(Summary below)
July marks Disability Pride Month. This is a month dedicated to celebrating disabled identity, communities and contributions, and honor historic events, while also acknowledging the hardships, stigma, inaccessibility and discrimination disabled individuals face in society.
Disability Pride Month is celebrated in July due to the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) being signed on the 26th of July, in 1990. The ADA being signed marks an important milestone in disabled individuals fight for their right to accessibility, respect and inclusion.
While the 26th of July marks the signing of ADA, the rights of accessibility, respect and inclusion has been, and continues to be a worldwide fight. The following are some examples of activism in other countries and the impact these have had on disability rights throughout the years:
1900s
― ADAPT (Able Disabled ALL People Together): ADAPT is an Indian non-profit and non-governmental organisation created in 1972 by Mithu Alur. ADAPT has helped shape parts of the educational system for disabled people in India, through providing inclusive education and treatment services, support services, therapy and counseling.
― The International Day of Persons with Disabilities: International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which was promoted by the UN in 1992, is internationally observed on the 3rd of December.
― Disability Discrimination Act, 1995: As a result of extensive activism led over years by disabled individuals in the UK, the UK passed the Disability Discrimination Act in 1995. This act prohibits discriminating against disabled people in relation to employment, education, transport and the provision of goods and services.
2000s
― CRPD (Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities): On the 30th of March, 2007, the CRPD was signed by the UN. The CRPD is an international human rights treaty, created to protect the rights of disabled people.
― 40-day protest: In Warsaw, Poland in April 2018, Iwona Hartwich organized a 40-day protest for the Rights of People with Disabilities. The protest was a response to the mistreatment of people with disabilities by the government. Activists occupied the Polish Parliament for 38 days. Eventually, the protest resulted in one of four demands to be enforced; an increase in social allowance for disabled people.
The Work is Not Done
Disability Pride Month is a celebration, however it is also a month for awareness. It is important to acknowledge the challenges disabled individuals face till this day. One nation might’ve achieved to demand disability rights from their government, but the work isn’t done there nor internationally.
It is estimated that 1.3 billion people globally live with a significant disability. This is no small group of people, as this means at least 1 in 6 people are disabled. When all disabilities are counted in, it’s around 1 in 4.
Disabilities can generally be categorized into two main sections: physical and neurodivergent, where the latter includes psychiatric conditions as well. Either can be acquired at birth or through a separate event later in life, such as trauma or injury. Both categories include people who are either visibly or invisibly disabled. Neuropsychiatric disabilities aren’t always invisible just like physical disabilities aren’t always visible to other people. All disabled people are unique and the symptoms and experiences vary between individuals with the same condition. Regardless of how overt or covert your disability is, every disabled person experiences some type of stigma, exclusion and structural ableism.
Stigma around disability leads to exclusion of disabled people, and disabled people being excluded causes even further stigma due to them being unseen, unheard and misunderstood.
Structural ableism is a system of policies such as laws, regulations, and social and cultural norms that are aimed to discriminate and exclude disabled people, and also take away their personal autonomy. This is very different from ableism one can experience in the hands of other people. Individual ableism is caused by personal prejudice, while structural ableism is built into our society as a whole; through laws, income and marriage limitations, healthcare, infrastructure, education and work opportunities, and in the extreme situations it can manifest as institutionalization.
Every country has their own disability history, but oftentimes the current structural ableism can be explained through similar historical events and laws across nations. This includes but isn’t limited to: forced institutionalization, forced sterilization or other medical procedures, and laws that labelled disabled people inherently incapable and inferior.
Common examples of structural ableism include but aren’t limited to:
― Refusal to accept disabled students or employees into a space or position.
― Being forced to ’prove your disability’ to access care, accommodations or simply to access a public restroom.
― Housing, other buildings, businesses and the public being inaccessible or dangerous to disabled people. This can include wheelchair inaccessible houses and buildings, dangerous ramps and curbs, crossings without a signal sound, Braille signs not being provided, and the lack of visual alarms, announcements and sign language knowledge for deaf people.
― Rigid requirement for job hours, no accommodations, no clear structure and the need to conform to social norms (eye contact, smiling, small talk, likability).
