Disability Pride Matters All Year Round

[Image Description: The image has a light pink background with my First Former Buddy Club President logo in the bottom left corner. "This year's Disability Pride Month may be over –– however, disability pride matters all year round." is in left-aligned bright pink text. "Disability pride is not just an opportunity to celebrate during one month per year. It is a mindset, movement, and commitment to showing up for the disability community every day." is also in left-aligned bright pink text below the previously described text. There are 7 diverse hands raised in solidarity. The first hand on the left has a medium dark skin color and is formed into a closed fist with a charcoal black, dark green, light blue, white, light yellow, dark red, charcoal black striped bracelet around its wrist. The second hand has a medium light skin color and is holding up a disability pride flag. The third hand is a prosthetic hand. The fourth hand has a light skin color and is formed into a peace hand sign with 7 charcoal black, dark green, light blue, white, light yellow, or dark red bracelets around its wrist. The fifth hand has a medium light skin color with webbed index and middle fingers and a bright pink wrist band with a gold infinity symbol on it around its wrist. The sixth hand has a medium dark skin color and is holding up a disability pride flag. The seventh hand has a light skin color and is formed into a closed fist with a disability pride flag bracelet around its wrist.]

Disability Pride Month is an annual observance in July that celebrates people in the disability community and the anniversary and importance of the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which was signed into law on July 26, 1990 (35 years ago this year!). This month challenges the harmful widely held but false belief that disability is a bad word and people in the disability community "need to conform to norms to live meaningful lives. Their lives are just as full, valuable, and worthy of respect––no more, no less" (The Arc 2025). The first Disability Pride Month celebration was a Disability Pride Day in Boston in 1990, and the first Disability Pride Parade was hosted in Chicago in 2004. Now in today's world, there are disability pride events all over the nation encouraging people in the disability community to take pride in who they are. The Arc's National Council of Self-Advocates chose the following theme for Disability Pride Month 2025: "We Belong Here, and We're Here to Stay" (The Arc 2025). It is true that people in the disability community belong in this world and always will. People in the disability community are an important part of every community. The Arc strongly advocates for this truth by saying, "Not someday. Not conditionally. Now" (The Arc 2025). As threats against disability rights in education, employment, health care, and public life continue to grow at alarming rates, this year's theme is a clear alert to this issue that needs immediate attention and action. It fights ableism, bias, and exclusion of people in the disability community. People in the disability community do not deserve to be "erased, ignored, or pushed aside" (The Arc 2025).

This year's Disability Pride Month may be over; however, disability pride matters all year round. Disability pride is not just something that should be celebrated during one month per year. It is a mindset, movement, and commitment to showing up for the disability community every day. Many people in the disability community face barriers and ableism to be fully accepted, included, and valued all year round. Ableism is often ignored, but its harmful effects are real. It takes away access to opportunities in education, employment, health care, daily living, social life, and respect. Everyone deserves inclusion, rights, developmentally appropriate opportunities, and respect at all times –– not on other people's terms. Disability pride challenges the harmful widely held but false belief that disability is a bad word and that people in the disability community need to conform to every little thing to live meaningful lives. People in the disability community are an important part of society. Their lives are just as worthy of respect and valuable –– not more nor less. Disability pride promotes empowerment, culture, representation, visibility, history, and inclusion. Celebrating disability pride is also suicide prevention, bullying prevention, and even abuse and neglect prevention. Here are some ways to keep the spirit of disability pride alive all year round:

1. Keep learning🧠

Keep learning about disabilities and inclusion. This means showing that you are receptive to learning more and applying new knowledge even if your current knowledge is limited. Read books about disabilities, history, rights, advocacy, and Special Education. Read books written by authors in the disability community. Watch TV shows and movies with disability representation. Listen to music by singers in the disability community. Show appreciation for artwork created by artists in the disability community. Follow disability advocacy content on social media. Show interest about experiences different from your own.

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2. Acknowledge that every disability journey is different🌎

Acknowledging that every disability journey is naturally different just like every person is different is needed in order to show genuine acceptance and support for each person's individual needs. This is especially true when it comes to intersectionality.

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3. Acknowledge invisible disabilities🚹

Not all disabilities are obvious just by looking at or observing people. There is no such thing as "don't look disabled." Symptoms do not show up exactly the same for every single person in the disability community. Symptoms of disabilities may be less obvious in physical appearances or may occur less frequently or intensely for some people in the disability community. Disabilities that show up with subtle signs are called invisible disabilities.

