11/2/26 - October Comments

Wow! There were a lot of great comments this past month. It's exactly the sort of response I was hoping for when I started inviting comments more regularly and compiling them at the end of each month. I think you will find them interesting to read, too.

10/2/26 - Friday Video Share: "Being Heumann – Official Teaser | Apple TV"

From Tina Argetsinger:

"To be honest, like so many in our community, I didn't truly discover Judy until the last few years of her life. It’s a bittersweet reality that so many of us had to seek out our own history rather than having it handed down to us. I remember reading before she passed that she had been working on the rights to adapt her autobiography; it breaks my heart that she didn't get to see the final film made, but I'm so grateful they pushed forward with it ... As for the creative license with the language—you’re spot on that Hollywood loves using swearing as an easy shorthand for grit! Exaggerated or not, I’m just glad to see a complex, unapologetic disabled leader front and center without the usual sanitized lens."

I had a chance to see "Being Heumann" this past Friday evening. But I was really tired and passed it up. I'll just wait to see it on Netflix.

10/8/26 - A slipperier slope, and another odd sort of NDEAM

From Rae Hower:

"I am a non-disabled 5th year Sociology PhD student focusing on disability in under-researched populations, so far unpublished but investigating disability-related inequalities in low and middle income countries and in the unhoused community in the United States. I am also a caregiver for two children with disabilities ... I was wondering if you have seen any articles from a disability perspective, especially if you yourself have written anything, about the recent euthanization of a disabled child in the Netherlands (https://www.cbsnews.com/news/child-euthanasia-netherlands-first-case-new-rules/ )? I have not seen anything so far but of course I sometimes miss things ... I have been so troubled by this case as a devastating example of current day eugenics based on the belief that having disabilities automatically means suffering and is worse than being dead. I am not a doctor, but I do not see the evidence (from the published diagnoses) of "unbearable suffering" that is required by the Dutch law that allowed this to happen (even if I supported assisted-death in certain cases, which I do not, I do not see the justification here). I am wishing there was something I could read to help me know how to think about this, and how to respond to this. If you see or write anything, please include it in your emails."

This comment functions a little differently. The comment came first, then I did a post in response. Which reminds me to remind all of you that you can absolutely email me links you think I should share!

10/13/26 - Essential data, and making a disability TV show

From Celestine Fraser:

"Just wanted to say thanks so much for shouting out my interview with Kyla. I'm glad you enjoyed it. I do hope the show becomes available in the US in the future, so you can watch it! I suspect it's just a matter of time ..."

I get most of my UK TV through streaming on BritBox. I'll be on the lookout.

10/14/26 - Monthly Essay: "By Firing Squad"

From Franke James:

"The execution is chillingly Orwellian. It is barbaric and tells society who to hate. It's like 1984."

From Peter Torres Fremlin:

"Great questions Andrew, I'd also been wondering about this."

From Tina Argetsinger:

"Your piece gets at something deeply uncomfortable about how mainstream culture visualizes and exploits the disabled body ... I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately in contrast to the Lindsay Clancy tragedy and have been working on a Substack essay about it for The Disability Perspective. As a mother, I understand intimately how grueling and isolating parenting can be, and it’s natural to feel that initial instinct to withhold judgment when a parent shatters. Years ago, Atul Gawande once wrote about the “tyranny of the score” in obstetrics—how our medical system standardizes birth to ensure a newborn gets an 8 or 9 on the Apgar scale, but completely abandons the mother the moment she walks out the hospital doors ... Yet we still have to be honest about who our culture permits to be broken. Clancy—an affluent, white suburban woman—killed her children and acquired paralysis in a suicide attempt, and she was immediately embraced with courthouse vigils and millions in defense funds ... Hasan is the complete inversion, and not just because of his crime. He is an Arab-American man facing a political apparatus deliberately stirring up anti-immigrant sentiment and Islamophobia for political theater. You ask why disability organizations and broader public figures are largely silent, and while triage and movement exhaustion are real factors, I think the real answer is far more cynical: people are terrified to poke the beast ... In this election cycle, where candidates are barely touching immigration despite the horrific things taking place, nobody wants to touch a story that could paint them as "defending" an Arab-American mass shooter. Speaking out against the grotesque spectacle of shooting a paralyzed man on a live broadcast risks triggering an immediate, ferocious backlash ... Putting a man in a wheelchair in front of a firing squad on live television isn't just about testing the boundaries of state violence—it’s designed to feed an appetite for theatrical cruelty directed at an outsider. When silence becomes the safest political strategy, the state gets permission to turn that cruelty into prime-time entertainment ... Thank you for refusing to look away from the spectacle."

