It’s July! Did You Know That Also Means It’s Disability Pride Month

July has been Disability Pride Month since 1990, so why isn’t it as known as other Pride Months?

So what exactly is Disability Pride?

Often times, people think about a disability as a medical diagnosis. For example: “My disability is a spinal cord injury” or “my disability is depression” or “my disability is a brain injury.” Disability is more than just the physical and/or mental effects on the body. Disability is more than the pills that you take or the doctors that you see. It’s a part of who you are. However, a disability is not the only identity you have; of course, you may identify yourself by gender, race, height and so on. All of your identities are important and have valued. - AmeriDisability

The First Disability Pride Day occurred in 1990 in Boston, which coincided with the Signing of the American’s with Disabilities Act

Disability Pride NYC / Via disabilitypridenyc.org

The Americans with Disabilities Act or ADA is legislation that guarantees no American can be discriminated against due to physical, mental or emotional disability, and offers the same protections as the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It was signed into law on July 26th, 1990

So why is Disability Pride Important?

CBS New York / Via newyork.cbslocal.com

Disabilities can effect all genders, ethnicities and sexualities, and the CDC estimates that 26% of the American population suffers from some form of disability, making disabled individuals the largest minority group in the United States.

Before the ADA, Individuals with Disabilities were granted no rights or protections by the Federal Government, in many cases citing the doctrine “Separate but Equal”.

Willowbrook State School. Photo: Bill Pierce/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images / Via thecut.com

This included Alternative Education Schools and in worse cases Asylums, where individuals with disabilities were more or less forgotten and treated in some cases as less than human. One of the most infamous was Willowbrook State School in upstate NY which Geraldo Rivera reported on and helped spark the Disability Rights Movement.

What do you think of when you think Disabled?

Center for Disease Control and Prevention / Via cdc.gov

Most people have a condensed view of Disabilities, but disabled rights range from Physical Disabilities, Hard of Hearing, Impaired Vision, inability to perform daily activities, and Mental Health Issues.

But the ADA protects individuals with Disabilities, right?

Center for Disease Control and Prevention / Via cdc.gov

WRONG! While the ADA does prevent outright discrimination against individuals with disabilities, it can often be hard to prove that the discrimination occurred because of that. Beyond that, several disabled individuals do not have their basic medical needs which they need for their day to day lives met.

So how can I help celebrate Disability Pride?

Via troyergood.wordpress.com

The most important thing you can do is be an ally, think of the individuals in your life who live every day with a disability and ask yourself, do I treat them as a Disabled Individual, or an Individual with a Disability? Yes, there is a difference and that is the reason Disability Pride is so important!

Above all else, just remember…

Via ohioseniorlaw.com

We are all people too, who are just looking for respect and the ability to live our own lives.