About Disability Rights Now: Inside the Fight for Accessibility, Inclusion, and Independent Living
Right now, decisions are being made in Washington and in every statehouse that will determine whether people with disabilities live in their own communities or get pushed into institutions. Most Americans have no idea it's happening. Disability and Power is here to change that.
Each episode, host Matt Shedd sits down with Theo Braddy, Executive Director of the National Council on Independent Living and a veteran of five decades in the disability rights movement, to take on one legislative fight or real-world obstacle facing people with disabilities: Medicaid cuts, the attendant care crisis, a
The Return of the Ugly Laws: 600,000 People Waiting for Medicaid Services | Disability and Power
Medicaid home and community-based services (HCBS) are being taken apart slowly enough that most people will not notice until the services are gone, says Executive Director of the National Council on Independent Living Theo Braddy. He and Matt Shedd walk through what that erosion looks like day to day: bowel routines that go undone, mornings spent stuck in bed, pressure sores that turn into hospital stays, housing lost during those stays, and more than 600,000 people sitting on state waiting lists for home care. Braddy traces it to the executive orders, the state lawsuit calling Section 504 unconstitutional, and the Department of Justice opinion telling states the Olmstead integration mandate will not be enforced, and to his own experience during COVID, when ventilator rationing guidance and mass deaths inside nursing homes made institutionalization feel one hospital visit away. His warning is that a person can be approved for eight hours of attendant care a day, receive two, and still count as fully served in the state's numbers, because federal enforcement of the grievance system that would catch the gap has been pushed to the end of 2027. Watch the full conversation and share it with someone heading into a state budget meeting this session.
Hosts: Theo Braddy, National Council on Independent Living, and Matt Shedd, Disability Rights Podcasts.
THE OVERVIEW
0:00 The Overview: How a Movement Loses Ground Little by Little
0:43 Executive Orders, Lawsuits, and the Olmstead Opinion
3:47 What Happens When Medicaid Money Reaches the States
4:55 Missed Routines and the Path to a Nursing Home
THE MISCONCEPTIONS
6:41 The Misconceptions: Living at Home and Still in Crisis
8:41 Administrative Violence and Re-Proving Eligibility
10:34 Theo on Facing Institutionalization During COVID
11:00 Ventilator Rationing and Deaths in Nursing Homes
THE REAL STORY
12:35 The Real Story: The Grievance System Nobody Will Enforce
13:42 Eight Hours Authorized, Two Hours Delivered
15:07 Quiet Non-Enforcement, the Same Playbook as Section 504
17:35 The Myth That People With Disabilities Drain the Economy
WHAT YOU CAN DO
19:52 What You Can Do: Bring Stories to State Budget Meetings
22:25 Hold Legislators to Olmstead and Title II of the ADA
23:25 Organize Through Your Center for Independent Living
24:07 Educating Decision Makers About Attendant Care Wages
LINKS
Waiting lists for Medicaid home and community-based services, 2016 to 2025 (KFF): https://www.kff.org/medicaid/a-look-at-waiting-lists-for-medicaid-home-and-community-based-services-from-2016-to-2025/
CMS guidance delaying enforcement of the HCBS grievance requirements to December 2027: https://www.medicaid.gov/federal-policy-guidance/downloads/cib02262026.pdf
Department of Justice clarification on the Olmstead integration mandate guidance: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/07/20/2026-14566/clarification-on-department-of-justice-guidance-titled-statement-of-the-department-of-justice-on
Previous episode, Section 504 Is Under Attack. Here's What People With Disabilities Lose: https://youtu.be/_Sfs4TCPfSM
Listen on your podcast app: pod.link/1895935476
Subscribe for a new episode every other week.
1 Sept 2026
Section 504 Is Under Attack. Here's What People With Disabilities Lose | Disability and Power
Executive Director of the National Council on Independent Living, Theo Braddy explains what Section 504 actually requires and why a Department of Justice letter telling states "do what you want" is more dangerous than an outright repeal. He and Matt Shedd trace the practical fallout: sign language interpreters and adjustable exam tables at the doctor's office, accommodations on campus, accessible housing, and Medicaid work requirements that would make a C4 quadriplegic re-prove a lifelong disability twice a year.
Theo puts the moment in historical context, from the ugly laws that made it a crime for a disabled person to be seen in public, to the "undesirable elements" language that justified institutions, to the COVID deaths in nursing homes the country has already started forgetting. His warning is that a movement is lost the same way it is built, little by little, and that this erosion is happening now rather than someday.
