9/15/25 - Disability hiring, Gaza, and respectful research
Good afternoon!
After much frustration and thought, I have decided to shut off the comments feature for this newsletter. It's just too difficult and inconvenient for people to use. And none of the alternative comment features seem any easier to deal with. Instead, if you have comments on the newsletter, or want to share feedback on what's in the linked articles, send them to my email address: apulrang@icloud.com. Every now and then I'll share highlights of comments received with all of you. Hopefully, this will foster a bit of a dialog among all of us, in a simpler, more straightforward way.
And now for today's three disability-related links ...
House Dems Blast Labor Department for Abandoning Disabled Workers
Julia Métraux, Mother Jones - September 3, 2025
"Under Section 503 of the Rehabilitation Act, landmark disability rights legislation which has been in effect since 1973, the federal government is supposed to take proactive steps to hire contractors with disabilities, provide accommodations, and not discriminate against them. As I reported in July, Chavez-DeRemer’s Labor Department is in the process of rulemaking to end goals for companies with federal contracts to have at least seven percent of their employees have a disability."
In a more traditional conservative administration of the recent past, we might have expected a quiet reduction in emphasis on hiring more people with disabilities for federally-funded jobs, not all but abandoning the idea. It will be interesting to see how the Trump administration participates in National Disability Employment Awareness Month this October. Will they issue some bland statement of encouragement and leave it at that? Will they try to say that reducing hiring goals and oversight is somehow better for disabled workers and job applicants? And will they respond specifically to Rep. Simon's letter?
UN-backed experts say more must be done to help people with disabilities in war-battered Gaza
Associated Press - September 3, 2025
"The committee, a team of independent experts working with the U.N. human rights office, among other things called on Israel to take steps to protect children with disabilities from attacks and asked Palestinian authorities to help ensure they get proper care. It also urged foreign countries that have taken in some people from Gaza for care not to return them home while the conflict continues."
No matter what you make of what's happening in Gaza – and I can't see how it's possible to still view it as simply the unfortunate results of a more or less typical war – those of us who have disabilities should be viscerally disgusted and morally appalled by what's happening to disabled people in Gaza. It also once again raises valid, broader questions about what to do about disabled people in any war zone. But Gaza still warrants specific attention, and shouldn't be merely blended into a general "concern" about the "tragedy" of "conflict," or just another version disaster response for disabled people.
Disabled People Are Humans, Not Homework Assignments
Emily Ladau, Words I Wheel By - September 8, 2025
"I know this kind of assignment is meant to build connections and understanding, but it can easily replicate the dehumanizing dynamic it’s intended to negate. It creates a hierarchy of "us" (the researcher) and "them” (the subject). It turns us into a box to be checked off on a syllabus."
Emily accurately describes the burden placed on disabled people when students are told to cold-email us to learn about disability. She also offers great advice on how to do authentic disability research that's deep and personal without being intrusive or exploitative. As this newsletter attests, there is no longer any shortage of disabled people writing and talking about their experiences, in content that has already been made and posted, and easy to find.
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