9/7/26 - Another threat to independence, plus high costs and Special Ed
And we're back! I hope ...
As I write most of this, I'm waiting to go home. Hopefully, if all goes right, when it goes out I will be home again. I look forward to a week of catching up on disability-related links and articles, and sharing some thoughts and observations about being a disabled hospital patient, at least from my perspective.
Defend Community Integration Coalition Statement on Texas v. Kennedy Proposed Joint Resolution
AAPD Press Team, American Association of People with Disabilities - September 3, 2026
"The Defend Community Integration Coalition (DCIC) strongly condemns the recent proposed joint resolution filed August 31 in the ongoing case Texas v. Kennedy. The proposed resolution aims to strike down the 2024 community integration regulations under Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. This action flies in the face of decades of judicial precedent and Congressional intent to ensure that community integration remains a civil right for all people with disabilities."
Over the next few months, I hope to post more pieces addressing the right to independence or "community living" for people with disabilities here in the U.S. – a topic with quite a lot of agreement on what we want, but some interesting and sometimes contentious differences among disabled activists on how best to make this most fundamental right more real-life solid. So more to come on this. Powerful and ideologically self-confident people want to be shed of what they see as an unreasonable legal responsibility to support us as we actually want, instead of how it works best for them. [More details on this are in the Take Action section below].
The Disability Tax
JACKIE (SHE/HER), Disability & Determination - September 2, 2026
"The disability tax, in short, is the added cost disabled people have to pay in order to survive and meet their day-to-day needs. To quote Reddit, it’s “a conceptual term for the extra everyday costs disabled individuals face to live an equal daily life."
I like the rhetorical phase "Disability Tax" to describe the high cost of living disabled. But, since I can also be pedantic and literal-minded, I tend to worry that someone will think we mean it's actually like a government-imposed tax deliberately imposed on disabled people, rather than a pattern of high-cost living that disabled people find we have to live with. At the same time, it often is like an added tax, in that what we are usually talking about is extra prices added to the same products and services other people need, but need less often and can get more cheaply because they aren't disabled. Everyone has to buy groceries. But I pretty much have to pay for mine do be delivered. Solely because of my disability, Instacart is a necessity, not a convenience. What do you pay more for because of a disability?
America’s Special Ed Reckoning
Grece Dow, Grace Dow Writes - August 31, 2026
"The increase in complaints points to a deeper issue: with no room for error, families are fighting harder. Shortages, combined with growing needs, lead to deteriorating services, longer waits for help, and parents using their only available means to enforce action. This surge in complaints is a warning. Now, the question is, will school districts rebuild to ensure services are available for the next generation?"
It's good to get an updated overview of Special Education struggles in U.S. schools. Well, it's good in the sense of being informative and helpful, not nice. The CIL I worked at for 22 years did a lot of work with education plans for kids with disabilities. And it was terribly difficult even then, when it's clear from today's perspective that the situation then was actually not terrible – yet. I can't imagine what advocates today are doing. And I'm curious not know whether there are any new approaches that parents, advocates, and students are finding successful.
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:
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