THE OVERVIEW
0:00 The Overview: What Section 504 Actually Requires
3:40 The DOJ Letter Telling States "Do What You Want"
5:50 Why This Turns Into a State Budget Fight
8:25 From 17 States Down to Three
9:20 The Ugly Laws and Being Seen in Public
11:14 What Made 14 States Back Off
THE MISCONCEPTIONS
13:55 The Misconceptions: When Ableism Writes the Budget
14:45 Why the Institutions Started Closing in the Seventies
16:05 A Movement Is Lost the Same Way It Is Built
17:50 "Undesirable Elements"
THE REAL STORY
20:31 The Real Story: What You Lose at the Doctor's Office
22:09 Colleges, Websites, and Accessible Housing
23:30 When the Justice Department Stops Enforcing
25:30 Medicaid Work Requirements and Proving It Twice a Year
WHAT YOU CAN DO
29:48 What You Can Do: Vote State and Local
30:41 Work With Your CIL, NCIL, and Your SILC
31:00 The Erosion Is Happening Now, Not Tomorrow
Interested in starting a podcast for your disability rights organization. Contact us at matt@disabilityrightspodcasts.org or visit disabilityrightspodcasts.org
13 Aug 2026
"You're So Inspiring" Is Not a Compliment | NCIL's Theo Braddy on Ableism and Disability
Director of the National Council on Independent Living, Theo Braddy explains why being called "inspiring" for ordinary things does real damage. He and Matt Shedd work through the consequences on both sides, specifically how non-disabled people build a worldview out of low expectations, and how disabled people can internalize it. Theo illustrates this with hard examples running from Jerry Lewis telethons to Special Olympics to campus buddy programs. Theo also draws the line he will accept: be inspired by someone's story once you actually know it, not by the wheelchair you just noticed in the checkout line. Watch the full conversation and share it with someone who has never stopped to think about what “you're so inspiring” actually communicates.THE OVERVIEW
0:00 The Overview: What Inspiration Porn Is
2:55 Ordinary Things Made to Seem Extraordinary
4:45 The Elders Who Said He Needed More Faith
THE MISCONCEPTIONS
5:50 The Misconceptions: People Turned Into Props
8:45 When Disabled People Internalize It
10:40 The Kind of Inspiration Theo Will Accept
THE REAL STORY
13:05 The Real Story: The Power Differential
13:35 Special Olympics and the Other 364 Days
16:10 Best Buddies and Manufactured Friendship
WHAT YOU CAN DO
22:05 What You Can Do: Start With Real Interaction
24:38 The Minister Who Chased Him Through the Mall
26:42 Unlearning What You Were Taught
Contact us at matt@disabilityrightspodcasts.org or visit disabilityrightspodcasts.org
21 Jul 2026
How Federal Budget Cuts Force People with Disabilities into Nursing Homes | Disability & Power
In this episode, NCIL Executive Director Theo Braddy joins Matt Shedd to trace a quiet but accelerating shift back toward institutionalization, and lay out who's affected, why it's happening now, and what people can do about it.THE OVERVIEW0:00 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wOJgMQBzXM&list=PLFuJ4nhfn5T4&index=1) – Welcome Theo Braddy & audiobook update
0:30 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wOJgMQBzXM&list=PLFuJ4nhfn5T4&index=1&t=30s) – The attendant care crisis and the "big ugly bill"
1:10 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wOJgMQBzXM&list=PLFuJ4nhfn5T4&index=1&t=70s) – We can't fix what we refuse to defineMISCONCEPTIONS
3:40 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wOJgMQBzXM&list=PLFuJ4nhfn5T4&index=1&t=220s) – Block grants leave HCBS up to the states
5:50 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wOJgMQBzXM&list=PLFuJ4nhfn5T4&index=1&t=350s) – Who pays when people are institutionalized?
