All Episodes

July 28, 2025 • 10 mins

As we close out Disability Pride 2025, we summarize some of the things we need to keep an eye on here in the US.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Anny and smitha I'm a few stuff
I'll Never told you production of iHeartRadio And for today's
Monday Mini, we are going to time stamp it. It
is July sixteenth, twenty twenty five as we record this,

(00:26):
and it's coming out like a week later, so so.

Speaker 2 (00:30):
Many things can happen in a week, as we all know.

Speaker 1 (00:34):
And we are getting to the end of Disability Pride Months,
so I thought we would just run through some issues
that are happening right now, but all of them deserve
more attention and full episode, So this is just a
bare basics rundown. But yeah, so the theme of this

(00:58):
Disability Pride Month was we belong here and we're here
to stay. And yeah, there's just a lot of, unfortunately
concerning things that we need to talk about right now,
including things like cuts to Medicaid and Social Security, which
we've mentioned in recent episodes, especially when we're talking about

(01:20):
marriage equality within the disability community and social security.

Speaker 2 (01:25):
It's a whole thorny issue.

Speaker 1 (01:28):
But essentially, as of April twenty twenty five, about eleven
million people with disabilities were on Social Security, but with rollbacks,
a lot of people are losing it. There it's always had.
There have been issues of long wait times and delays,
and it's just getting worse. I mean, doesn't help that
a lot of people, all of the staff is getting cut,

(01:49):
so that's making things, that's exacerbating things. And then this
is not unique to the disability community at all, but
there has been a a really marked increase in scams,
social Security scams, Medicaid scams, and when that happens, it

(02:10):
can be devastating. You can really lose so much money.
So that's something that we've got to look out for.
Also when it comes to disability and education. The dismantling,
the proposed dismantling of the Department of Education could undo

(02:33):
a lot of the strides we've made when it comes
to disability and education. Here's a quote from an off
ed by Katie Niece in nineteen seventy one. Before federal
protections for people with disabilities existed, states are free to
exclude children with disabilities from their public schools, and many did.
Millions of children were denied in education, not because they

(02:54):
couldn't learn, but because our society didn't believe they were
worth educating. That changed because of federal parents, led by
my organization the ARC fall and court and won. Their
victory laid the foundation for the Individuals with Disabilities Education
Act IDEA, securing the right to a free, appropriate public

(03:14):
education for students with disabilities, regardless of the nature or
severity of their disability.

Speaker 2 (03:19):
And yeah, we.

Speaker 1 (03:20):
Could come back and talk about that too, because that
hasn't always been smooth sailing, but it was like a
huge step and now they're talking about rolling it back. Oh,
speaking about rolling things back, the return of the R word,
which several people after Trump was elected again, several high

(03:41):
profile people made statements about I can say this again,
so thanks trash administration. And also why why was that
your statement that you're read?

Speaker 3 (03:52):
Why are you excited about this phrase? Like, there's no reason,
There's no reason, and it's so there's been a whole
conversation about like words. People did not realize it was offensive.
And we've talked about these before, but including this one.
And then the slur for a Chinese person or an
Asian descent was a big topic because of a contestant

(04:14):
on Love Island.

Speaker 2 (04:14):
I've never watched this show, not gonna lie, I.

Speaker 3 (04:17):
Have no interest. But TikTok keeps thinking this is my thing,
so they keep showing me clips. But obviously, when it
comes to like slurs and the Asian descent, that is
something that I am interested in in wondering, and so
many people talking about how it's not that big of
a deal. A lot of people say they never knew
that this was a slur, and I'm like, how how
because people from my area La j Georgia, which knew

(04:41):
for Asian people the entirety and that included the like
Chinese restaurant, knew that that was a slur. Knew and
then because they would say to me as a slur,
like they would call me that as a slur to
make fun of me or be mean to me, So
they obviously knew this was a slur. So I'm very
very confused by the people who are telling me that
they didn't understand that. But the level of like need

(05:03):
to say these words is an odd, odd thing to me,
and I'm not gonna lie. As a kid, I also
said the R word, not realizing how offensive was. I
did things that were I did not realize what they
were equated to as a child, But the minute someone
corrected me, I was like, oh whoa, okay, got you yeah,

(05:24):
and like it hurts my heart to hear this and again,
so in my mind, the R word is even worse,
Like if there's a level and I know there's not,
but there's a scale of like more offensive. This is
the more offensive in this as an Asian person for
me to say that, so to think of like I've
been waiting for so long to say this word.

Speaker 2 (05:45):
What, Yeah, you're putting down.

Speaker 3 (05:48):
People with this ability to have nothing to do with you.

Speaker 2 (05:52):
Yep, you know what I mean that it.

Speaker 3 (05:53):
Just does not compute as the need to say it.

