9/24/25 - Autism, Gaza, and rhetorical honey

Hello!

Expect at least a few more articles on the Trump administration’s autism announcements in the next few days. This Vox piece is the first one I read, so I’m sharing it first. But all three of today’s links and their topics are worth your time.

The flimsy evidence behind Trump’s big autism announcement, explained

Dylan Scott, Vox.com - September 22, 2025

"Trump’s and Kennedy’s fixation that autism rates are rising — and that something must be driving that increase — misses some important context: Most autism scientists believe that increase is actually largely the result of more public awareness about autism, and the subtle ways that it can manifest, as well as a changing and expanding definition of what is classified as autism."

It's so important to not just debunk or ridicule the Trump Administration's latest pronouncements about autism – though they deserve both – but to properly identify the tiny grains of truth and fact they are partly based on. They didn’t just make this stuff up out of nothing. They made this stuff up out of very little evidence, and a lot of ideology. Maybe that's a nit-picky, unimportant distinction. But I think it's worth making, as this article does. This piece also serves as a decent overview of the broader arguments over autism, which are familiar to some, but probably still a bit obscure to many observers.

Disability in Gaza: The Forgotten Casualty of Genocide

Sara Minkara, Curious Constructs - September 23, 2025

"For Palestinians with disabilities, this devastation is compounded by needs that are rarely accounted for — making an already dire crisis even more unbearable ... If emergency food arrives, how can someone with limited mobility reach it? If an evacuation order comes with only minutes of warning, how can a person relying on assistive devices pack up and flee? How can a person with an intellectual or developmental disability understand what’s happening around them and follow instructions — or are they just left for dead?"

I don't have much to add. The exploration here is remarkably vivid, emotional, and practical. I will just say that I think this is also the best title I have ever seen for an article on people with disabilities in Gaza. The title itself argues well for this being a distinct topic worth talking about, and hopefully taking action on.

"You Catch More Flies With Honey Than With Vinegar": Sweetness and Bitterness in the Season Ahead

Emily Ladau, Words I Wheel By - September 22, 2025

"But I've had people upset with me for taking a honey approach, particularly in my disability advocacy and education work, because they feel I'm too soft. And I've had people upset with me because they think my approach leans too much toward vinegar—repelled by the bitterness."

Whether to rail against injustice with full force, or persuade with calm, measured words, is a question all social and political movements face. And I appreciate and basically agree with Emily’s approach to this question as it uniquely challenges disabled people, personally and in our more public advocacy.

But sometimes I think we worry too much in disability communities about this question of what our tone should be, how much intensity or anger we can or should display as disabled people when we talk about disability. I'm not sure it matters as much as we worry it does. Though when I say "I'm not sure" about it, I literally mean that I'm not sure.

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