Books, essays, podcast episodes, and more that I think are worth your time, plus recent cultural news that I’m paying attention to in the month of November…
Three children with autism, and thousands spent on alternative ‘cures.’ I appreciated the portrayal of one family with three autistic children and the tension between receiving our children as they are and wanting to offer them whatever they might need for wellness and a thriving life. That said, this article also demonstrates how the narrative within our culture that autism (and other developmental disabilities) need “fixing” can prey upon vulnerable families and send parents searching for answers in dangerous places. (I think if you create a free account, you can read this essay.)
Workforce Participation By Those With Disabilities ‘Historically High.’
The good news: more people with disabilities are employed than ever before. This article attributes that uptick to more flexible work situations. People with disabilities who are actively employed or looking for employment has risen by 30% since Covid. I’m going to guess (and hope) that the past few decades of advocacy have also made a difference.
The bad news: The vast majority of people with disabilities still do not have jobs, and the recent withdrawal of government support for this population won’t help that situation.
Still, I am hopeful that those of us who have seen the landscape change for people with disabilities over the course of our lifetimes will refuse to live in a society that regresses into isolation and segregation. Schools, faith communities, neighborhoods, and businesses are better off when people with disabilities bring their whole selves into relationships, contribute their skills in workplaces and through volunteer opportunities, and help create communities of belonging where everyone knows that they matter.
High School Adds Sensory Friendly Section at Football Games. This Alabama high school’s decision to create a sensory-friendly section at their football games offers a beautiful glimpse of what a world of belonging looks like. First, local people notice that some individuals and their families can’t participate in a communal event. Second, they want that communal event to work differently. They feel a sense of loss that kids with sensory issues aren’t present. They feel like “we aren’t us without you.” And so, third, they ask what they could do to create an environment where the whole family can attend the football game. Local vendors rally to contribute goods. Multiple new families attend the game. The school starts looking for ways to create similar experiences at other sporting events and arts performances. The result is good for the whole community. Everyone is lifted up.
A Conservative Rejoinder to the Manosphere. I’m excited to talk with Leah Libresco Sargeant about her new book, The Dignity of Dependence: A Feminist Manifesto. Our conversation will drop on the Reimagining the Good Life podcast on December 2. I’m also grateful other people are taking note of this important book, including Anna Louie Sussman for the Atlantic.
315. Brain Health & DS: Alzheimer’s Disease Prevalence and Treatment (w/Dr. Michael Rafii). I’m loving the whole series on Down syndrome brain health from The Lucky Few, but this episode was so informative and encouraging for anyone concerned about the prevalence (over 90%) of adults with Down syndrome who develop early-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. I just reread Huxley’s 1932 futuristic novel (because Marilee is reading it in school), in which the act of procreation and pregnancy has been supplanted by test-tube babies who are manufactured and no one comes from a family with a mother or father. There’s so much in this book that indicts our present moment, and so much that prompts thought and conversation. I’m struck by the fact that both here and in Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 (which I also reread recently because Marilee was reading it in school)—in both books, literature is seen as a threat to a stable society. We are in an era of decreasing literacy and a dramatic reduction in reading. It’s a hard time for writers like me, who write books, because people aren’t reading books any longer. Still, reminders from Huxley and Bradbury of the importance of books and ideas within cultures that eschew them encourages me to keep writing, and to keep reading.
Why You Should Keep an Open Mind on the Divine. I appreciate this invitation to consider forces beyond our material reality.
The Slow Death of Special Education. Pepper Stetler’s essay about the recent funding reductions and lack of support for students with disabilities summarizes why “ending federal oversight of IDEA isn’t about giving control to the states. It is about denying the civil rights of all students with disabilities.” As I’ve written before, we certainly should continue to advocate for federal enforcement of civil rights (for those with disabilities and for other vulnerable populations). We also should do whatever we can on a local level to protect those rights and fund the programs that allow our schools to demonstrate to society at large that kids with disabilities belong among us.
How to Stay Human-Sized: Managing Anxiety, Reactivity, and Faith with Steve Cuss and Clarissa Moll. I think a lot about the limits and possibilities in being human. I really appreciated this conversation about how to notice when we are becoming bigger or smaller than human, and how to return to “human size.”
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