Speaker 2 (05:58):
No, it doesn't.

Speaker 1 (06:00):
And to go back to your point, they know it's
wrong because it was largely replaced in twenty ten and
federal documentation, which is still pretty late, but it was
replaced because we all recognized, yeah, we shouldn't do this.

Speaker 3 (06:17):
Right, Like it has grown into oh, there's more better
ways to put this. There's an actuality of conversation.

Speaker 2 (06:26):
Oh.

Speaker 3 (06:26):
The community that this word degrees is saying, I don't
like this, please stuff this. We should listen.

Speaker 2 (06:34):
We should.

Speaker 1 (06:46):
Not that any of the people were talking about would ever,
but you should. If you haven't heard our recent book
club demystifying disability, the author doesn't a great job of
breaking down terminology and like, don't say this one.

Speaker 3 (07:00):
Yeah, I mean her book is really I've thought about
it obviously. Like I said, we've talked about this before,
I've used I've stopped using that in my vocabulary for years,
like twenty years, because everybody was like.

Speaker 2 (07:10):
This is bad.

Speaker 3 (07:10):
I was like, okay, noted, and but like just thinking
about my past where it was I thought acceptable, where
it did not equate to this in my mind, I
was like, oh, I can see, but I see why
in the same way. And we're talking about when we
say the words dumb or stupid or low functioning, like
low functioning and high functioning is newer to me because

(07:32):
I was in that field for so long, the mental
health field when it comes to juveniles, that those words
were technically correct at the time that I was working there.
Seeing where it is now, I have to reevaluate, and
even though I'm not in that industry anymore, I'm like, Okay,
I have now heard this is not the preferred term.

Speaker 2 (07:50):
Got you.

Speaker 3 (07:50):
I guess moving on learning new things, that's just that's
that's all. We should all be learning every day anyway.

Speaker 1 (07:59):
Yes we should, But instead we're a lot of people
in this administration especially are rolling as back to trying
to roll us back.

Speaker 3 (08:10):
I don't understand. There's plenty of options. Of other words,
there's so many great creative options, Yes.

Speaker 2 (08:17):
There are, there are. And also just again why why?

Speaker 3 (08:21):
All right, that's the same thing when I think about
racist quips and I'm like, there's so many other things
I could be said. That's even better or sexist, you.

Speaker 2 (08:28):
Know, ye, be creative, just be better, Just be better,
you know.

Speaker 3 (08:35):
Sad still one of my favorites.

Speaker 2 (08:38):
Yeah, that's a good one. That's a good one. But
going back to.

Speaker 1 (08:44):
The theme, we are seeing these unfortunate things, but as
we said, we say in so many episodes, there are
amazing organizations fighting, and the slogan of the month thing
we belong here and we're.

Speaker 2 (08:56):
Here to stay, is absolutely true.

Speaker 1 (08:58):
As we discussed in that book club, So the disability
community is the largest marginalized community in the world, and
sort of what you were speaking to Samantha there. I
did find some tips. We discussed a lot of them
in our book club about staying informed, essentially keeping yourself educated,
and actually talking to disabled people in a respectful way.

(09:22):
If you don't have someone in your life. As mentioned,
a lot of people, they might have a disability that
you can't see or you might just not know about,
and that's they don't have to disclose that to you.
But being having those open, respectful conversations and being genuine
about your effort to learn more about disability all year round,
just like everything we talked about, and getting that from

(09:44):
good sources, supporting people who are actually working and making
these differences and listening to them.

Speaker 2 (09:52):
So yeah, happy disability.

Speaker 3 (09:54):
Pride, Happy disability pride.

Speaker 1 (09:57):
Yes, And please write in let us know if you
have any requests for anything in here that we should
really really come back and talk about, or if you
have any advice or tips you'd like to share.

Speaker 2 (10:08):
And during this time you.

Speaker 1 (10:10):
Can email us at Hello at stuff Onnever Told You
dot com. You can also find us on blue Sky.
I'm also podcast or on Instagram and TikTok at stuff
I Never Told You. We're also on YouTube, and we
have a book you can get wherever you get your books.
Thanks as always to our super produced Christina, our executive
and a contributor, Joey. Thank you, and thanks to you
for listening Stuff I Never Told You. Inspection by Heart
Radio for more podcasts from my heart Radio. You can

(10:31):
check out the heart Radio ap Apple podcasts or rere
you listen to the favorite shows.

Stuff Mom Never Told You News

Advertise With Us

Follow Us On

Hosts And Creators

Anney Reese

Anney Reese

Samantha McVey

Samantha McVey

Show Links

AboutRSSStore

Popular Podcasts

The Breakfast Club

The Breakfast Club

The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!

Crime Junkie

Crime Junkie

Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.