Celebrating Disability Pride 2024                              

July is Disability Pride Month!  Did you know, people with disabilities are one of the largest and most diverse groups?  At least one in four adults in the United States has some type of documented disability. Celebrating Disability Pride is being accepting and honoring each person’s uniqueness and seeing it as a part of human diversity.  Further, disability pride aims at challenging systemic ableism and the stigmatizing definitions that surround disability.  

Disability is far more than just a diagnosis or something someone can’t do.  Embracing your disability as part of who you are is one way to express your pride.  Itis important to note that your disability is not the only defining trait you possess.  Seeing individuals as a whole person rather than just their diagnoses is what Disability Pride is all about.  

Do you know why July is Disability Pride Month?  July is the month that the Americans with Disabilities Act was passed in 1990.  In the present time disability pride parades are celebrated in major cities across the United States, highlighting individual uniqueness and proving that people are more than their disabilities.  

Philadelphia will host its 12^th annual Disability Pride on the Parkway on September 7, 2024.  It features a parade and festival with different local vendors and sponsors.  How will you celebrate Disability Pride this year?

References

www.disabilitypridepa.org

https://thearc.org/blog/why-and-how-to-celebrate-disability-pride-month/

https://www.opportunityvillage.org/disability-services/disability-pride-month