6:50 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wOJgMQBzXM&list=PLFuJ4nhfn5T4&index=1&t=410s) – Executive orders and Texas v. Kennedy
8:50 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wOJgMQBzXM&list=PLFuJ4nhfn5T4&index=1&t=530s) – Pennsylvania's unequal caregiver rate increases
10:20 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wOJgMQBzXM&list=PLFuJ4nhfn5T4&index=1&t=620s) – Young people are going into nursing homesTHE REAL STORY
12:50 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wOJgMQBzXM&list=PLFuJ4nhfn5T4&index=1&t=770s) – State budgets cut marginalized people first
15:50 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wOJgMQBzXM&list=PLFuJ4nhfn5T4&index=1&t=950s) – Why federal enforcement mattersWHAT PEOPLE CAN DO
20:20 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wOJgMQBzXM&list=PLFuJ4nhfn5T4&index=1&t=1220s) – What you can do: NCIL, CILs, and SILCs
21:50 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wOJgMQBzXM&list=PLFuJ4nhfn5T4&index=1&t=1310s) – Rollbacks: Section 504 rules and air travel
25:30 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wOJgMQBzXM&list=PLFuJ4nhfn5T4&index=1&t=1530s) – Closing: the urgency is highLinksNCIL Advocacy & Action Centerhttps://ncil.org/advocacy-action/ (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUM4Zm9rVEhJSG0xOXV1WDE2V1ZqQnBlVTRmTnxBR3JiS2FrRDI5U1ZmYWdRbTZkczZqSnNLU3N5akQ2LVN3RlRnSjJWVXpBWEZBNzRvcmxSS0ZFb0EtQUMzS04xbzNQWU1OWmdyMGdsTEdRRy10R2Y5eVYzMFBoZWYtU1N2bHow&q=https%3A%2F%2Fncil.org%2Fadvocacy-action%2F&v=1wOJgMQBzXM)
Theo Braddy: "We Cannot Fix What We Refuse to Define" (the article discussed)https://ncil.org/news/executive-direc... (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUM4Zm9rVHNkbkxXT2hiai1oUDNsdTlkRHNRLXxBR3JiS2FuU2ZFZnhVMXlWS1RMcVFEamU1dVlJelpPVnBzRTdseE00X3BsazZVT0VMTlU4QllwNm1lZDUwTXFOc252VzFUYUNmQkxaUWtJc3poRGRBc0R4RHR1QXVHRlVtck1h&q=https%3A%2F%2Fncil.org%2Fnews%2Fexecutive-director-messages%2Fwe-cannot-fix-what-we-refuse-to-define%2F&v=1wOJgMQBzXM)
From Shack to White House: A Memoir of Four Lives — Theo's book
https://www.amazon.com/Shack-White-Ho... (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUM4Zm9rVDhmR3ZwNzlXRHpZUGxyVDgtZnY5THxBR3JiS2FtOXBjb19sMzlLSmRzekdCQlBIcXhzbDJ4X08zQzFyMWVZSWQzWFNONS15NG1TWTVCUlhPc2k3djFYeU15cE05X3p0WGZjemxKQ0lFanJDdkt5UFF1cmVONWRlU2N2&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FShack-White-House-Memoir-Lives%2Fdp%2FB0G45MW72H&v=1wOJgMQBzXM)
Protect IL Fund (NCIL)https://ncil.org/donate/protectil/ (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUM4Zm9rU0RYN0FzcUhSM18wVURRMDI5WHRFcHxBR3JiS2FrQS1OYkp0WV9TNUZYbEp5TTN0NHFqdzhjNVdOV2R3clFPSmNaTzR2OUN0Zlh3V2wtTXl0NXRldHVxSUdINjhGU1dLQ2tCMElwbEcwRUc0MWpucDRvLUFsVEo1Unl0&q=https%3A%2F%2Fncil.org%2Fdonate%2Fprotectil%2F&v=1wOJgMQBzXM)
Texas v. Kennedy case updatehttps://www.disabilitybelongs.org/202... (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUM4Zm9rUnJ4RDh0SThDSzFVdlN4MHUzdTNkT3xBR3JiS2FuZkpnZFJJZ2dGTkc3NWFVRS00NVdQLU5OZlR4bXhuVzk4ZXUybDFWczNUb0o3X3ZiZE9JQi1RZ0FSZVRpMEt5d2lGaUJYVlFqT3N1cU1feFFqZi1MNnJiNDdIU3Az&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.disabilitybelongs.org%2F2026%2F04%2Ftexas-v-kennedy-action-update%2F&v=1wOJgMQBzXM)
AAPDhttps://www.aapd.com/ (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUM4Zm9rU1M1X3dfOGlNaGM5Z0JpZWx2THhDUXxBR3JiS2FuaTVUY3FHWTRVOXNqN0wxd1lHUXZQZTBGb3UtUlRISkM0TGwxTTBkV25wbDAwYnJISkEzRllnLWZadVdvdG5oS0xuSmpOZjBpWXUwZ0Y3eEFQOUtvLVd2TkZmNVY1&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.aapd.com%2F&v=1wOJgMQBzXM)
10 Dec 2025
From Shack to the White House: Theo Braddy on Four Lives, Ableism, and the Fight for Independent Living
n this episode of Disability Rights Now, host Matt Shedd talks with National Council on Independent Living director Theo Braddy about his new memoir, From Shack to the White House: A Memoir of Four Lives. Theo traces his journey from growing up poor in the deep South, to acquiring a spinal cord injury at 15, to surviving a nursing home, becoming a family and community leader, and ultimately serving as a national voice for disability rights and independent living. He reflects on internalized ableism, the trauma of institutionalization, the power of knowledge, and what it meant to hear President Joe Biden call him “a man of great courage.” From Shack to the White House: A Memoir of Four Lives is available as an ebook through many platforms: https://books2read.com/fromshacktowhitehouse
