Joe Shapiro
@nprjoeshapiro.bsky.social
NPR Correspondent/Investigations Unit, author of NO PITY: People With Disabilities Forging a New Civil Rights Movement. Contact: [email protected] or (encrypted) [email protected]
Reposted by Joe Shapiro
In October, ICE grabbed Maher Tarabishi.
He was a 24/7 caregiver for his disabled son Wael.
At the time of Maher’s detention, disability advocates warned that taking away Wael’s caregiver put his life at risk.
Wael died on Friday at age 30.
ICE caused his death.
They didn’t get to say goodbye.
He was a 24/7 caregiver for his disabled son Wael.
At the time of Maher’s detention, disability advocates warned that taking away Wael’s caregiver put his life at risk.
Wael died on Friday at age 30.
ICE caused his death.
They didn’t get to say goodbye.
Disabled son of ICE detainee dies after 30 days of hospitalization
It had been months since Wael Tarabishi seen his father. The family is calling on ICE to release Maher Tarabishi so he may attend his son's funeral.
www.wfaa.com
January 24, 2026 at 3:01 AM
In October, ICE grabbed Maher Tarabishi.
He was a 24/7 caregiver for his disabled son Wael.
At the time of Maher’s detention, disability advocates warned that taking away Wael’s caregiver put his life at risk.
Wael died on Friday at age 30.
ICE caused his death.
They didn’t get to say goodbye.
He was a 24/7 caregiver for his disabled son Wael.
At the time of Maher’s detention, disability advocates warned that taking away Wael’s caregiver put his life at risk.
Wael died on Friday at age 30.
ICE caused his death.
They didn’t get to say goodbye.
R.I.P. disability rights leader Bob Kafka. The ADAPT leader was known for leading protests. But was also a savvy policy wonk who could work with government officials--of any party--to win programs. www.npr.org/2006/09/15/6...
December 27, 2025 at 5:04 PM
R.I.P. disability rights leader Bob Kafka. The ADAPT leader was known for leading protests. But was also a savvy policy wonk who could work with government officials--of any party--to win programs. www.npr.org/2006/09/15/6...
What if you showed up at your hotel and they didn't have the room you reserved? Or there was a shower or toilet you couldn't use. This is common for people who use wheelchairs. Even 35 years after federal law said hotels must be accessible. My NPR story. www.npr.org/2025/12/24/n...
35 years after ADA, people with disabilities still find hotels unaccommodating
AN NPR survey finds that people with disability still find hotels unaccommodating, even 35 years after passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
www.npr.org
December 24, 2025 at 2:47 PM
What if you showed up at your hotel and they didn't have the room you reserved? Or there was a shower or toilet you couldn't use. This is common for people who use wheelchairs. Even 35 years after federal law said hotels must be accessible. My NPR story. www.npr.org/2025/12/24/n...
I'd like you to read it, too
I think this is my best essay on this topic (maybe my best essay). I'd like you to read it, if you haven't.
It also means (@lollardfish.bsky.social has ably written about this) that you as a parent are forced to concentrate on and narrate your child's difficulties just to get them what they need, which is damaging to your child and your relationship with them.
December 3, 2025 at 2:19 PM
I'd like you to read it, too
Reposted by Joe Shapiro
What a privilege it is to be a younger disabled person in a community shaped by Alice Wong. Rest in peace, Alice.
November 15, 2025 at 8:19 AM
What a privilege it is to be a younger disabled person in a community shaped by Alice Wong. Rest in peace, Alice.
Judge: "White House press briefings engage the American people on important issues affecting their daily lives — in recent months, war, the economy, and healthcare, and in recent years, a global pandemic." From NPR's Kristin Wright
www.npr.org/2025/11/05/n...
www.npr.org/2025/11/05/n...
Judge orders White House to use American Sign Language interpreters at briefings
The National Association of the Deaf is celebrating a legal victory against the White House. A judge ordered ASL for briefings conducted by the press secretary or President Trump.
www.npr.org
November 5, 2025 at 9:32 PM
Judge: "White House press briefings engage the American people on important issues affecting their daily lives — in recent months, war, the economy, and healthcare, and in recent years, a global pandemic." From NPR's Kristin Wright
www.npr.org/2025/11/05/n...
www.npr.org/2025/11/05/n...
