Disability News - February 7, 2026
Editor's Note: The disability community is increasingly preferring to use identity-first language (disabled person) in place of person-first language (person with a disability). This is because many in the community view disability as being a core component of identity, much like race and gender. Some members of the community, such as people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, still prefer person-first language. Both should be considered valid. Articles shared in this newsletter may contain one or the other (or both) depending on the author's preference, and if they themselves have a disability.
Action Item from The ARC: Tell Congress: Increase the SSI Asset Limit! Millions of people with disabilities rely on Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to meet their basic needs, but SSI has many outdated rules that make it hard for people to make ends meet and save for emergencies.
I’m autistic and have a brain injury. ICE dragged me from my car anyway. Then my nightmare really began by Eric Garcia on February 5, 2026 at the Independent
"Exclusive Details: Aliya Rahman speaks to Eric Garcia about her ordeals — on the streets of Minneapolis, in a grim ICE detention center where she was mocked over her condition and through the public threats that flooded in after she spoke out"
Snowstorms Are Hell for Wheelchair Users—But They Don’t Have to Be by Julia Métraux on February 3, 2026 at Mother Jones
"Disabled people are uniquely impacted by climate events, including that system of snowstorms, which impacted more than half the United States. The failure of even some of the best-resourced cities to adequately clear snow so that disabled people with mobility devices can safely get around is both an infrastructure failure and a policy choice, leaving those people stuck in one area and stripping them of their autonomy."
RFK’s Overhauled Autism Committee Is Even Worse Than It Looks by Kiera Butler and Anna Merlan on January 30, 2026 at Mother Jones
"Last April, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. promised that his agency would find the cause of autism “by September.” That didn’t pan out, but this week he appears to be trying again—by stacking a decades-old committee devoted to “innovations in autism research, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention” with his friends and fellow travelers in the anti-vaccine and pseudoscience world."
ASAN Joins Allies In Urging Congress to Protect the Department of Education posted by the Autistic Self Advocacy Network on February 5, 2026
"Our 40 organizations write on behalf of the youth and adults with disabilities served under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), as well as those eligible for Vocational Rehabilitation (VR). The Department of Education’s attempts to restructure through interagency agreements (IAA)—whether actions to date with the Department of Labor or those expected with the Department of Health and Human Services or other agencies—are of grave concern and have not been approved by Congress. These actions create downstream harms on the K12 education and the workforce readiness of students and adults with disabilities."
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