6/16/25 - Education, discrimination, and parenting disabled children

Good morning!

Let's start off this week with two articles on the same news event – a Supreme Court ruling that actually looks good for disabled people. I think it's helpful now and then to read and think about more than one different take on the same thing. Then there's a piece by a disability blogger I have been following for a long time, on one of the important transitions for disabled kids in US schools.

Have a great week!

Unanimous Supreme Court makes it easier to sue schools in disability cases

Nina Totenberg, National Public Radio - June 12, 2025

"The appellate court said that the Tharpes did not meet the high standard of proof needed to prevail—specifically, the court said, they had failed to prove that the school system acted in" bad faith" or with "gross misjudgment." On Thursday, the Supreme Court reversed that ruling, calling its reasoning 'wrong.'"

Supreme Court Sides With Teenager in School Disability Discrimination Case

Abbie VanSickle, New York Times - June 12, 2025

"The case hinged on what standard of proof was required to show discrimination by public schools in education-related disability lawsuits ... In a unanimous decision written by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., the court held that the student and her family needed to show only that the school system had acted with “deliberate indifference” to her educational needs when they sued ... That is the same standard that applies when people sue other institutions for discrimination based on disability ... The school district argued that a higher standard — a stringent requirement that the institution had acted with “bad faith or gross misjudgment” — should apply. Had the district prevailed, the new standard might have applied broadly to all kinds of disability rights claims filed under the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans With Disabilities Act."

It can be hard to fully absorb and understand exactly why Supreme Court decisions in disability rights cases are either good or bad for disabled people. Frankly, I often to rely on disability policy experts I trust to tell me what's a victory and what's a loss. But with this case, I do sort of understand the idea that discrimination against disabled students does not have to be motivated by ill will or hostility to be considered illegal discrimination. That's a hugely important idea in disability rights. So much of the discrimination and lack of accessibility we endure is in fact due to neglect and mismanagement, rather than deliberate exclusion. But it doesn't matter. Exclusion harms us no matter what the reason. It's good to see that this Supreme Court was able to see this, despite its deep ideological divisions and agendas.

On the Edge of High School: Moxie’s Next Big Step

Meriah Nichols, Unpacking Disability - June 4, 2025

"What is important to me isn’t necessarily what is important to her. Her priorities are different from mine and her path forward is different from mine. My pain isn’t hers, and hers isn’t mine. Right now, it’s up to me to be stable. To be the bow. To do my best to create fertile ground for her to grow into the future that she chooses. But she is the arrow—and her trajectory will be uniquely, powerfully hers."

Although I have read Meriah's posts for years, I'm in no position to judge how she specifically, is doing as a parent, (one with a disability herself), of a disabled child. I've never met her or her daughter Moxie. And I'm not a parent myself. But from this piece, it certainly looks like Meriah is the kind of parent any of us who grew up with disabilities would want. "It's not about me" seems like the one essential idea for parenting a disabled child. Everything else can be learned on the go.

What ideas and attributes do you feel are important for parenting children with disabilities?

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