Reposted by Joe Shapiro
Remembering Paul and Sheila Wellstone and the others we lost on Oct 25, 2002.
October 25, 2025 at 4:43 PM
Remembering Paul and Sheila Wellstone and the others we lost on Oct 25, 2002.
On undisclosed investors--including foreign ones--owning our voting systems: "If this seems like a bad idea to you, you’re right."
slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com/news-and-pol...
Trump’s Most Reviled Voting Company Sold to a GOP Official. That’s Not the Worst of It.
Earlier this month, news broke that Dominion Voting Solutions had been sold to a former Republican election official.
slate.com
October 21, 2025 at 2:52 PM
On undisclosed investors--including foreign ones--owning our voting systems: "If this seems like a bad idea to you, you’re right."
slate.com/news-and-pol...
slate.com/news-and-pol...
The Trump Administration wants to add a work requirement for "able-bodied" Medicaid recipients. But medical professionals don't use that term. @juliametraux.bsky.social explains the history of a political term
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
The deceptive phrase behind Trump's Medicaid purge
How the idea of “able-bodied” is abused
www.motherjones.com
September 29, 2025 at 4:31 PM
The Trump Administration wants to add a work requirement for "able-bodied" Medicaid recipients. But medical professionals don't use that term. @juliametraux.bsky.social explains the history of a political term
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
www.motherjones.com/politics/202...
U.S. Department of Justice sues Uber for driving past would-be customers in wheelchairs or with service animals
www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justi...
www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justi...
Justice Department Sues Uber for Denying Rides to Passengers with Service Dogs, Wheelchairs
The Justice Department filed a lawsuit against Uber Technologies Inc. for discriminating against passengers with disabilities, including those who use service animals and mobility devices such as stow...
www.justice.gov
September 12, 2025 at 6:58 PM
U.S. Department of Justice sues Uber for driving past would-be customers in wheelchairs or with service animals
www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justi...
www.justice.gov/opa/pr/justi...
NPR wants to write about what makes travel difficult for people who use wheelchairs--with hotels. Tell us your stories. www.npr.org/2025/09/11/g...
Are hotel rooms accessible for people who use wheelchairs? NPR wants to hear from you
Hotels have accessible rooms for wheelchair users. If you or someone you know has experienced problems with those rooms, we'd like to hear about it.
www.npr.org
September 11, 2025 at 9:09 PM
NPR wants to write about what makes travel difficult for people who use wheelchairs--with hotels. Tell us your stories. www.npr.org/2025/09/11/g...
Reposted by Joe Shapiro
On the left: Nate Cavanagh, a 28-year-old DOGE staffer and college dropout.
On the right: Mohammad Halimi, a 53-year-old exiled Afghan scholar.
This is the story of how DOGE targeted Halimi on social media.
Then the Taliban took his family. 🧵
On the right: Mohammad Halimi, a 53-year-old exiled Afghan scholar.
This is the story of how DOGE targeted Halimi on social media.
Then the Taliban took his family. 🧵
August 22, 2025 at 11:41 AM
On the left: Nate Cavanagh, a 28-year-old DOGE staffer and college dropout.
On the right: Mohammad Halimi, a 53-year-old exiled Afghan scholar.
This is the story of how DOGE targeted Halimi on social media.
Then the Taliban took his family. 🧵
On the right: Mohammad Halimi, a 53-year-old exiled Afghan scholar.
This is the story of how DOGE targeted Halimi on social media.
Then the Taliban took his family. 🧵
Susan Stamberg helped build NPR, paved a path for women journalists, writes radio copy that sounds like poetry, has one of the best voices in broadcast.. and is a warm, supportive and treasured colleague. Retirement? Hard to imagine NPR without her.
www.npr.org/sections/npr...
www.npr.org/sections/npr...
