ADA Watch

10/16/2026

Our right to live in community is under attack! Take action today by urging your elected officials to support the resolution reaffirming our right to live, work, and receive services in the community. http://autisticadvocacy.quorum.us/campaign/170936

10/15/2026

The federal government plans to dramatically shrink the size of its National Health Interview Survey, sparking concerns about underestimating disability rates.

10/15/2026

“The actor “built a platform on disability awareness and inclusion,” the representative continued. “Beyond entertaining friends and family around the world, he served as an ambassador for United Cerebral Palsy and Shriners Children’s.”

“Mitte also served as president of The Mitte Foundation, “supporting philanthropic efforts and community initiatives, while using his platform to challenge stereotypes and promote greater representation for people with disabilities.”

The cause of death for RJ Mitte has been confirmed by the actor’s spokesperson. Mitte died on Monday, Oct. 12, at age 34.

10/12/2026

“Mitte starred as the son of Bryan Cranston and Anna Gunn’s characters on the Vince Gilligan drama, which is considered one of the greatest television shows of all time. Like his “Breaking Bad” character Walt Jr., Mitte had cerebral palsy. His high-profile performance brought awareness to the condition, and throughout his acting career, he was an advocate for disability representation in Hollywood.”

RJ Mitte, who starred in 'Breaking Bad' as Walter White Jr., has died. He was 34.

10/08/2026

Speak the Truth. Protect Your Power.

A practical advisory for disability rights advocates

We have spent our lives fighting for dignity, freedom, and the right of people with disabilities to speak for ourselves.

We know that power can be misused. We have seen people excluded, ignored, and denied credit for their work. Sometimes this happens inside the very organizations that are supposed to fight exclusion.

We have every right to speak about these problems.

But being right about a problem does not mean every way of talking about it will help us solve it.

We need to protect ourselves, our relationships, and the work we care about.

1. Talk about what people do, not what is inside them.

We may believe someone is selfish, controlling, dishonest, or interested only in power.

But we cannot see inside another person’s mind.

We can talk about what they actually said or did.

Instead of saying:

“They only care about power.”

Say:

“These decisions keep power in the hands of a few people and leave others out.”

The second statement is stronger because it describes something we can examine and challenge.

2. Don’t give people an easy way to dismiss us.

Some people may respond to criticism by calling us angry, difficult, divisive, or unreasonable.

That does not mean we should stop criticizing them.

It means we should be careful not to make those labels easier to use against us.

Personal insults can shift attention away from the problem and onto our behavior.

We want people talking about what happened, not arguing about how we said it.

3. Separate what we know from what we suspect.

There are three different things:

- What happened: What we saw, heard, or can document.

- What we think it means: Our interpretation of what happened.

- What we don’t know: Other people’s intentions or private conversations.

All three matter. But they are not the same.

When we keep them separate, our arguments become harder to dismiss.

4. Don’t let other people’s behavior control our relationships.

When someone doesn’t return a call, answer a message, or invite us to a meeting, we may wonder whether someone has turned them against us.

Sometimes people really do try to divide colleagues.

But sometimes people are simply busy.

Before assuming the worst, we can ask.

We should give trusted friends the chance to show us where they stand.

And we should spend more time building our relationships than worrying about people who might want to weaken them.

5. Give credit where credit is due.

Someone can do important work for disability rights and still misuse power.

Both things can be true.

Recognizing their accomplishments does not excuse harmful behavior.

Criticizing their behavior does not require erasing their accomplishments.

We want the same fair treatment for ourselves.

Our standard should be fairness, not loyalty or popularity.

6. Choose the right place and time to challenge a problem.

Not every concern needs to become a public argument.

- Sometimes a private conversation will work.

- Sometimes we need to document what happened.

- Sometimes a public statement or formal complaint is necessary.

Before acting, ask:

- What do we want to change?

- What evidence do we have?

- Who needs to hear this?

- Will saying it this way help?

Could someone use our words to distract from the problem?

This is not about being afraid.

It is about choosing actions that give us the best chance of making a difference.

7. Don’t confuse restraint with surrender.

We do not have to be quiet to be respected.

We do not have to agree with powerful people to be included.

And we do not have to pretend that mistreatment is acceptable.

