Andrew Pulrang

1/21/25 - Disabled migrants, an interabled marriage, and music accessibility

I want to start with a note to state what may be obvious to some of you, to others maybe not. There was no newsletter yesterday because it was Martin Luther King, Jr. day here in the U.S., which is a federal holiday. Of course, I don't

1/17/25 - Friday Video Share

Gaelynn Lea: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert NPR Music - March 11, 2016 The other day, a friend sent me a text message with a link, letting me know that disabled musician and activist Gaelynn Lea had shared a link on her Facebook page to this recent Disability Thinking Weekday

1/16/25 - Political parties, more on wildfires, and accessible safaris

Disability Victory Calls on DNC Leadership Candidates to Commit to Accessibility and Disability Rights Disability Victory - January 7, 2025 "As disabled-led and run organizations and allied organizations, we are committed to accessibility for all and a Democratic infrastructure that includes investing in disabled candidates and issues across the

1/15/25 - Able Accounts, Special Ed, and dealing with crowds

Able Accounts Are Changing Grace Dow, Grace Dow Writes - January 10, 2025 "I’ve used funds in my ABLE account to pay for vehicle repairs, college tuition, and rent.  Last year, I used some of my ABLE account funds to fix the air conditioner in my wheelchair van

1/14/25 - Home care, education, and more on disability and disasters

Before getting to today's links, I want to highlight some of the other parts of this new website for Disability Thinking Weekday. If you click the link here for the Home page, you will see a menu of other pages, including: About - Explaining what the site and

1/13/25 - L.A. Fires

Altadena family says disabled father and son were left to burn: ‘Nobody was coming’ Sonja Sharp, Lost Angeles Times - January 10, 2025 "'What hurts the most is that our state didn’t prepare for this at all,' Mitchell said. Officials have known for years that disabled

1/10/25 - Friday Video Share

Why do friends drift away in hard times? Mark Webb, TEDx Talks - April 25, 2024 Personal disability stories with simple messages don't always work. The "How I became disabled" genre, and, as Mark Webb notes in his presentation, the "quote from the video"

1/9/25 - The R-Word, AI, and disability fetish

I have a request before we get into today's three disability-related articles. I would like to feature more writing by disabled bloggers. The third item here today is by Grace Dow, who posts a blog just about every day. I'd like to highlight more writing like

1/8/25 - Medical debt, Medicaid cuts, and answering ableism

New federal rule will remove medical debt from credit reports Elizabeth Schulze, ABC News - January 7, 2025 "The rule would erase an estimated $49 billion in unpaid medical bills from the credit reports of roughly 15 million Americans, the CFPB said." Continuing with the cost of health

1/7/25 - COVID, medical bills, and approaching new year goals

Today's articles aren't as exclusively for disabled people as usual. They are all more or less relevant to anyone, disabled or not. But they all also have some more specific meanings for people with disabilities. 5 things we know and still don’t know about COVID,

1/6/25 - Jimmy Carter, Alice Wong, and 2025

Jimmy Carter's landmark moment: The birth of the disability rights movement Matthew Rozsa, Salon - May 1, 2022 "When I interviewed Jimmy Carter in 2018, I thanked him for his support of Section 504 and for what he had done for the disability community. I also asked

1/3/25 - Friday Video Share

Shane Got A Catheter! Squirmy and Grubs, YouTube - December 21, 2024 Here's another video that should go on any "essential viewing" list for disabled people and their allies. It would be especially helpful for people who have new disabilities. But it may be even more