> ## 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. # 10/6/26 - Today's Ableism - URL: https://disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io/10-6-26-todays-ableism/ - Published: 2026-10-06T18:30:25.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-06T18:30:24.000Z - Author: Andrew Pulrang ## Hi ... The first of today's articles illustrates a type of modern ableism. The other two pieces are, in themselves, examples of to more kinds of today's ableism. It's all rather depressing – partly because they are all so familiar, and feel kind of inevitable. ![Fall leaves illustration divider](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/51/9951e709-0bb8-4ee3-8557-6b5a3d3af05b/content/images/2026/09/Autumn-Trim.png) ![Tuesday Links](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/51/9951e709-0bb8-4ee3-8557-6b5a3d3af05b/content/images/2026/09/Tuesday-2.png) ## [**He lost 10 years in a Georgia nursing home. It's becoming more common**](https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2026/09/07/disability-rights-undermined-by-trump-doj-as-georgia-man-seeks-freedom-under-olmstead/91584075007/?ref=disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io) Jayme Fraser, USA Today - September 7, 2026 > "On Aug. 31, the Trump administration moved to make it easier for states to place disabled and elderly people in institutions. To appease [a lawsuit](https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69200578/state-of-texas-v-becerra/?filed%5Fafter=&filed%5Fbefore=&entry%5Fgte=&entry%5Flte=&order%5Fby=desc&ref=disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io)from [several Republican-led states](https://www.npr.org/2026/08/20/nx-s1-5891791/disability-rights-community-living-integration-trump?ref=disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io), government lawyers told a federal judge they were willing to erase a [50-year-old provision](https://www.dol.gov/agencies/oasam/centers-offices/civil-rights-center/statutes/section-504-rehabilitation-act-of-1973?ref=disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io) requiring [federal funds](https://eoc.gatech.edu/ada-compliance/50-years-section-504?ref=disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io) be used to care for people in their homes, whenever possible." ## [**How having a disability became cool**](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/09/05/disability-became-cool/?ICID=continue%5Fwithout%5Fsubscribing%5Freg%5Ffirst&ref=disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io) Poppy Coburn, The Telegraph - September 5, 2026 > "POTS. ME. CF. ADHD. MDD. GAD. PMDD. EDS. FND. For a steadily growing group of British young women, these acronyms – and the conditions they represent – [are fundamental to their lives](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/wellbeing/mental-health/autism-adhd-rates-mental-health-labels/?ref=disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io). The country is sicker than it’s ever been before, and it’s not afraid of shouting about it. Disability is changing. To many, it is no longer an adversity to overcome, but a social identity akin to one’s sexuality, gender, or race; an immutable reality to be celebrated by the subject and accommodated by the rest of us." There's more about this one below. But I just had to add note of what you probably won't be able to miss if you read the piece – how it's just dripping with an almost gleeful contempt. As I've said before, sometimes I share disability articles I don't agree with. This, and the next link, are two examples. I do *not* approve their messages. But they're worth reading to give more form and specificity to the ugly and exasperating sentiments out there that we often only see and hear indirectly. ## [**America’s support system for disabled pupils is broken**](https://www.economist.com/united-states/2026/09/03/americas-support-system-for-disabled-pupils-is-broken?ref=disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io) The Economist - September 3, 2026 > "Minnesota’s paralysis reflects a national dilemma: educating disabled children is a popular policy, but the sums required under current laws are eye-watering. Across the country, school districts are pulling money from general-education funds to pay for services for pupils with special needs. Even as school enrolment declines, the number of students in special education across the country is rising. Between 2014 and 2023 it grew by 1.4m, from 11.6% of all pupils to 14.7%. In several states—including Indiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and Wyoming—that figure is higher still at roughly one in five. As costs rise, states are confronting fraught questions about who should pay, how well programmes work and what must be pared back to cover the bill." --- These three articles illustrate three distinct flavors of ableism that have become among the most common and damaging in the 2020s: 1. Picking apart systems of support and empowerment that do a lot of good, but were never quite as robust as we all hoped, and turn out to be fairly easy to dismantle, once opponents bother to do it. 2. Panicky, venomous reactions to disabled and chronically ill people's meager but precious steps to build some kind of disability pride, self-acceptance, and cultural influence. 3. Renewing and revitalizing old complaints about disabled people demanding too much, costing too much, and taking up too much space. All of these appear to be part of a much broader conservative disability counterrevolution against several decades of progress in disability rights, justice, and culture.. It includes both ideological policy efforts and the revival of old ableist arguments and habits. We were doing better for a while. We had the Americans with Disabilities Act, the *Olmstead* Supreme Court decision, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and a pretty dramatic change in how disabled people ourselves thought about our disabilities and connections with each other. We still have all those things – at least today. Threats of retaliation never went away and sometimes broke out, but mostly made little headway. Only recently does it seem like we are seeing the inevitable backlash on all fronts at once. After 40 or more years of slow, frustrating, but real progress, the tide may finally be turning back for real. Ableism today has always been about more than just a lack of ramps and restrooms in restaurants. Today's ableism, more than ever before, seems to be a direct reaction to things having actually gotten better for us for a while. That makes it particular kind of gut punch. ![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) [![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/51/9951e709-0bb8-4ee3-8557-6b5a3d3af05b/content/images/2026/09/Action-Alert-Panel-2.png)](https://adawatch.org/defend-community-integration/?utm%5Fsource=ADA+Watch%2FCoalition+for+Disability+Rights+%26+Justice&utm%5Fcampaign=883c34243d-EMAIL%5FCAMPAIGN%5F2026%5F09%5F07%5F08%5F47%5FCOPY%5F04&utm%5Fmedium=email&utm%5Fterm=0%5F7665bb8412-6f264753f3-293996726) [![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) [![](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) [*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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