Susan Stamberg Retirement News
www.npr.org
August 12, 2025 at 3:05 PM
Susan Stamberg helped build NPR, paved a path for women journalists, writes radio copy that sounds like poetry, has one of the best voices in broadcast.. and is a warm, supportive and treasured colleague. Retirement? Hard to imagine NPR without her.
www.npr.org/sections/npr...
www.npr.org/sections/npr...
The Biden Administration expanded benefits to many of the poorest disabled on SSI. Now Trump Administration proposes a reversal.
www.cbpp.org/research/soc...
www.cbpp.org/research/soc...
Trump Administration Poised to Cut SSI Benefits for Nearly 400,000 Low-Income Disabled and Older People | Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
The average annual savings from these benefit cuts would barely pay for a single day of the massive tax cuts for the wealthy that are part of the Republican megabill enacted in July.
www.cbpp.org
August 8, 2025 at 6:01 PM
The Biden Administration expanded benefits to many of the poorest disabled on SSI. Now Trump Administration proposes a reversal.
www.cbpp.org/research/soc...
www.cbpp.org/research/soc...
From my colleague @tomdreisbach.bsky.social
Exclusive: The Department of Justice hired a former Jan. 6 defendant who was caught on tape urging rioters to "kill" police. The department calls him a "valued member" of the administration.
Video shows Department of Justice official urging Jan. 6 rioters to 'kill' cops
The Department of Justice hired a former Jan. 6 defendant who was caught on tape urging rioters to "kill" police. The department calls him a "valued member" of the administration.
n.pr
August 7, 2025 at 7:44 PM
From my colleague @tomdreisbach.bsky.social
Disabled people say they love riding trains. Does Amtrak love them back? (My NPR story on a new federal report.)
www.npr.org/2025/07/17/n...
www.npr.org/2025/07/17/n...
A federal report looks at Amtrak's efforts to improve for passengers with disabilities
For years, disabled passengers have complained about Amtrak and its poor service -- that it's too hard for them to ride the train. A new federal report looks at its efforts to get better.
www.npr.org
July 18, 2025 at 3:01 PM
Disabled people say they love riding trains. Does Amtrak love them back? (My NPR story on a new federal report.)
www.npr.org/2025/07/17/n...
www.npr.org/2025/07/17/n...
Shackled for days, weeks--DOJ report finds abuse of restraints in federal prisons. (My story from NPR)
www.npr.org/2025/07/14/n...
www.npr.org/2025/07/14/n...
Shackled for weeks: Federal report finds abuse of restraints in prisons
The Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General found widespread abuse of shackles in federal prisons. One prisoner was held in restraints so tight that he had to have a limb amputated.
www.npr.org
July 14, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Shackled for days, weeks--DOJ report finds abuse of restraints in federal prisons. (My story from NPR)
www.npr.org/2025/07/14/n...
www.npr.org/2025/07/14/n...
"We didn’t necessarily see ourselves as the kind of journalists NPR would want, but NPR not only wanted us, they wanted to support us, help us grow and nurture our perspectives."
www.poynter.org/commentary/2...
www.poynter.org/commentary/2...
After leaving the military, NPR’s public service mission gave us a new opportunity to serve - Poynter
After serving in the Coast Guard and Army, we received internships at NPR. The roles launched our careers and let us keep serving the public.
www.poynter.org
July 10, 2025 at 7:16 PM
"We didn’t necessarily see ourselves as the kind of journalists NPR would want, but NPR not only wanted us, they wanted to support us, help us grow and nurture our perspectives."
www.poynter.org/commentary/2...
www.poynter.org/commentary/2...
"I'm only 19. I've got a lot of life to live." Alexis Ratcliff spent six years inside a North Carolina hospital. Now she's finally moved to her own home. Trump Administration wants to end program that got her out. My radio and print stories for NPR:
www.npr.org/2025/07/01/n...
www.npr.org/2025/07/01/n...
