Editor’s note: This post contains snippets about stories, resources, and observations that the SET authors didn’t quite develop into full-blown posts over the past week. I’m hoping we can catch up with our in-boxes, but we didn’t want you, Dear Readers, to miss them. Some of them may later appear as a part (or parcel) of a full-blown post.—JohnL
Over on her eponymous ‘stack, Linda Diamond posted a fond remembrance of Zig Engelmann on 3 October 2026. Prompted by the trailer for Sold a Story 2, SET member Linda published “The Visionary We Were Taught to Reject: Why Siegfried Engelmann Still Matters.” It is worth a read.
In her column of 7 October 2026 for the New York Times, Jessica Grose discussed some problems with vouchers for private schools that did not accept or denied applications from students with disabilities. In “Billionaires Love This School Policy. Many Regular Parents Hate It,” Ms. Grose also mentioned the financial strain on public schools that must complete testing of students with disabilities whose families seek vouchers. Ms. Grose pointed to stories in other sources including Jessica Ma, 11 September 2026 for The Dallas Morning News:
Wren Michelle Roberts is an infant who was in the news because she was born with Heterotaxy syndrome also known as isomerism. The news buzz (search on your own) provides a good illustration of how media treat atypical little humans and their families. Ramon Antonio Vargas of The Guardian wrote one of the more balanced reports in “US infant defies bleak odds from rare congenital trait: ‘Don’t quit before your child quits’: Wren Michelle Roberts was born with heterotaxy, a syndrome so rare a specialist could only find 15 similar cases.”
Chris Ulman posted a video interview with Izzy and her family. As her mother explained, Izzy has amniotic band syndrome (see the Genetic and Rare Diseases Information Center of the US National Institutes of Health page). Watch the YouTube version at “The Amniotic Sac Attacked Her (Amniotic Band Syndrome).”