5/26/26 - Two kinds of disability politics, and some new digital access tools

Hello!

I hope everyone is having a good start of the week. Here are your three disability-related links for today ...

The Populist Paralympian Who Wants to Roll Into the Senate

Julia Métraux, Mother Jones - May 23, 2026

"Turek told me that he’d like to expand Medicaid funding, even after repealing the Medicaid cuts associated with the One Big Beautiful Bill. Thousands of “disabled Iowans are on [the] Medicaid waitlist right now,” he said, pointing out that those waits could run up to seven years. “That’s fundamentally wrong ... Disability issues, a focus of Turek’s, have historically been fairly bipartisan, and Turek has a record of collaboration with disabled people across the state to work on various bills."

Xinhua Headlines-Xi Focus: Chinese president inspires disabled people on path toward shared future

huaxia, Xinhua - May 16, 2026

"Just before the Spring Festival in 2014, President Xi Jinping visited a children's welfare home in Hohhot. Wang was among the children living there at the time. During the visit, Xi encouraged her to study hard and excel in school ... In response, the young girl raised her right hand and bent her thumb, a gesture of thanks in her world. Xi responded in the same way, mirroring her movement, a kind smile spreading across his face."

I'm pairing these two articles because although they are quite different in most ways, they present two very different modes of communication between politics and people with disabilities. There are two obvious and interesting differences. The first article is about a disabled man entering politics in part to advocate for disabled people's needs and aspirations. The second piece is about a national leader urging disabled people to improve themselves. That's one difference. Another is that the first piece is from an independent and politically empowered publication, Mother Jones, while the second article is from Xinhua, the state-run news agency of China, praising the value and kindness of its dictatorial head of state. One other thing I find interesting is how familiar the Chinese dictator's message to disabled people sounds. It's classic benevolent uplift rhetoric we hear all the time from "disability awareness" content produced usually, though not always, by non-disabled people. Xi's words don't seem stern or authoritarian. But they do read as didactic and in a way condescending. I leave it to further thought on what to think about this. As for Truek, well, he seems promising. But so did another disabled candidate a few years ago with a populist image and hard to pin down political views – John Fetterman. And he's turned out to be of little help on disability policy, and a huge problem on other progressive concerns. So, we probably all need to think very carefully, too, about what it means when any particular disabled person enters politics.

Apple Previews New Accessibility Features Powered by Apple Intelligence

Hartley Charlton, MacRumors - May 19, 2026

"Apple today announced a suite of accessibility updates that use Apple Intelligence to expand capabilities across VoiceOver, Magnifier, Voice Control, and Accessibility Reader, with additional new features for generated subtitles and wheelchair control via Apple Vision Pro."

I don't have much to say about this. All of these additions sound useful. And since Apple's operating system is one of the most common among smartphone users, any new accessibility features from Apple deserve a look. I'm particularly interested in the announcement of electric wheelchair controls – though running them through Apple Vision Pro means they will require a big upfront expense to purchase that device. I will try to be on the lookout for more accessibility apps like these in other platforms, and share them here.

Disability Thinking Weekday is a Monday-Friday newsletter with links and commentary on disability-related articles and other content. You can help promote the newsletter by forwarding it by email or posting on your social media. You can also comment by sending me an email at: apulrang@icloud.com. Collected comments are shared around the first of each month. A free subscription sends a newsletter to your email each weekday. Benefits of paid subscription include:

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