Andrew Pulrang

8/20/25 - Disabled in Gaza, and disability on screen

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. Trapped in Gaza: Palestinians with disabilities cannot reach aid United Nations - August 15, 2025 "Over 83 per cent of people with

8/14/25 - Late summer break

I'm taking an impromptu late summer vacation, today through Tuesday, August 19. So the next regular Disability Thinking Weekday newsletter will be on Wednesday, August 20. How are you resting and treating yourself this summer? See you next Wednesday! Disability Thinking Weekday is a Monday-Friday newsletter with

8/13/25 - A commemorative coin, fighting back in Congress, and thinking about "wellness"

Hello! How is your week going? Here are your three disability-related links for this Wednesday ... In Her Own Words: Remembering and Honoring Stacey Park Milbern Jess Davidson, American Association of People with Disabilities - August 8, 2025 "'A lot of times disability pride gets watered down into this

8/12/25 - A Medicaid cuts calendar, and remembering a Disability Justice trailblazer

Good afternoon ... Let's just get right to the links shall we? Medicaid, SNAP, and Education Changes The Arc of the United States Facebook page - August 4, 2025 "You might not feel the impact yet, but big cuts to Medicaid are in the new budget bill, and the

8/11/25 - Politicians, UCEDDs, and being "undesirable"

Good afternoon! The sun is out, the smoke from fires in Western Canada is thinning out, and the heat is cranking up fast here in Upstate New York. And there's a bit of a mix for this Monday's disability-related articles ... Politicians Don’t Understand Disability

8/8/25 - Friday Video Share: Relay | Official Trailer

Relay | Official Trailer Bleecker Street - July 2, 2025 Wait, what? A mystery/suspense movie where a key plot element is a TDD Relay Service? What do we think about this? * Does the film demonstrate how knowledge of at least some aspects of the Americans with Disabilities Act are truly embedded,

8/7/25 - Tough times

Hello! It seems like we're all still trying to get a grip on everything that's extra bad or difficult for disabled people these days. These links might help put some of it in some sort of order so we stand a chance of dealing with it

8/6/25 - Disability and the arts

Good afternoon! I've spent most of the last couple of days managing repairs and redecorations in my apartment. I hired someone to do the physical work, which made me nervous but worked out well. It's the first major revamp of my "space" since I

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Disability Thinking Weekday - July 2025 Recap

8/1/25 - Disability Thinking Weekday’s 2nd Anniversary

Two years! Two years ago today, I posted the first issue of my new disability-themed newsletter, Disability Thinking Weekday. I started out with a few legacy subscribers from my first attempts at a newsletter. As of today, there are over 1,300 subscribers, including 38 who help sustain this

7/30/25 - The 35th ADA Anniversary

Belated happy anniversary! Last Saturday was the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. So I'm again playing a little catch-up on articles written about it. These three should do. If other interesting takes crop up in the next week or so, I'll share

7/29/25 - LGBTQI+, influencers, and ICE

Good afternoon ... Today's links are left over from last week. So they aren't necessarily timely. But hopefully they are interesting. This newsletter isn't just about urgent and enraging headlines. The State of Disabled LGBTQI+ People in 2024 Mia Ives-Rublee, Casey Doherty, Haley Norris,

7/28/25 - Forced institutionalization

Good afternoon! During this newsletter's short, unplanned absence last week, President Trump ordered an initiative to increase forced institutionalization of mentally ill and addicted people. There are still more journalistic articles and organization statements coming out about this. But here are three pieces that provide something of an

7/25/25 - Friday Video Share: Long Road Home

Sorry about missing the last two days. My life got oddly busy in ways I wasn't expecting. Things are a little more relaxed again, so here's a video for this Friday, suggested by a subscriber ... Long Road Home Vimeo - April 9, 2024 Shared by paid subscriber

7/22/25 - Home care, pregnancy, and the R-word

Good afternoon ... Today's theme seems to be disability issues that have to be re-explained and re-litigated over and over, every few years. Each time, it is surprising and dispiriting that it seems like there is virtually no carry-over progress from the previous time. We have

7/21/25 - A conference, accessibility warning signs, and a step back on air travel

Good morning! I hope everyone has a good week. Here are three disability links to get us started ... Subscribe or Upgrade NCIL Annual Conference - Level Up: Building Tomorrow Together - Updates National Council on Independent Living - July 21, 2025 "NCIL’s 2025 conference theme, Level Up: Building Tomorrow Together, perfectly

7/18/25 - Friday Video Share: Crip Camp

I looked back and found that I haven't posted any video here about the 2020 Netflix documentary Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution before. The film is almost five years old now. But it's still probably the best introduction to the modern disability rights movement for a

7/17/25 - Basic accessibility

Come on in! Let's take a break, of sorts. Let's revisit an old, familiar, and somewhat less intense and confusing part of disability activism and culture – accessibility. The ongoing, probably never-ending effort to make more and more of our public spaces and businesses physically accessible

7/16/25 - Medicaid, sub-minimum wage, and immigrant rights

Good afternoon ... There's not much feel good stuff today's newsletter. But can't entirely look away from the hits and threats disabled people are taking right now from the outside. And we must not forget the dangers we ourselves sometimes pose to each other, or

7/15/25 - Ways of thinking about "Disability Pride"

Hello! Every July, at least for the last ten years or so, those of us who spend time thinking, talking, and writing about disability try again to define what disability pride means for disabled people, and what "Disability Pride Month" is for. It's always difficult to

7/14/25 - Taking stock

Good afternoon! It's been a refreshing week off. But it's nice to be back. The "Big Beautiful Bill" passed its final vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday, July 3, and was signed by President Trump on July 4. It'

7/8/25 - A week off

I have decided to take a week off from weekday posts of the newsletter. We'll be back on Monday with some reactions to passage of the "Big Beautiful Bill" here in the US, and then a wider variety of disability-related stories and articles for a

7/3/25 - Good, not great

Since almost all of our victories are partial, you would think figuring out how to move forward with them would be easier. But it never is.

7/2/25 - "Big Bill" reactions

Good morning ... Today we have three response to the US Senate's narrow passage of President Trump's domestic policy bill. In the "Take Action" section below, there's also an updated action alert from the American Association of People with Disabilities. I do realize

7/1/25 - AI discrimination, state waiting lists, and brain implants

Good afternoon! As I write this, the US Senate has just passed the President Trump's huge domestic policy bill. I don't know what that means for continuing advocacy efforts. The bill goes back to the House now. If there are new action alerts I'll