6/10/26 - Monthly Essay: "Survey Results"

Andrew Pulrang

10 Jun 2026 • 7 min read

Hello!

On April 24th, I posted a Spring 2026 Survey, asking a bunch of questions about disability issues and culture that I was curious about. I've finally had a chance to go through the results and add some rough thoughts.

39 people completed the survey. That's kind of a low number. So, I have been careful to not draw too many sweeping conclusions from the answers and percentages. I'm just taking the results as they are, as a snapshot of opinions and experiences of a small segment of people who read this newsletter. And these are just my initial responses.

I do plan on doing more surveys like this, probably with some different kinds of questions. If any of you have ideas for making the whole exercise more interesting and helpful, please do let me know. As always, you can send your ideas and comments to: apulrang@icloud.com.

Now on to the survey results!

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Survey Results

Andrew Pulrang, Disability Thinking Weekday - May 10, 2026

Which broad aspect of living with disabilities causes you the most pain and problems?

Top two: Ableist attitudes and interactions (33%), and disability symptoms themselves (21%)
Bottom three: Lack of accessibility / accommodations (18%), high expenses / low income (15%), and laws, policies, and practices (13%)

This would seem to undermine, or at least call into question, the main reasons most disability activists have for focusing on legal rights, accessibility, and politics. Obviously, they are all important. But, maybe we need to take another look at prioritizing "disability awareness" and even medical and therapeutic responses to disability. Or, maybe these results suggest that more of us need to shift a little of our focus away from our personal struggles and into collective activism.

What do you think is the best approach, right now, to pushing for better accessibility in businesses and other public facilities?

Top two: Organized campaigns in communities (46%), stronger laws / harsher consequences (33%)
Bottom two: Apps and map guides to accessible places (13%), individual advocacy (8%)

I admit that I've been interested for a long time in crowdsourcing and mapping "apps" as a tool to fight for accessibility in our cities and towns. I don't know if the low results here are because the idea itself is less familiar than the others, or if people really think they aren't as promising as they seem to me. At the same time, I'm curious to learn more about how communities all over the world are fighting for better on-the-ground accessibility.

Do you regularly use paid help for disability-related personal tasks or care?

Almost never (54%)
Many times per week (28%)
Occasionally (18%)

This seems accurate for the broadly-defined disabled population. Most of us have disabilities that don't require frequent or constant services or "care." Still, I wonder how many of those who answered "Almost never" did so because they can't get services they actually do need.

If you do use paid help, who pays for it?

Out of pocket (69%)
Government-funded (31%)

Again, is this because a smallish subset of disabled people even need funded services? Or, does the imbalance reflect chronic underfunding and neglect by our governments? It also might be simpler. Maybe a higher percentage of disabled people who subscribe to disability newsletters are people who can afford to pay for their own services out of pocket, and / or can't qualify for government funding.

How easy or difficult is it for you to stay informed on your government's policies and budgets on disability matters?

Have to research myself (38%)
I hear about them immediately and often (31%)
I hear about them only occasionally (31%)

Wow. That's a surprisingly even split.

Do political parties in your area have easily identified positions on disability issues?

Parties have distinct, easily identifiable disability positions (56%)
There is little difference between political parties on disability issues (44%)

This is pretty even, too. But the slightly higher percentage on one may suggest that we've made some progress in getting political parties to take positions on disability issues. We as disabled people may have also become a bit more aware ourselves of how different parties have always thought and acted on disability issues.

How often do government officials and politicians where you live show an interest in disability issues?

Hardly ever (46%)
Only sometimes (44%)
Quite often (10%)

Governments and politicians still have a lot of work to do in reaching us and dealing seriously with our specific concerns. No surprise there.

If you could have a well-paid job in one of the following disability fields, which would you choose?

Teaching, counseling, or mentoring other disabled people (31%)
Developing disability policy (18%)
Writing, speaking, or social media (15%)
Academic disability studies (15%)
Organizing disability activism (13%)
Developing new treatments, products, or assistive technologies (8%)

This result surprised me. I thought there would be much higher percentages for content creation and activism, and much less for direct services. Again, maybe I'm misreading the audience a little. Also again, I will try not to over-interpret these percentages coming from only 39 people.

Which of the following is closest to your current feeling about Artificial Intelligence?

Harm disabled people (44%)
Help disabled people (31%)
Not sure (26%)

Another question about AI from a different angle ... which assessment is closest to yours?

Risks greater than potential benefits (67%)
Risks manageable, potential benefits significant (33%)

Taken together, these results tend to support the my instinct that disabled people are somewhat open to what AI has to offer us, specifically, while being quite wary of what, specifically, AI could do to us.

Where do you live?

North America (90%)
Europe (8%)
Australia / Oceania (3%)

Most of the content here is focused on the United States. And I don't claim to be a global disability newsletter. But I would like to see a few more readers from around the world who could maybe help me work in more non-US content. Who else should I be following? What else should I be reading?

What is your favorite film with disabled characters or disability themes?

As I suspected, there is a long list of movies with disability components that I need to see. Thank you all for this extensive list!

What is your favorite TV show with disabled characters or disability themes?

The same with TV shows. There's a lot of disability on television that I have heard of, and heard about, but haven't seen.

Huge thanks to everyone who participated in the survey. And please do feel free to comment, including with suggestions for future surveys. Again, you can reach me at: apulrang@icloud.com.

Tell Congress: Protect Medicaid Home and Community-Based Services with The Arc

Stop Killing and Injuring Students Pass the Keeping All Students Safe Act (KASSA) with the National Disability Rights Network

Disability Thinking Weekday is a Monday-Friday newsletter with links and commentary on disability-related articles and other content. You can help promote Disability Thinking Weekday 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 on 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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Survey Results

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