8/10/26 - Online benefits tools, family caregiving, and the terminology treadmill
Good afternoon!
How was your weekend? Are you ready for three more disability links for a Monday?
Social Security adds new digital, online tools for those with disability claims
NBC Chicago Staff, NBC 5 Chicago - July 23, 2026
"'These digital tools will streamline operations and empower claimants to stay informed and promptly respond to important developments throughout the hearing process, eliminating the need for hearing offices to make outbound calls and instead, focus on reviewing cases in a timely manner,' SSA Chief of Disability Adjudication Jay Ortis said in a release."
In a politically neutral environment – an imaginary one, obviously – an improved set of online tools for managing Social Security applications and benefits would be good news. A lot of disabled people would much prefer being able to get information or problems solved remotely, rather than having to got to an office. In the actual political environment we are in here in the US, this announcement is either a joke or worse. At best, it might be a set of occasionally functional apps and readouts providing marginally useful information. It's almost certainly also a signal that disabled people can expect even less human contact and consideration from the Social Security Administration going forward.
What Policymakers Don’t Understand About Being Cared For
Grace Dow, Grace Dow Writes - August 5, 2026
"The thing that never gets talked about in political debates is what it’s like to depend on someone that much. My moms are not nurses or doctors, but they are my moms. They care about me more than any professional ever could. They know my body not because they are trained, but because I am their child."
There is more than one debate about family caregiving. My own feelings about it have evolved over the years. First, there is the argument, most often made by bureaucrats and suspicious lawmakers, that paying family members to provide home care for disabled relatives is an invitation to fraud, and maybe even an insult of some sort to old-fashioned, selfless ideals of family care given out of love and wholesome devotion. From an empowered disability standpoint, that pair of arguments is foolishness, but hard to fight, politically. The second viewpoint, as expressed here by Grace Dow, is that family members should be paid to provide home care when they can, because paying them frees them up to devote the time and earning potential, and because family provides better care than strangers. But there's a third argument that has always resonated with me. It's the idea that while paying family to do home care isn't a risk per se, but isn't necessarily ideal from an independent living perspective. I love my family. But since at least my late teens, I have always felt that I would not want my family to be my primary caregivers if it could possibly be avoided. I want my relationships with my family to be about family, and my caregiving relationships to be as an employer and employee. You can't fire your mother, father, sister, brother, or spouse. Still, as I have watched the politics, economics, and social aspects of home care develop, I have come to realize that lots of disabled people really do prefer getting care from family. And in an environment where more professionalized or freelance home care providers are scarce, it makes sense to offer the option of paid family caregiving. As with so many disability issues, meaningful choice is the key.
Disability Is: Bipartisan Lessons From Beleaguered Presidents
Lawrence Carter-Long, AbleNews - July 6, 2026
"So, let’s aspire to be honest about another touchy truth this Disability Pride Month. 'Disability is not a bad word' has done as much as it can do ... Thanks for the T-shirt ... Now, let’s put it in a museum and carry on."
There is a lot in this piece by Lawrence Carter-Long, including some thoughts on political participation that feel especially relevant right now. But I especially like what Lawrence has to say about not repeating negative phrasing and ideas about disability while we're trying to make them more positive. I'm going to try thinking this way more often – about what disability is for me, rather than what it's not.
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:
- A monthly recap with links to all of the previous month's shared articles, organized by topic.
- Listing as a supporter, and a link to your website if you have one.
- You can recommend one disability-related article for me to share per month in a weekday post.
Use the buttons below to start a paid subscription or make a one-time donation.
I am so grateful for your help and engagement, in whichever forms you choose!
Free subscribers: 1,285
Paid subscribers: 52