> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # 8/20/25 - Disabled in Gaza, and disability on screen - URL: https://disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io/8-20-25-disabled-in-gaza-and-disability-on-screen/ - Published: 2025-08-20T17:00:47.000Z - Updated: 2025-08-20T17:00:46.000Z - Author: Andrew Pulrang ## And we're back! These three articles make me think about how disability issues that can seem narrow and specialized overlap with broader political and social issues. --- ![Wednesday Links](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/51/9951e709-0bb8-4ee3-8557-6b5a3d3af05b/content/images/2025/08/Wednesday-2-1.png) Wednesday Links ## [**Trapped in Gaza: Palestinians with disabilities cannot reach aid**](https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/08/1165661?ref=disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io) United Nations - August 15, 2025 > "Over 83 per cent of people with disabilities in Gaza do not have the assistive devices they need, including wheelchairs, hearing aids and other tools. And for those that do, the batteries which enable these devices to work are in very short supply ... This makes it exponentially more difficult – if not impossible – for them to access healthcare and food." How should we as disabled people and disability activists approach issues that aren't exclusively about disability, but which uniquely *affect* disabled people? Should we: - Focus narrowly on what's happening to disabled people, because *we* are disabled and in a uniquely informed position to shed light on what's almost always a neglected portion of wider problems? Or ... - Don't focus *too* narrowly on how it's affecting disabled people, because talking exclusively about disabled people in war zones and atrocities allows us to neglect or deliberately *avoid* dealing with the broader political issues generating the crisis. Is it beneficial to view Gaza through the specific lens of disabled people? Or, does that become an excuse to dodge the bigger questions about what's happening there? Notice I'm not answering these questions. Is that because I honestly don't know what I think? Or, am I simply avoiding controversy? I don't know! ## [**What will it take to get more disabled characters, and actors, on the big screen?**](https://www.cbc.ca/news/entertainment/disability-top-movies-1.7602620?ref=disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io) Abby Hughes, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation - August 8, 2025 > "Sean Towgood, a Canadian writer and actor (*You're My Hero*) who has cerebral palsy, says the findings are 'disheartening,' though not entirely surprising. He says there's a sense in the film and TV industry that producers or executives choose to tell some stories about disability occasionally, but then rest on their laurels ... 'They just check a box and they're like, 'Well, we did that. We don't have to think about it for another 10 years, right?,' Towgood said." This piece gives a good overview of what we should be looking for in disability "representation" in films. That includes not just including disabled characters, but disabled actors to play them. The article also makes me wonder whether the drop in disability representation in movies is just a normal fluctuation. Or, is it part of the broader retreat from deliberate "diversity, equity, and inclusion" efforts throughout culture? Is this a unique ableism problem, or mostly a side effect from "anti-woke" backlash? ## [**A Viewer Like Me: Finding Myself on Sesame Street**](https://emilyladau.substack.com/p/a-viewer-like-me-finding-myself-on-sesame-street?utm%5Fsource=post-email-title&publication%5Fid=3280298&post%5Fid=170701749&utm%5Fcampaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=2oua1t&triedRedirect=true&utm%5Fmedium=email) Emily Ladau, Words I Wheel By - August 12, 2025 > "I’m sure I don’t have to tell you what an essential role public media plays in educating and shifting perspectives not only about disability, but about people of all backgrounds and cultures. Or that it provides access to information across political, social, and economic spectrums. And how these things terrify this administration, as evidenced by their desperate, cruel moves to exert control over narratives about humanity ... But what I can tell you is this: while public media is still available (should the worst happen and it becomes extinct), I hope you’ll explore the treasures it has to offer. I hope it makes you feel less alone. I hope it makes you feel seen." Again, here is an active public policy issue – the recent elimination of federal funding for public media – that's not really *about* disability, but from a disabled, and very personal angle. Plus, it's interesting to read a bit more detail about how Emily Ladau came to be in a season of Sesame Street, and how the experience *being* a representation of disability on TV fit into her growth as a disabled child. There's also a good watch list of PBS programs with disability themes. --- ![Take Action](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/51/9951e709-0bb8-4ee3-8557-6b5a3d3af05b/content/images/2025/05/Action-1.png) Take Action [![Urgent: We Must Act to Save the Protection and Advocacy Network with the National Disability Rights Network](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/51/9951e709-0bb8-4ee3-8557-6b5a3d3af05b/content/images/2025/08/Action-Alert-Panel.png)](https://secure.everyaction.com/I6avR5LSvUamWdNZNIgMew2?ref=disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io) Urgent: We Must Act to Save the Protection and Advocacy Network with the National Disability Rights Network [![Tell Congress: Protect Disability Services & Fund Our Future! with The Arc](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/51/9951e709-0bb8-4ee3-8557-6b5a3d3af05b/content/images/2025/08/Action-Alert-Panel-2.png)](https://action.thearc.org/7vts3ow?%5Fga=2.84614809.1211930316.1754071037-420825656.1750704587&%5Fgl=1%2A1pjmpkp%2A%5Fga%2ANDIwODI1NjU2LjE3NTA3MDQ1ODc.%2A%5Fga%5FTTHG7VXBGP%2AczE3NTQwNzEwMzckbzckZzEkdDE3NTQwNzEwNTQkajQzJGwwJGgw&ref=disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io) Tell Congress: Protect Disability Services & Fund Our Future! with The Arc [![National Action for Wheelchair Repair Reform with the United Spinal Association](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/51/9951e709-0bb8-4ee3-8557-6b5a3d3af05b/content/images/2025/06/Action-Alert-Panel.png)](https://unitedspinal.org/advocacy-action/?vvsrc=%2fCampaigns%2f128228%2fRespond&ref=disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io) National Action for Wheelchair Repair Reform with the United Spinal Association [![Take Action for Safer Accessible Parking & More Economical Paratransit with the United Spinal Association](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/51/9951e709-0bb8-4ee3-8557-6b5a3d3af05b/content/images/2025/06/Copy-of-Action-Alert-Panel.png)](https://unitedspinal.org/advocacy-action/?vvsrc=%2fCampaigns%2f128229%2fRespond&ref=disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io) Take Action for Safer Accessible Parking & More Economical Paratransit with the United Spinal Association --- ![Comment, Subscribe & Support](https://storage.ghost.io/c/99/51/9951e709-0bb8-4ee3-8557-6b5a3d3af05b/content/images/2025/05/Like--Comment--Support.png) Comment, Subscribe & Support [*Disability Thinking Weekday*](https://disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io/) is a Monday-Friday newsletter with links and commentary on disability-related articles and other content. Please like, share, comment, and subscribe — for free, or with a paid subscription. A free subscription sends a newsletter to your email each weekday, and gives you access to the comments. Benefits of paid subscription also 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. To to subscribe, upgrade to paid, or make a one-time donation, click one of the buttons below: [Subscribe or Upgrade](https://disability-thinking-weekday.ghost.io/#/portal/) [Make a one-time donation](#/portal/support) I am so grateful for your help and engagement, in whichever forms you choose!