Author: Grace W. Dow

A  bag of saline is simple. It hangs from a hook. It is sterile. It is predictable. When a recall notice surfaces that same bag represents something else entirely. It becomes a matter of life or death. When Baxter recalled two lots of 0.9% sodium chloride because they may contain fiberglass particles, most people probably… Continue reading When Saline Is Dangerous 

As a child, I loved back-to-school season. I enjoyed shopping for new school supplies and looked forward to a new year. In the US, disabled children are entitled to a free and appropriate education under federal law. Whenever someone graduates or ages out, all the support they received from their school district ends. For me,… Continue reading After the Last Bell Rings 

CW: Pregnancy, Death, Racism & Child Abuse Brandeis University’s National Research Center for Parents With Disabilities will begin shutting down on Monday, due to a lack of federal funding. It is the United States’ only federally funded institution dedicated to studying the lives of disabled parents. Brandeis’ research center represented a significant contribution to understanding… Continue reading The Quiet Erasure of Disabled Families

CW: Death & Neglect America’s foster care system is broken. Sadly, in too many cases, nobody listens until it is too late. When failures continue nationwide, it becomes clear that these failures are not isolated occurrences but are symptoms of a larger, systemic issue. In May, seventeen-year-old Korbin Papadopoulos died in a Missouri foster placement… Continue reading The Danger Waiting in the Quiet Corners of Care

AI is part of our daily lives, and it is changing employment. Employers use AI to screen resumes, deciding which candidates are worth a closer look. This is supposed to make hiring easier, but it also means some candidates get overlooked. Thousands of businesses now use Workday. In lawsuit filed recently, the plaintiffs accused Workday… Continue reading When Software Decides You Don’t Deserve a Chance

CW: Injury Joe Gesualdi has been on a mission since August 4. He’s pushing his 27-year-old daughter Sydney’s empty wheelchair from London, Ontario, to New York. He is raising money and hoping the Ontario Health Insurance Plan will pay for his daughter’s spinal surgery. This is happening because Joe is tired of watching the healthcare… Continue reading A Walk for What’s Missing 

CW: Homelessness When Claudine Wilson, who is disabled, left an Oklahoma hospital this month, she was hoping to put the awful experience behind her. She suffered heatstroke after her temperature reached 105 degrees. There was no air conditioning in the house where she was staying, and there was no fridge or stove. The doctors said… Continue reading The Shelters America Never Built

CW: Poverty In northwestern Indiana, thousands of people have been without power for ten days. That’s not an inconvenience. It is a full-blown crisis. Gary residents have had their lives turned upside down. Some are sleeping in their cars because they don’t have air conditioning. Others are driving miles just to do laundry. And at… Continue reading Danger and Darkness

CW: Ableism The Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program helps people find housing outside the public housing system. Instead of being limited to just public housing, HCV participants can use their vouchers to find suitable housing. Participants include older adults, families, and disabled people. However, when you examine how the program works, the gap between its… Continue reading The Voucher That Opens a Door You Still Can’t Get Through

CW: Institutionalization It started with rooms most people never saw. In 2023, Brittany Hayes’s son, then five years old, had been in a crib for hours every day since birth. Brittany Hayes said the video chats she had with her son were difficult. She comforted him as much as she could over a screen in… Continue reading The Children Who Grew Up Waiting for Help