This story came and went fairly quickly, partly because it appears slightly cooler heads prevailed and have ruled out shooting this disabled man on live TV. But the questions and moral dilemmas the initial announcement prompted haven't really been answered.

10/15/26 - Remembering "Flynn"

From Eleanor Smith:

"Thanks for your article and your thoughts about interpersonally comparing the various levels of disability ... I got polio 80 years ago at age three and was paralyzed collarbone to toes; then my arm muscles gradually returned, but no return occurred in my legs and trunk. Thus I came home as a Wheelchair user and wearing a heavy leather back brace.  I shed the back brace at age 14 after a neck to waist spinal fusion, but never  the Wheelchair.  I agree with you that it is very unproductive to belittle the problems of people with lesser disabilities. I never had trouble empathizing with a friend who sprained an ankle, or had a cold.  Occasionally over the years, a person who had a sudden physical problem would be telling me about it and then stop themselves and say something like “oh I shouldn’t even be telling you this, with what you have to deal with! “I would tell them that nothing had crossed my mind about my own disability while listening to them ... Still, I think that sometimes it is a good idea, or at least not a bad one, to intervene.  For instance, when I was in my 40s and my mom in her 70s, she developed quite a serious hearing impairment. But she kept saying she didn’t want to get a hearing aid. Once when I was home for a visit, I said to her “mom, you sat with me for hours in brace shops waiting for me to get my new leg braces or back braces as I grew from age four to seven, nine to eleven, on and on. And I always wore the brace. Now you can’t hear well  and you won’t wear a hearing aid. “.  She said nothing but soon she got the hearing aid. Maybe my speech did not make a difference, but maybe it did ... Another example. In the 1980’s I worked for several years as a professional counselor. I never mentioned my disability because the client was there to bring their problem,  goal,  or raw self and the focus was them, not me. But on one occasion, I did insert it.  I had a client who came to me after a dramatic breakdown where she had stood in the middle of an intersection trying to direct traffic. Now she was better,  but not well.  She was diagnosed manic depressive but did not want to take the medication that was needed. I really liked her and we got along with an easy rhythm.  One day I said something like “I can’t walk, so I use this Wheelchair. I consider my Wheelchair a tool. I see this medication as a tool for you to use.“  She became  quiet and thoughtful. She then said that that was a good way to think about it, and she agreed to go on the medication ... Another example that did not go so well: a few years ago, I had a physical crisis and went to the ER accompanied by my niece. My pain got worse and worse, and the ER was very slow to get to me. Eventually, I was “writhing in pain“, as they say. Neither my niece nor I could muster the good sense to go up the chain and ask for immediate attention. Some days after that, my niece said she couldn’t stand that ER experience and she would never do that again. I said very bluntly, “If I can live it, you can watch it.” That did not go over so well.  To your point. Maybe it was my delivery."

From Jen Rohrig:

"'Breaking Bad' was never going to be my cup of tea so I avoided it as much as possible for a number of reasons. So I didn't know about RJ Mitte's involvement (or who he was) for several years. Somewhere along the line I did find out and thought it was cool to know that there was someone with a disability on the show played by an actor with the disability. It wasn't enough to make me want to watch the show but it was cool to know. I'm pretty sure I saw RJ Mitte on a panel discussion online somewhere at some point. I don't remember when or what panel it would have been, though I do believe it was one with various actors with different disabilities. Finding out he had passed hit me hard. It felt like such a loss for the community. Similar to when Alice Wong died. In Alice's case I had at least interacted with her on twitter years prior. I'm having trouble articulating my feeling exactly but it feels like we're all struggling with a lot of complicating things. Losing any of us is going to hurt. Especially when it's a situation like this... But it's also a reminder of what we're all fighting for and that the fight goes on for our rights. The right to be in the community and live our lives as we wish. I reminder that there are many of us who may be struggling silently and feeling alone as Grace Dow wrote. Disability visibility has always matter but perhaps it's even more important right now in this time. When others are working hard to take us all backwards to a darker time ... Actually I just happened to check out the episode he was on of "This Close" (with deaf actors  Shoshannah Stern and Joshua Fieldman) the panel I'm remembering was actually in that episode!! which aired in 2018."

10/16/26 - Friday Video Share: "Walt Attacks Skyler | Breaking Bad (Bryan Cranston)"

From Lindsay Fitzgerald:

"Andrew, I really appreciate reading your thoughts about RJ Mitte. Breaking Bad is one of my all-time favorite series, and his character was beloved by me. The actor and the character were crucial to the story."

