After decades of advocacy and struggle, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed into law on July 26, 1990. The ADA was the first comprehensive federal civil rights law protecting disabled people from discrimination in public life. Under the bill, it became illegal to deny someone access to employment, education, or transportation because of their disability. Disabled patrons were also protected in private spaces that are open to the public, such as restaurants and theaters.
To commemorate the ADA, July is designated as Disability Pride Month. The celebration is an opportunity to honor the history, achievements, experiences, and struggles of the disability community and the disability rights movement.
Unfortunately, Disability Pride Month isn’t often acknowledged outside disabled spaces. Yet we know that being disabled is an identity that is shared by people across all demographics. Disabilities encompass many aspects of our lives and may impact a person’s physical, mental health, sensory, intellectual, learning, neurological, and developmental experiences, and 1 in 4 adults in the U.S. identify as having disability.
Disability Pride Month pushes back against old notions of disabled people as deserving of pity, or even being ostracized or feared. Instead, being disabled can be something we honor and take pride in. Disabled activists challenge us to fight our own internal ableism and join the struggle against inaccessible facilities and systems that keep them from fully participating in society.
Check out these resources to learn more about the disability rights movement and uplift disabled voices:
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Read |
- Year of the Tiger by Alice Wong
- Care Work by Leah Lakshmi Piepzna Samarasinha
- Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body by Rebekah Taussig
- A Disability History of The United States by Kim E. Nielsen
- The Collected Schizophrenias by Esmé Weijun Wang
- Thinking in Pictures by Temple Grandin
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Watch |
- Crip Camp (2020 documentary)
- Echo (2022 miniseries)
- CODA (2021 film)
- Patrice: The Movie (2024 documentary)
- Murderball (2015 documentary)
- Life Itself (2014 documentary)
- Rising Phoenix (2020 documentary)
- All the Beauty and the Bloodshed (2022 documentary)
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Take Action |
- Web Development: Handicapped Veterans Association works to build community, address suicide, and help solve healthcare problems for military veterans. They are looking for a skilled volunteer to give feedback and suggest improvements for their current WordPress website.
- Copywriting/Development: Meals on Wheels of Northern Illinois, which delivers nutritious food to those who are homebound because of age or disability, are seeking a 1-hour Session with a development professional or skilled writer to discuss best practices for donor acknowledgement letters.
- IT Infrastructure: The Orphan Therapeutics Accelerator is a nonprofit biotech company researching promising treatments for ultra-rare diseases. The organization recently received a grant to implement Microsoft 365 and need assistance transitioning from GoDaddy M365.
- Google Ads: Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome Foundation works to improve the lives of those impacted by LGS, a severe epilepsy syndrome. They are looking for a marketing pro to help optimize the organization’s Google Ads Grant.
- Grant Writing: Independent Living Housing, Inc provides life skills and educational services to learning-disabled youth, young adults, and adults in Metropolitan Detroit. They are in need of a volunteer grantwriter to assist with grants for their housing and education programs.