For example, not all disabilities require people to use a wheelchair, walker, cane, crutches, hearing aid, adapted eyewear, Braille, Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), service animal, or Sign Language. Not all chronic illnesses require people to use a feeding tube or visible stoma bag during all hours of the day. Another example is that while every individual who has Down Syndrome has physical bodily features as part of this disability, people with mosaic Down Syndrome have less physical bodily features than people with trisomy 21 Down Syndrome and translocation Down Syndrome. There are also plenty of other disabilities that show up without having physical bodily features or obvious actions. In addition, not all people in the disability community need constant one-on-one supervision by someone while some other people do.

So, stand up for people in the disability community when their lived experiences are dismissed with "You don't look/seem disabled/autistic", "You look fine to me", and/or "You don't look sick."

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4. Acknowledge that disabilities are nothing to be ashamed of nor mourned🏳️

Disabilities should not be treated as something "bad" or "sad." Everyone has differences, disabilities are a difference, and differences are something to be proud of. It is important to use a diagnosis as an opportunity to find answers as to why people in the disability community do the things that they do in order to accept and provide them with proper support to reach their full potential. In fact, many people in the disability community do not want people to feel sorry for them. This is because even though disability journeys are not an easy road, it is okay to be different.

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5. Acknowledges that disabilities do not define people meaning that they are not the only part of people in the disability community🌠

Disabilities are not the only part of people in the disability community. Disabilities also do not make people with them completely incapable of nothing. Believing this misconception is an All or Nothing Thinking mindset. Only recognizing people's disabilities and never their other good qualities is also ableist and can be in denial about their potential. It can be very lonely for not all but many people in the disability community and people of all diverse communities if their differences are not recognized and if their differences are the only part that people recognize about them. People in the disability community have talents and other good qualities that make them who they are and are worthy of being recognized as well. It is absolutely important to recognize disabilities for the purpose of awareness, accessibility, and representation; however, there should be a balance between focusing on and beyond individuals' disabilities to be inclusive since their disabilities are not all that they are. Every individual in the disability community deserves the same opportunities as everyone else while meeting them where they are at currently.

Everyone who is supposed to be in the support systems of people in the disability community should avoid fixating on only what they cannot do. Life with disabilities is not all or nothing because disabilities are not the only part of anyone in the disability community. There should be a balance between focusing on the limits, challenges, capabilities, and strengths of everyone in the disability community. When it comes to education and life for people in the disability community, everyone in their support system should want them to do the best that they can do. They should not be expected to be able to do every little thing possible while also encouraged to try to do things and what they can do deserves to be acknowledged. For example, if they get an A, they get an A and if they do not get an A or other passing score or something else does not work for them, figure out what does work for each individual. What someone is able to do depends on their mental capacity and physical abilities.

6. Give people in the disability community chances to show their potential and recognize it when shown🎓

People in the disability community should be given multiple chances to show their potential and work towards improvement and success without jumping to conclusions about their abilities, challenges, limits, strengths, and futures. Celebrate the disability community's positive contributions to society. There are different things that will be both hard and easy for everyone and each day and moment will be different. If some things are easy for people, this does not mean that that they do not have any disabilities; things that are easy for people of all abilities are their areas of strengths whereas the areas that they struggle in are areas of improvement. Not recognizing that people in the disability community are capable of improvement can be denial of their potential and be a violation of boundaries if blocked from access to resources to work on themselves. Many people in the disability community are very capable of independence if provided with consistent and structured exposure to build this essential skill. There are also many people in the disability community who have come a long way after working on themselves for many years. Each person's needs are different whether they are in the disability community or not and what is required of them depends on how profound, severe, mild, moderate, or minor their struggles are.

In addition, improve or get better does not always mean "fixed" or "cured." Improving and getting better at something means that over time every individual develops, gains more knowledge and experience, and becomes educated. Improvement is a good part of disability journeys because people who improve can become successful and learn a lot. Hard work can pay off over time even if takes it many years to achieve something. People in the disability community who improve think of all of the obstacles that they have successfully navigated through to become successful people. Individuals in the disability community should be provided with exposure to real-world situations in order to work on themselves. If someone is willing to put in the effort to try (not the same as being unable to do certain things for involuntary reasons), they will become more educated and knowledgeable. To do nothing will result in nothing because nothing changes without change.