The disabled teen stuck in a hospital for six years finally gets her own home
When a disabled young woman moved out of a hospital to her own apartment, the Trump administration celebrated — even though it's ending the federal program that made it possible.
www.npr.org
July 2, 2025 at 1:51 PM
"I'm only 19. I've got a lot of life to live." Alexis Ratcliff spent six years inside a North Carolina hospital. Now she's finally moved to her own home. Trump Administration wants to end program that got her out. My radio and print stories for NPR:
www.npr.org/2025/07/01/n...
www.npr.org/2025/07/01/n...
When Stanley Nelson investigated unsolved KKK killings, some of his best sources were the spouses and children of the Klansmen. The men who would torture and kill were often abusive to their family at home--and those spouses and kids talked. My expanded story for npr.org. www.npr.org/2025/06/07/n...
Louisiana journalist Stanley Nelson exposed secrets of the civil rights era
Stanley Nelson, the editor of a small-town weekly newspaper in Louisiana, exposed secrets about unsolved murders by the Ku Klux Klan. Nelson died this week at the age of 69.
www.npr.org
June 10, 2025 at 6:00 PM
When Stanley Nelson investigated unsolved KKK killings, some of his best sources were the spouses and children of the Klansmen. The men who would torture and kill were often abusive to their family at home--and those spouses and kids talked. My expanded story for npr.org. www.npr.org/2025/06/07/n...
Stanley Nelson, editor of a small town newspaper in Louisiana, reported, obsessively, about unsolved murders by the Ku Klux Klan. I wrote about Stanley, who died unexpectedly after surgery. www.npr.org/2025/06/07/n...
June 8, 2025 at 12:32 PM
Stanley Nelson, editor of a small town newspaper in Louisiana, reported, obsessively, about unsolved murders by the Ku Klux Klan. I wrote about Stanley, who died unexpectedly after surgery. www.npr.org/2025/06/07/n...
There are barriers to Deaf people trying to make careers as scientists and teachers. The federal government helped--until the Trump Administration said "no more"
www.npr.org/2025/04/28/n...
www.npr.org/2025/04/28/n...
Deaf students had a path to science careers -- until their federal grants ended
For years, the U.S. government tried to encourage deaf people to study science. But the programs were just ended by the Trump Administration, leaving deaf students unsure about their future.
www.npr.org
April 29, 2025 at 11:32 AM
There are barriers to Deaf people trying to make careers as scientists and teachers. The federal government helped--until the Trump Administration said "no more"
www.npr.org/2025/04/28/n...
www.npr.org/2025/04/28/n...
Why are nonprofit groups so worried? DOGE went into federal agencies--cut programs and staff. New target: Nonprofits that get federal grants, especially for immigration, environmental and criminal justice work
www.npr.org/2025/04/20/n...
www.npr.org/2025/04/20/n...
Nonprofits discuss how to handle potential backlash from the Trump administration
A number of nonprofit leaders have met to discuss how to handle potential backlash from the Trump administration.
www.npr.org
April 23, 2025 at 10:29 PM
Why are nonprofit groups so worried? DOGE went into federal agencies--cut programs and staff. New target: Nonprofits that get federal grants, especially for immigration, environmental and criminal justice work
www.npr.org/2025/04/20/n...
www.npr.org/2025/04/20/n...
"I was an accidental activist," Rud Turnbull said. The accident was the birth of his disabled son, Jay. He called him "our best professor." Because via Jay, he learned about the failures of how we care for people with developmental disabilities. Rud, who died this week, was a leader in the field.
March 21, 2025 at 2:04 PM
"I was an accidental activist," Rud Turnbull said. The accident was the birth of his disabled son, Jay. He called him "our best professor." Because via Jay, he learned about the failures of how we care for people with developmental disabilities. Rud, who died this week, was a leader in the field.
Something I did last week on the pending lawsuit over a major disability civil rights law. What the red state AGs say they're suing about is not exactly what the lawsuit says. one.npr.org/i/nx-s1-5321...
🔊 Listen Now: Lawsuit targets Section 504 disability protections
on NPR One | 4:45
one.npr.org
March 18, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Something I did last week on the pending lawsuit over a major disability civil rights law. What the red state AGs say they're suing about is not exactly what the lawsuit says. one.npr.org/i/nx-s1-5321...