Celebrating Disability Pride Month

I think there was something bigger at play when I happen to be the one assigning myself July to do the blog since I assign the blogs for all the counselors to do the blogs. Do you know that July is when we celebrate Disability Pride month? Probably not. We all know that June is when we celebrate LGBTQIA+, and Juneteenth, however, come July it’s not known unless you’re in the community yourself or close to someone in the disability community that it’s time to celebrate Disability Pride month.

Did you know that it was not until 1990 that Americans with Disability Act (ADA) was enacted?  That means if I was born at an earlier time, my rights, in so many areas, were not protected. Myself being a part of the community, made it important to me to bring awareness to this topic.

If you are not someone who is personally affected by a disability, here are ways that you can help those us who are affected by disabilities. If you own a business, make sure your workforce is up to ADA standards. Here is a checklist: https://www.adachecklist.org/doc/fullchecklist/ada-checklist.pdf. This checklist can be very intense; however, not all of it is going to apply to your workplace.

Be willing to have a conversation about disabilities. Do not be afraid to speak to someone who has a disability about what it is like to live with a disability. People are often so afraid of offending us, they see disabilities as a “dirty thing”, or just plainly afraid of the topic of disabilities that the topic is swept under the rug. We as a community are a part of this world as well, and you will never know when you may join it in some way hence why it is importance to have conversations to change how people with disabilities are treated.

Below are TEDTalks that are different presenters speaking about their various experiences with having a disability:

https://www.ted.com/talks/amy_oulton_changing_the_way_we_talk_about_disability

https://www.ted.com/talks/yasmin_sheikh_disability_does_not_mean_inability

https://www.ted.com/talks/stella_young_i_m_not_your_inspiration_thank_you_very_much

 

Carmen Stites, LCPC, RPT