Related Link:

Help is not fixing or curing Explained

7. Keep advocating⚖️

Advocate for fair and reasonable accommodations and adaptations for people in the disability community for the purpose of accessibility and inclusion. Reach out to Congress about disability rights issues. Challenge disparities, stereotypes, ableism, bias, and exclusion by standing up for people in the disability community when they are being mistreated and their legal rights are being violated. Resist usage of harmful language and outdated thinking every time you witness and/or experience it. Also, kindly educate people about the disability community even when people say the wrong things without jumping to shame. Holding people accountable requires compassion and patience; not always discipline. Before jumping to the conclusion that every single person carelessly says the wrong thing about the disability community on purpose and shaming them for ableism, true disability advocates should start out by kindly educating people about the correct information. If you discover that the person is continuing to do these out of line things even after being corrected, then calmly call them out for it and distance yourself or cut them off completely if needed to protect your well-being.

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8. Teach the next generation👩🏻‍🏫

Use developmentally appropriate tools and resources to teach students about disability pride. Do this by hanging a disability pride flag in your classroom, reading books with disability representation, and showing movies with disability representation, playing music by singers in the disability community. Engage in bullying prevention stimulation activities with your students, have your students sign Special Olympics' Spread the Word Inclusion pledge, and invite guest speakers in the disability community to speak to your class. Host a disability pride party or parade in your classroom, school, or community or attend as a class, school, club, or group. Discuss the meaning of disability pride and intersectionality along with the harm of different types of stereotypes and ableism. You can also make crafts that celebrate disability representation and pride. For example, my students, paraeducator, and I made disability pride flags at ESY this summer (as pictured below) and I also gave each student a disability pride flag sticker.

[Image Description: There are 6 white papers with disability pride flags drawn and colored in on them.]

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9. Connect with people in the disability community🫂

Spend time listening to and learning from people in the disability community with lived experiences in person and/or online. Do this by volunteering, teaching, or being open to talking to people in the disability community who you work with, are friends with, in your family, your students, neighbors, or at the park. Whether you are teaching, advocating, parenting, mentoring, and/or working any job outside of education or disability rights, create spaces where people of all ages know that it is safe to be open about their identities. Also, just say hi in everyday life. Inclusion starts with genuine respect.

10. Include disability history and culture in culturally responsive approaches📜🎨🎭🩺📆

Show understanding of the history of the disability rights movement and discovery of specific disabilities. Show validation of identities ("disabled", "person with a disability/disabilities", "person in the disability community), experiences, preferences, special interests, savant skills, and achievements.

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11. Support disability owned businesses and creators along with nonprofit organizations🏪💰

Seek out disability owned businesses and creators along with nonprofit organizations and show support them regularly whether by donating, buying and wearing merch, volunteering (if your schedule, physical energy, and overall health allows), attending their events, and following disability advocates on social media. Raising money for a good cause can especially make a huge difference in the lives of individuals in the disability community when it comes to being able to afford assistive technology and other resources. Of course, once again, only donate and/or host fundraisers if you are financially able to do so. Every amount counts and contributes a lot. The small things make the big things.

11. Going to events that support the disability community📅

Whether in-person, virtual, or a little bit of both, going to events that support disability awareness and inclusion can be a way to show support for the disability community as a true disability advocate. You can do this through volunteering and/or attending disability pride parades. Disability pride parades are not just for people in the disability community. Anyone can attend to show support whether they are in the disability community or not and even if they have an invisible or self-diagnosed disability/disabilities. Of course, only do so if transportation is available to you and if you are financially able to afford transportation if free transportation is inaccessible to you.

12. Just showing genuine respect for everyone in the disability community even if it is just small acts🫱🏾‍🫲🏻

Even if it is just letting them into activities for people of all abilities, being a true friend to them, following their accommodations and adaptations, giving them specially designed instructions to meet their needs, standing up for them when they are being mistreated, acknowledging that their disabilities are real, and giving them the same developmentally appropriate opportunities as everyone else.

To learn more about disability pride, you can visit the following website(s):

Citations

1. The Arc. (19 May 2025). Why and How to Celebrate Disability Pride Month. https://thearc.org/blog/why-and-how-to-celebrate-disability-pride-month

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First Former Buddy Club President

Disability Pride Matters All Year Round

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