Disability Pride

Becoming disabled wasn't something that I accomplished, so it's not something I feel that I take pride in. So why celebrate or even acknowledge that July is Disability Pride month?

There are a lot of editorial pieces about disability pride coming from what people with disabilities have acheived and overcome, and I encourage you to look them up and read them. There are a lot of accomplishments by many disabled people that are definitely sources of pride. In fact, Disability Pride is celebrated in July to mark the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Those laws weren't graciously handed out, people with disabilities fought long and hard for them. The ADA became law when I was in high school. It is incredible to me that before that time, there was nothing. It's also incredible to me - again, in a bad way - that many countries still don't have those basic protections. Accessibility is not a worldwide right. So every accomplishment, every obstacle overcome, is still a big deal.

I'm never going to be able to do pull ups while strapped into my wheelchair. I doubt I'll bring about life changing legislature. That's not a bad additude, that's just the nature of my disability. If you ask me what I'm proud of today, my answer would be that I sat down before I passed out yesterday. That's radically different from other accomplishments.

So again, why disability pride? To me it has to do with combating the shame that society has associated with disability. Having a disability is nothing to be ashamed of. But it wasn't really all too long ago that people with disabilities were hidden away at home or in institutions. There are still people who won't make eye contact with me when I'm in my wheelchair, as if I'm either not worthwhile or I'm contageous.

There are actually a lot of reasons for disability pride, and every person with a disability may have a different reason. All are valid. Not every person with a disability needs to celebrate or find pride in it, but I hope they don't feel ashamed of it.

No one owes their personal story of disability to anyone else, it's private. But a lot of people are sharing at least part of their stories to combat that imposed sense of shame, so other people with disabilities see that there is a community out there for them. It's a community I'm proud to be part of.