Sometimes strong action is necessary, even when it carries risks.

But we can be fierce without being cruel.

We can be direct without making accusations we cannot prove.

We can stand up for ourselves without allowing someone else to decide how we spend our energy.

8. Remember what we are working for.

Our purpose is bigger than any one disagreement, organization, or leader.

We want a disability rights movement where people are welcomed, their contributions matter, and leadership is shared.

We want newcomers to have opportunities.

We want experienced advocates to be respected.

We want funders to support cooperation, not competition for control.

And we want organizations to practice the dignity and freedom they demand from others.

We do not need to prove that other people are bad to show that something needs to change.

We need to tell the truth, show the evidence, and keep building something better.

⸻

Our agreement to each other

When one of us is angry, the other can listen without automatically agreeing.

When one of us starts guessing about someone else’s motives, the other can ask, “What do we actually know?”

When one of us is ready to send a message we might regret, the other can help us make it stronger.

We will not silence each other.

We will not encourage each other’s worst assumptions.

We will remind each other of our strengths, our accomplishments, and the people who stand with us.

And we will not let disputes with other people become more important than the work we love.

Our goal is not to win every argument. Our goal is to advance the movement without unnecessarily weakening ourselves along the way.

Speak the truth. Protect your power. Keep building.

— JW

10/08/2026

Judy Heumann was refused a teaching license because she used a wheelchair. She sued New York City, won, and then helped lead the longest federal building occupation in U.S. history.

Heumann had contracted polio as a toddler and became a wheelchair user.

She wanted to become a teacher.

She earned a degree from Long Island University.

Then New York City refused to grant her a teaching license.

The reason was her disability.

Heumann sued.

She won.

In 1975, she became the first teacher in New York City to work with a disability of the type she had. ([judithheumann.com](https://judithheumann.com/about/))

But that victory did not end the discrimination she was fighting.

It convinced her that changing one institution at a time was not enough.

She became an organizer.

Then came Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

Section 504 prohibited discrimination against people with disabilities in federally funded programs.

But the regulations needed to enforce it were stalled for years.

Heumann and other activists decided waiting was over.

In April 1977, disability activists occupied the federal building in San Francisco.

They demanded that the Carter administration sign the regulations.

The protest lasted 25 days.

People slept inside the building.

They organized food.

Medical care.

Security.

Press conferences.

Support networks.

It became the longest occupation of a federal building in U.S. history. ([smithsonianmag.com](https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/how-disability-rights-activists-used-sit-ins-to-secure-protections-180977505/))

Heumann was one of the movement's central leaders.

She negotiated with federal officials.

She refused to leave.

The protesters eventually won.

On April 28, 1977, Health, Education and Welfare Secretary Joseph Califano signed the Section 504 regulations.

It was a landmark moment.

The regulations required federally funded institutions to provide equal access to people with disabilities. ([loc.gov](https://www.loc.gov/item/today-in-history/april-28/))

But Heumann was not finished.

She helped establish the World Institute on Disability.

She became assistant secretary for the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services under President Bill Clinton.

She served as the World Bank's first adviser on disability and development.

She also worked with the Obama administration as a special adviser on international disability rights. ([judithheumann.com](https://judithheumann.com/about/))

Her influence reached far beyond the United States.

She pushed governments to treat disability as a civil-rights issue rather than simply a medical problem.

She helped shape discussions surrounding the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

She traveled internationally advocating for accessibility and equal participation.

But Heumann's story had begun with something much more personal.

She wanted to teach.

The city told her that because she used a wheelchair, she could not.

She fought that decision.

She won.

Then she took the fight far beyond her own classroom.

Decades later, millions of disabled people benefited from legal protections that activists like Heumann had fought to establish.

Her memoir, Being Heumann, later became the basis for the Netflix documentary Crip Camp.

The documentary introduced her story to a global audience.

Heumann died in 2023 at 75.

But the protest she helped lead in 1977 remains one of the defining moments of the American disability-rights movement.

A woman who had been told she could not teach because she used a wheelchair eventually helped force the federal government to enforce disability civil rights.

She did not wait for someone to invite her into the system.

She occupied the building.

And made the government come to her.

10/08/2026