What is Disability Pride Month and Why is it Needed?

[WARNING: Image of the Disability Pride Flag above may potentially trigger seizures for people with photosensitive epilepsy]

Happy Disability Pride Month!

Are you someone who doesn’t know what Disability Pride Month is? Well, that is absolutely fine because I wasn’t aware too until a while back. This article aims to bridge that gap by spreading awareness and understanding the significance of disability pride month.

But before we dive into understanding disability pride, do you know what a disability is?

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) defines disability as “a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities.”  Disability results from the interaction of the individual’s impairment with environmental factors that limit them.

It is important to remember that all disabilities are not physically seen. Disability includes mental illness, intellectual and developmental disabilities, invisible and undiagnosed disabilities, physical disabilities, and sensory disabilities.

July is celebrated as Disability Pride Month annually to promote awareness of disability as an identity, a community and celebrate the pride felt by disabled people. Disability pride stands for accepting and honoring each individual’s uniqueness and seeing it as a natural part of human diversity.

It provides a space for disabled individuals to come together, uplift, and amplify one another. It promotes that disability is a part of an individual’s identity and not something that should be hidden or make one feel small compared to others. It challenges the physical and social-attitudinal barriers and encourages the acceptance of disability and individuals beyond their disability. It’s about getting disabled individuals their basic rights and fighting against injustice. It highlights the importance of the voices of the stakeholders, the disabled people, that should be heard for decision making, spreading awareness, and definitely busting myths surrounding disability. It declares that despite the discrimination, abuse, lack of opportunities, stereotypes, biases, negative media, and cultural depictions, the lived experiences of all disabled individuals are worthy and valued.

There is also a disability flag; the picture showed above, Ann Magill designed that in 2017 to represent people who have a disability. There is symbolism to each aspect of the flag. Black color is for mourning those who have suffered or have been lost to ableist violence and discrimination. The lightning bolt represents how disabled people must navigate inaccessible barriers and their push for autonomy. Parallel stripes symbolize the solidarity felt for each other within the disabled community, and lastly, the five colors are for the five categories of disabilities.

Even though the month is aimed at empowering disabled individuals, its importance is not understood. Which is why it is integral to ponder on why is disability pride month needed?

1) It is needed because it is much more than providing disabled individuals a platform; it’s about fighting against ableism.

Ableism is the discrimination and social prejudice against disabled people. It is holding a view that disabled individuals are inferior and need to be fixed.

These hostilities and viewpoints are incredibly damaging to the self-esteem and mental health of people with disabilities. Ableism can also get internalized by disabled individuals making them feel responsible for their disability and forced to accept things even if they are uncomfortable. We also need to understand that ableism is not always seen in outright actions; it has several forms of manifesting itself.

Here are a few examples of what ableism looks like:

• Lack of accessibility in all realms. In terms of public transport or recreation places, there are no ramps or elevators in several areas, which makes it difficult for people with physical disabilities to access. Signs or menu cards are not made considering individuals that may have vision impairments or are blind. There are no sign language interpreters in government offices, banks, restaurants, etc., making it difficult to communicate for mute individuals. Sadly, even hospitals are not disability-friendly. We need to understand that accessibility is a basic right and not a form of entitlement.
• Not having audio or image descriptions in our fast-pacing digital era shows a lack of inclusivity of deaf/hearing difficulty/blind/low vision users.
• Using Instagram filters which can trigger people with photosensitivity without providing a trigger warning.
• Lacking awareness of which font types work better with certain learning or attention-related disabilities.
• Using accessibility resources made for disabled individuals just for your convenience.
• Fashion is also ableist, be it from accessories to clothing to shoes. Brands do not customize items for disabled individuals, and trial rooms are inaccessible, making shopping difficult. Such actions highlight the ideology that disabled individuals are not expected to be stylish.
• Questioning disabled individuals about their disability by asking, “what went wrong?” or rushing to give them cures to get better. Such actions support the notion that disability is a flaw and one should get rid of it. It also shows non-acceptance without considering that the individual might not want to find a cure and is happy regardless.
• Feeling sorry for those who have disabilities. We have been taught that being able-bodied is the norm. If you have a disability, you are not normal, so people end up wrongly sympathizing because they believe that having a disability is incapability or a hindrance in the disabled person's life. This creates a stigma towards disabilities and makes disabled person question their potential and identity. We actually need to sympathize with the lack of access to basic aids, opportunities, affordable healthcare, and several other struggles that disabled people face.
• Praising disabled individuals for their accomplishments from a lens of, “It’s amazing how DESPITE your disability you achieved so much.” Such comments portray a view that maybe it was not expected of them to achieve anything in life. It’s never disabled but proud; it is always disabled AND proud.
• Saying things like “I don’t see your disability, I see you” or “I don’t see you as disabled,” which may come from a good intention but can also be interpreted as a condemnation, non-acceptance, or disregard of the disability and implying that they shouldn’t want to be a part of the disabled community because they are better than that.
• Language is always integral; thus, using words such as stupid, crippled, crazy, weirdo, blind, dumb, etc., casually promotes ableism.
• Stereotypes about disabled individuals in romantic relationships. There are so many who assume that having a disability makes an individual aromantic or asexual. We need to understand that gender is another aspect of their identity. It is one’s personal choice of whether or not to be in a romantic relationship may not always connect with their disability.
• Several countries take away healthcare privileges of disabled individuals after marriage as if choosing to marry requires punishment or automatically reduces financial strain.
• Looking at abled individuals, friends, or romantic partners of people with disabilities, as saints and praising them for making so-called sacrifices. Why is the relationship looked at differently? The disabled individual is contributing to the relationship just like the other individual.
• Shaming disabled individuals for being dependent on others. It is important to realize that it takes strength and courage to ask for help when required.
• Assuming that just because one is in a wheelchair, they cannot walk. Pushing a wheelchair around thinking that one might not be able to assist themselves. Calling someone wheelchair-bound rather than calling them wheelchair users. They are not bound by the wheelchair but liberated by it.
• Making decisions or policies for disabled individuals without considering opinions from disabled individuals themselves.

We may have acted in an ableist manner in the past, but what is important now is to be mindful and not partake in those actions again. Let’s begin by unlearning and relearning!

2) It is necessary to understand that there is nothing wrong with calling someone a disabled individual (identity-first approach). Euphemisms that are more palatable words or substituted expressions for words considered harsh or blunt when referring to something unpleasant or embarrassing are commonly used. For example, differently-abled, special, persons with disabilities (person-first approach), etc. Though these may have good intentions, they separate the disability from one’s identity, patronize individuals, and further the stigma. Disability is a fact, not a taboo. Nonetheless, it is always best to ask the disabled individual how they would want to be referred.

3) It is needed to combat inspiration porn, which is the media portrayal and use of disability to evoke sentimentality and/or pity. It is objectifying one group of people (disabled) to benefit another group (abled). It means inspiring and motivating individuals to think that however bad my life is, it could have been worse like that disabled person. In this manner, we demean disabled individuals, reduce their self-worth and promote an 'us vs. them' ideology.

The reality is that it is not the individuals’ fault that they are disabled; the problem is the world was created and designed in a way that has always favored and continues to favor abled or so-called normal individuals. Things are surely changing now, but we have a long way to go.

I know this is too much information to process, and it is completely alright to take time to accept and make changes. Nonetheless, we need to start introspecting and begin the process. What is needed next is for us to continue spreading awareness and becoming allies by supporting disabled individuals. Remember that advocacy doesn’t end after this month of disability pride; it is forever.