**Medicaid and SNAP Cuts: What’s Happening and What You Can Do**](https://thearc.org/blog/medicaid-and-snap-cuts-whats-happening-and-what-you-can-do/?ref=disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io) The Arc - October 1, 2026 > "For people with disabilities, the biggest risk is not always that they no longer qualify for benefits. The risk can also come from missed notices, paperwork problems, reporting requirements, or conflicting information from an overwhelmed system." I have a question for readers outside the U.S. How common is it for governments to "cut" benefits not so much by literally cutting them, but by making it harder – in terms of paperwork, deadlines, and other administrative tasks – to actually enroll in benefits and maintain eligibility? That seems to be the preferred strategy here. It's actually not all that popular in the U.S. to suggest cutting benefits for disabled people outright. It *is* increasingly popular, or at least more common, to force people to "prove" their eligibility more often and under more intense scrutiny. The usual argument isn't necessarily that benefits costs are too high, but that there's too much "fraud and abuse," and that at least some recipients should be made to "work" for their benefits. How attitudes towards disability-related benefits differ between the U.S. and the rest of the world continues to fascinate me. ## [**Daisy Lafarge wants to dress her disability differently**](https://www.ft.com/content/83d2fb38-4b98-40c4-b700-39190b605e38?ref=disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io) > Daisy Lafarge, Financial Times - October 13, 2026 > > "It’s an insight that disability and fashion have in common. Becoming disabled made me realise how much it entails endless negotiations with style. My diagnosis of hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome and its multiple comorbidities finally came in 2023, when symptoms I’d experienced since childhood – joint instability, fatigue, brain fog and immune dysregulation – dramatically worsened following Covid. Some days I am happy to use the aids and accessories I need, which also render those needs visible to the world; I’ve discovered that it can be fun to exaggerate – to ornament what might be seen as objects of stigma, like tying dozens of silk ribbons to a bright-blue cane. On other days, I resent visibility altogether and refuse the things that help me, just to experience a break from being perceived." This is the kind of thoughtful, layered, nuanced discussion of how disabled people are perceived and how we shape those perceptions that's missing from claims that disability is [becoming "cool" or viral](https://disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io/10-6-26-todays-ableism/). I'm sure there are at least *some* people who flirt with disability imagery and accessories for reasons that aren't *entirely* on the level – or are just a bit silly. But most of the people you see with decorated canes, who use wheelchairs sometimes but not all the time, or who joyously post selfies that highlight their disabilities, are doing it for honest, positive reasons. For people with "invisible" disabilities especially, it's liberating and empowering to feel that it's okay now to *choose* to celebrate our disabilities rather than obsessively hide them. It's emphatically a *good thing*. ![Fall leaves illustration divider](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/51/9951e709-0bb8-4ee3-8557-6b5a3d3af05b/content/images/2026/09/Autumn-Trim.png) ![Take Action](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/51/9951e709-0bb8-4ee3-8557-6b5a3d3af05b/content/images/2025/05/Action-1.png) [![Take Action to Support the Bipartisan House Resolution Reaffirming the Right of Disabled People to Live in Their Communities with the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/51/9951e709-0bb8-4ee3-8557-6b5a3d3af05b/content/images/2026/10/Copy-of-Action-Alert-Panel.png)](https://dredf.org/take-action-res-1586/?ref=disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io) [![Tell Congress to Stop the Dismantling of the Department of Education and Protect Students with Disabilities - American Association of People with Disabilities](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/51/9951e709-0bb8-4ee3-8557-6b5a3d3af05b/content/images/2026/06/Action-Alert-Panel-1.png)](https://aapd.quorum.us/campaign/148277/?ref=disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io) [![Tell Congress to Pass the SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act with the American Association of People with Disabilities](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/51/9951e709-0bb8-4ee3-8557-6b5a3d3af05b/content/images/2026/06/Action-Alert-Panel-5.png)](https://aapd.quorum.us/campaign/160329/?ref=disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io) ![Fall leaves illustration divider](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/51/9951e709-0bb8-4ee3-8557-6b5a3d3af05b/content/images/2026/09/Autumn-Trim.png) ![Share, Comment & Subscribe](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/51/9951e709-0bb8-4ee3-8557-6b5a3d3af05b/content/images/2025/09/Like--Comment--Support.png) *I*[*Disability Thinking Weekday*](https://disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io/) is a Monday-Friday newsletter with links and commentary on disability-related articles and other content. 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