Disability Pride Month | Americans with Disabilities Act 30th Anniversary!
/July is Disability Pride Month and this year is the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act!
image by ADA National Network (adata.org) Image description: Red and blue text logo ADA 30 with stars around the year 1990 - 2020.
With July ending, we would be remiss if we didn’t have a post celebrating Disability Pride Month! This July is not only Disability Pride Month but also the 30th anniversary of the American with Disabilities Act! Disability Pride Month was started as Disability Pride Day to commemorate the passing of the Americans with Disabilities act in 1990. It has since turned into a whole month with the parade taking place in cities all over the United States. You can learn more about the ADA here.
“The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart." – Helen Keller
For Disability Pride Month, we wanted to share what Disability Pride means to our clients and staff at WSB. Below are several quotes from clients and staff on what disability pride means to them.
Disability pride means accepting the disability that a person has and making the best of every challenge.
“People are always going to bring you down, but it’s up to you if you let them.”
As a totally blind individual, I have encountered challenges and obstacles through life. Even though life is challenging, (and disability even much more so), we all have the ability to use our disability to keep us down, but we also have the ability to let our disability help us by allowing ourselves to be heard by the public. After all, no one can help those with disabilities if the person does not explain what is going on.
-Joshua G., WSB Client
“To me, disability pride means not being ashamed of the disabilities you have and living your life despite them. No one goes into life asking to be disabled, but those who take pride in their disabilities mean they acknowledge that they have disabilities, but they refuse to let them dictate what they are able to accomplish. People with disability pride see obstacles as challenges to overcome, and they face them with little or no complaints.”
-Austin N., WSB Client
“Blindness is a gift. It provides a different perspective of the world. I judge people based on their personalities, rather than superficial visual details which are not important in the grand scheme of things.”
-Christopher W., WSB Client
“I am not ashamed of my disability nor does my disability define me. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
-Keith W., WSB Instructor
When I think of disability pride I think of diversity. Being proud of who you are and the obstacles you had to overcome to get where you are. No one asks to be different, but everyone is in one way or another. It is the ability to appreciate the differences in others who don’t think, act or look the same as you.
-Jerri-Ann M., WSB Assistive Technology Instructor