10/28/25 - Shutdown, accessibility, and multiple sclerosis

Good afternoon!

It's a classic Northeastern New York autumn day where I am – sunny, chilly but not cold, and the leaves are a peak color. Some days, it's possible to feel downright good about things, at least for a little while. I hope today's links are informative, and not depressing enough to spoil the mood ...

Update on the Government Shutdown

American Association of People with Disabilities - October 27, 2025

"On October 22, at least 25 states announced that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits will not be paid in November if the shutdown continues. Many people with disabilities depend on SNAP for food, making this an urgent threat to our community.”

Sometimes we in the various corners and branches of disability culture have mixed feelings about acknowledging and highlighting the overlap between disability and poverty. We don't want to encourage people to assume that disabled people are all poor, or that disability necessarily leads to poverty. On the other hand, a higher percentage of disabled people than average are poor, in the United States and probably just about everywhere else in the world. And one of the implications of that is that it is reasonable to categorize budget cuts and shutdowns to general income and food assistance as "disability issues" too. Right now, a lot of disabled people in the US are facing a significant and horribly-timed drop-off, specifically in food and home heating assistance, as well as other services. The fact that a lot of non-disabled people will be suffering from the same cuts doesn't alter the fact that disabled people will be hit especially hard.

Oregon earns ‘Accessibility Verified’ status from disability nonprofit

Kristian Foden-Vencil, Oregon Public Broadcasting - October 25, 2025

"The nonprofit Wheel the World helps people with disabilities find accessible tourist spots. It just designated Oregon as its first “Accessibility Verified” state .. To make the designation, the nonprofit’s members visited 750 spots around Oregon, measuring things like the number of wheelchair ramps, the height of toilets and hotel beds, how many disabled parking spaces were available, and the ease of recreating outdoors.”

Reading through the article, this designation for the State of Oregon seems to be well-earned. That's important, because I'm often a bit skeptical of this type or recognition for being accessible or disability-friendly. Giving awards or certifications of accessibility to businesses and towns or regions is supposed to encourage them to make more accessibility changes. It is also, in theory, supposed to be useful to disabled people, who can find out before going there whether a place is likely to be accessible. It's a good idea in theory. But I worry about how often it fails or misleads in practice. Once a disability organization says, "They're good!" they are on the hook, at least by reputation, when the praised and endorsed entity inevitably falls short.

What kinds of incentives and initiatives do you think are best for increasing accessibility? Email your thoughts to: apulrang@icloud.com.

On My Last Leg

Lucinda Rosenfeld, New Yorker - October 25, 2025

"By the time I found myself stranded on a Brooklyn street, it seemed as if the ghost had reappeared to point out not my miserliness but my foolishness for ever having believed that I was O.K.”

Jeez Louise there's a lot to unpack in this article. At one point, Rosenfeld seems to wonder if her thinking about her resurgence of multiple sclerosis symptoms has become obsessive. My first reaction is to reply, "It sure is!" But then I wonder if there might be something healthy and admirable about thinking through this disability experience in such exhaustive detail. Maybe because I have lived all my life with my disabilities, with no real breaks or remissions in between, I haven't thought it through and emotionally experienced it as much as I could, or should. If nothing else, this account vividly describes what it's like to deal with the kind of disability that comes and goes – or that goes away, seemingly forever, only to return without fanfare to re-calibrate a previously settled life.

Disability Thinking Weekday is a Monday-Friday newsletter with links and commentary on disability-related articles and other content. Please share, comment, and subscribe — for free, or with a paid subscription.

You can help promote Disability Thinking Weekday by forwarding it by email or posting on your social media.

You can comment by sending me an email at: apulrang@icloud.com.

A free subscription sends a newsletter to your email each weekday. Benefits of paid subscription include:

• A monthly recap with links to all of the previous month's shared articles, organized by topic.
• Listing as a supporter, and a link to your website if you have one.
• You can recommend one disability-related article for me to share per month in a weekday post.

To to subscribe, upgrade to paid, or make a one-time donation, click one of the buttons below:

I am so grateful for your help and engagement, in whichever forms you choose!