― Insurance or healthcare denying necessary disability aids, therapy, medication, assistance or other disability care, often justified with the need to save funds.
― Medical neglect and abuse, or plain refusal to treat disabled people. Dismissal of symptoms and experiences of the patient due to them being disabled.
― The social and cultural parts of structural ableism can look like expectations for disabled people to ”overcome” their condition, be inspirational and capable despite their disability, or the lack of representation and visibility of disabled people. The disability representation can also be stereotypical or offensive.
Disabled people aren’t only marginalized in many spaces and settings. They’re also more likely to experience violence, poverty, health complications and early death.
Some might die 20 years before abled people, oftentimes due to poorly treated health and various types of neglect. Disabled people are twice as likely to develop additional health conditions than their able bodied peers. Globally, disabled people are twice as likely to be poor or be at the risk of poverty, and they're two to four times more likely to be a victim of a violent crime, such as sexual assault, abuse or robbery than abled people. Particularly intellectually and developmentally disabled girls and women are in danger; their risk of experiencing any form of sexual abuse can be as 12 times more than those without these disabilities. Disabled people are also more likely to be homeless. In some countries, disabled people might make a half of the homeless population.
These issues are rooted in structural ableism that upholds inaccessibility, poverty, homelessness, exclusion from education and careers, social exclusion and medical neglect of disabled people.
The World Works Better With Us
The theme for this year's Disability Pride Month is "the world works better with us." This year's theme underlines the importance of disabled identities in society. Communities where disabled people are included, respected and supported inherently benefits everyone. This can be seen in multiple aspects, like better health care systems, transportation infrastructure and school systems, to mention some.
Famous Disabled People
― Claudia Gordon: Claudia Gordon is the first deaf woman to graduate from the American University; Washington College of Law, as well as the first deaf Black woman to be an attorney in the United States. She went on to serve as an associate director of public engagement in the White House, essentially being an advisor on disability rights and policy. She has been, and continues to be an active spokesperson in the Black deaf community, advocating for disability rights and bringing awareness to the complexity of belonging within two marginalized communities.
― Sudha Chandran: She is an Indian actress and Bharatantyam dancer. At the age of 16, she lost her right leg due to a car accident. With the help of a prosthetic foot she was able to gain some mobility back, and return to dance after two years. She continued on to perform in various films, including the film "Mayuri," which was based on her own life and won the National Film Award.
― Ade Adepitan: He is a Nigerian-born British television presenter, and a wheelchair basketball player. As an infant, Adepitan contracted polio, which caused damage to his legs. Growing up, Adepitan had aspirations of becoming an international sportsman, and went on to become a wheelchair basketball player. In 2005, Adepitan received an Honorary Doctorate from LoughBorough University, as a recognition of his service to, and performances within disability sport. Adepitan is a spokesperson for disability rights, and often uses television as a platform to bring up issues relating to ableism, as well as racism.
You can find more information about other important figures in the history of Disability Pride Month that keep inspirig us here.
How to Be An Ally
― Let disabled people speak and advocate for themselves when possible.
― Ask instead of assuming. This goes for touch as well. Do not help a disabled person without their consent and respect them if they refuse help.
― Do not use ableist language but also speak up when you hear someone else being ableist.
― Take time to learn about different disabilities.
― Respect and listen to people’s personal experiences with being disabled.
― Use your privilege and influence to promote inclusivity and accessibility.
― Do not wait for a disabled person to point out an issue. If you notice an issue with accessibility, safety or ableism, speak up and ask for changes to be made.
― Always promote accessibility and inclusion, even if there is no apparent disabled person present. People cannot access a space or event if it wasn’t accessible in the first place.
Summary
― July celebrates Disability Pride Month and honors the 1990 signing of the ADA.
― Built-in societal barriers and stigmas continue to discriminate against disabled individuals daily.
― Disabled people face higher risks of poverty, violence and medical neglect.
― Society improves when disabled people are respected and fully included.
― True allies listen to disabled voices, ask for consent and actively demand accessibility.
With love,
The Inclusivity Group
