11/24/25 - A rare win, sharing our stories, and more on parking

Good afternoon!

It looks like this will be another complicated week for me, and not just because Thursday is Thanksgiving here in the US. For that reason and possibly others, newsletters may be a bit spotty this week.

Nonetheless, this is still a good time to help support Disability Thinking Weekday by starting or renewing a monthly or annual paid subscription. Or, you can make a one-time donation if you prefer. Any help you can provide will be much appreciated.

Here are today's links!

Social Security scraps plan to limit disability benefits after uproar

Lisa Rein and Meryl Kornfield, Washington Post - November 19, 2025

"The policy affecting older people would have fundamentally altered who qualifies for the two federal disability programs by eliminating or limiting a person’s age as a factor to consider. It fulfilled a long-held goal of Trump officials to tighten the federal safety net and had been on track to be announced in the Federal Register as soon as December ... But widespread opposition mounted following an article in The Washington Post in October that reported the new policy could result in a loss of future benefits for hundreds of thousands of people."

This seems like an import reversal, at least the age criteria part. Backing off on updating the occupations list seems more like an attempt to prevent more people from qualifying for Social Security Disability benefits. But the whole business does raise again an advocacy topic that probably deserves more study. How do disability policy activists win concessions from conservative governments that are typically hostile to our priorities? It doesn't happen often. But that's all the more reason to understand thoroughly how and why these rare victories are achieved.

Share Your Independent Living Story!

Autistic Self Advocacy Network - November 20, 2025

"In December, the Senate Special Committee on Aging is having a hearing. The hearing is about helping people with disabilities be part of their communities. That means getting the services and supports that help disabled people live, work, and go to school alongside people without disabilities. To get ready for the hearing, people who work for Senators on the Committee are collecting stories from people with disabilities. These stories will help Senators understand why services that help us be independent are important. Your story could help Senators make important policy choices."

I have mixed feelings about appeals for disabled people to "tell our stories" with lawmakers. Some of us are eager to share. But we can also get tired explaining ourselves, our needs, our ambitions and our fears over and over again. Many of us are still repeating the same descriptions and outlining the same basic policy dilemmas for literally decades. And each time they seem to be received as new, with little or no durable headway over the years. Still, that just means that at least some of us need to keep telling our stories, even if it's annoying that we still have to. Note: I have added this to the Take Action section below.

Extending Accessible Parking to All Pregnant People Isn’t the Solution

Kara Ayers, Mind Ramps - November 20, 2025

"When nondisabled people imagine why I need an accessible parking space, they often assume the biggest challenge is distance. But for me—and for so many wheelchair users—distance isn’t #1. It isn’t even #2 ... It’s a distant third."

Kara Ayers gives a much more thorough and practical breakdown of why it's a bad idea to open up accessible parking to everyone who is pregnant. Her piece is an important addition to the Washington Post article shared here last week.

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