"special needs" is not an accepted term in the disability community. yet, it is used repeatedly to describe us in major pubs—and that's a big problem. to explain why, i pitched an op-ed to @nytimes. the response from multiple editors? "there's no place here for this."
and you know what? they're not wrong. here's one recent example: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/06/well/family/in-vitro-fertilization-mosaic-embryo.html
...and another: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/13/well/family/coronavirus-shutdowns-children-special-needs-adhd-autism.html
in fact, if you google "NYT 'special needs,'" you can see how prolific the use of this term is. this says something to me: the country's most respected paper doesn't respect one in four americans. if it did, it would know better and work to do better.