You can order on Amazon as well: https://www.amazon.com/Shack-White-House-Memoir-Lives-ebook/dp/B0G3T182Q2
If you want help creating a podcast for disability rights or any other type of organization, reach out to matt@disabilityrightspodcasts.org or visit https://www.disabilityrightspodcasts.com (https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqbmJxakhUeUJIVW44dVltZzNlWnhGTDgxOVdQZ3xBQ3Jtc0tuckxwclVNZmM2MUZCSERmLUtlNE9GaFBEblh1YXo1TFRrYjhuZjdWcHVrUmQyV2ZRTDNRY1BEWHNIb0dIVi1sQUZ2djl0TTl1c2RZOXFEbXJQc3VDdC1UTFNPdmYwTHRxT2JuYVdmdURlcGlwM3VNSQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.disabilityrightspodcasts.com%2F&v=sZ7EvPU5i90)
7 Jul 2025
Keri Gray on Intersectional Leadership in the Disability Justice Movement
In this episode of Disability Rights Now, we speak with Keri Gray—speaker, entrepreneur, and keynote speaker at this year’s NCIL Conference. Keri shares her perspective on the intersection of race and disability, the need for sustained investment in Black disabled leadership, and the importance of centering lived experience in systems change.
We discuss what it takes to build truly inclusive spaces—and why that work must be led by the people most affected. Through her consulting, speaking, and coalition-building, Keri is creating platforms that elevate and empower diverse disabled voices across the country.
You can learn more about Keri’s work at ignitebykerigray.com (https://ignitebykerigray.com/ ) and see all the other things she’s up to on https://linktr.ee/kerigraygroup (https://linktr.ee/kerigraygroup).
If you're interested in launching a podcast for your disability advocacy organization, visit DisabilityRightsPodcasts.org or reach out to Matt Shedd on LinkedIn.
7 Jul 2025
Keely Cat-Wells on Disability Inclusion: Leveraging Tech to Create a New Talent Economy
In this episode of Disability Rights Now, we speak with Keely Cat-Wells—entrepreneur, advocate, and keynote speaker at this year’s NCIL Conference. Keely shares how she’s using technology to build more inclusive hiring pipelines, reshape outdated systems, and create new pathways to employment for people with disabilities. We talk about authentic representation, accessibility in media and business, and what it takes to create a truly inclusive talent economy.
You can learn more about Keely’s work at KeelyCatWells.com (https://keelycatwells.com) and by visiting her production company at https://www.makingspacemedia.com (https://www.makingspacemedia.com).
Disability Rights Today is produced by DisabilityRightsPodcasts.org (http://DisabilityRightsPodcasts.org), a service that helps advocacy organizations create story-driven podcasts and original web content. To learn more, visit the site or find Matt Shedd on LinkedIn.
5 Jul 2025
Theo Braddy on the Urgent Political Threats to Disability Rights
In this special NCIL Conference preview episode, we talk with Theo Braddy, Executive Director of the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) (https://ncil.org), about the urgent threats facing disability rights in today’s political climate—and how the independent living movement can respond.
Theo shares his vision for the future of NCIL, what it means to lead with lived experience, and why building cross-movement solidarity is essential in this moment. We also discuss the upcoming NCIL Conference, happening July 21–24, 2025, and what attendees can expect as the organization prepares for its next chapter.
This conversation offers a candid look at national advocacy, emerging challenges, and the leadership needed to keep disability rights moving forward.
Disability Rights Today is produced by DisabilityRightsPodcasts.org (https://DisabilityRightsPodcasts.org), a podcast production service for disability advocates, Centers for Independent Living, and Statewide Independent Living Councils.
To learn more or launch a podcast for your organization, visit DisabilityRightsPodcasts.org (https://DisabilityRightsPodcasts.org) or reach out to host Matt Shedd on LinkedIn.
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