RJ Mitte's death inspired the most comments this month, all of them thoughtful and worthy of further discussion.

10/19/26 - Firing squad update, Medicaid and SNAP, and disability fashion

From Jen Rohrig:

"I have mixed feelings about emphasizing Hasan being disabled. I mean we shouldn't be suggesting that the reason we don't want to see his execution televised solely because he's disabled. We shouldn't want anyone's execution to be televised regardless of who they are."

Another note on the firing squad story ...

10/22/26 - Three more angles on the U.S. Midterms

From Adrienne:

"I'm very impressed by Turek's ad.  We've come a long way from F. Roosevelt ... I got a charge hearing his word play on "pushing" at the end. Corny but fun ... I don't know much about his politics.  His website has a bunch of stuff I agree with ... Here's one group of things he'll "fight for" ... End 14C certificates on the federal level, which allow for-profit companies to pay individuals with disabilities a subminimum wage ... Raise Social Security income and assets limits for disabled individuals ... Stop the federal lawsuit to gut Section 504, which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in any setting that receives federal financial assistance ... Protect and defend the Americans with Disabilities Act ... But, it's the midwest, next door to the state I was raised in.  There's bound to be some conservative individualistic ideas in there somewhere ... So ... nothing on Palestine. Weak on immigration ... Curious what you see.  Thanks for putting this in my IN box."

Well, since you ask ... just a few days ago some new broke of Josh Turek taking a couple of anti-trans positions. I'll be sharing more about that next week.

10/23/26 - Friday Video Share: Instagram message on RJ Mitte

From Jen Rohrig:

"Yep..... as I've said before the "they never let their disability stop them" crowd has a lot to answer for. The way we're pushed to OVERCOME our disabilities and is ridiculous. The amount of harm done in the name of pushing limits is extreme. There are real hard line limits that exist for a reason and are not the ableist assumptions about disabilities that people have. But unfortunately because of the ableist assumptions people feel like they HAVE to push all limits even the real ones that exist just to be seen as human.  Otherwise we're giving in and using our disabilities as an excuse or whatever bullshit people have decided ... It's why I will always be frustrated with those videos of a child running a race with the a walker (and going really fast I might add) and then their parent comes and takes the walker away right near the finish line so they then finish unassisted. It's never clear if it's the child's choice to finish that way or if the parent pushed them into it under some idea of being able to walk unassisted is somehow always better than needing a walker. I'm not against disabled people learning to walk unassisted if they really want to and it's within their ability to do so. But like I said limits exist and if someone is being pressured to never use a walker or a wheelchair when they really need it to prevent harm than that's a concern. For these races it always has an air being more about the child overcoming their disability rather than simply finishing the race - I mean shouldn't being in the race and finishing it be the goal? Also to be clear - I'm not frustrated in the same why when it's an adult making this choice. It's usually young children."

One more link, and comment, on RJ Mitte ...

10/27/26 - Voting, and disability perspectives on recent events

From Les Rogers:

"In Oregon we have a journalist Shasta Kearns Moore who pens the blog Medical Motherhood.  She is also a friend.  She has collected some disability related angles to what happened in Bend that you may find of interest.  She also started our Little Lobbyists chapter in the state.  We have worked together a lot over the years ... https://www.medicalmotherhood.com/p/oregon-school-shooting-sparks-questions"

From Norman Smith:

"In my humble opinion, I think the disability angle for this shooting is not being seen as relevant because the shooter was himself disabled or, at least, was a Special Ed student. I think that fact is being purposely downplayed so not to stigmatize Special Ed kids ... I remember another mass shooting in California where initial reporting indicated the target was a day program for people with disabilities.  The actual incident was far more complicated, and that storyline died quickly ... As someone involved with inclusive emergency planning, I feel emphasizing the disability angle needs to be reported, but it can also have detrimental ramifications."

Thanks for your comments!

10/28/26 - October Monthly Q&A, with Gaelynn Lea

From C Somnus McGill:

"I live in Duluth, MN! It’s nice to see my city represented here. It’s honestly a pretty awful place for us disabled folks, but I’ve also lived in much worse cities. So much potential, all of it wasted."

I feel like there's something about the accessibility of mid-size cities. They're either fantastic or terrible.

Thank you all for reading with me through another month at Disability Thinking Weekday. And special thanks to those of you who sent feedback. Remember, you can always do so by emailing to: apulrang@icloud.com.

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