DISABILITY PRIDE MONTH
DISABILITY PRIDE MONTH
The entire month of July celebrates Disability Pride Month to raise awareness and to enhance pride into people with disabilities.
#DisabilityPrideMonth
Nearly 26% of the U.S. population are considered disabled. The entire month of July gives opportunity for everyone to show our pride and support disabled members of our communities. Teaching acceptance raises awareness and allows equal opportunity for anyone with a disability. When we change the way we look at someone, we change how we see uniqueness in every situation.
Disabled individuals face many obstacles on a daily basis, such as access to services and discrimination for employment or housing. People with disabilities should not have to beg for acceptance. In fact, many people with disabilities lead successful lives.
5 Inspirational People with Disabilities
People with disabilities often have a harder time feeling accepted. Once you look past the disability, each person is an individual with unique traits and talents. Communities can do many things to encourage acceptance to change our point-of-view. Treating people with respect is the most important act of acceptance you can perform.
How Do You Interact With Someone Who Has A Disability? People with disabilities are human. They have feelings and want to be treated like everyone one else. Having limitations doesn't mean they should be limited with their daily activities. True, some people with disabilities require extensive care, most can lead normal lives.
Avoid using offensive terminology like "handicapped" or "crippled."
Be attentive when talking to someone with a disability.
Respect personal space and property, including devices, wheelchairs and mobility equipment.
Don't assume the person with the disability can't do things for themselves.
Never stare at someone with a disability.
What is the Americans with Disabilities Act? In 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act was enacted to prohibiting discrimination against any individual with a disability. The law makes sure people with disabilities have the same rights as everyone else. However, there is no clear indication of whether these rights should include air travel. Luckily, the law does include all areas of transportation for the general public, which means air travel falls under the law.
“The Americans With Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination and ensures equal opportunity for persons with disabilities in employment, state and local government services, public accommodations, commercial facilities, and transportation.”
HISTORY
On March 12, 1990 over 1,000 people marched from the White House to the U.S. Capitol to demand that Congress pass the Americans with Disabilities Act. Upon arrival, about 60 activists, including eight-year-old Jennifer Keelan-Chaffins, physically demonstrated the inaccessibility of public spaces by getting out of their wheelchairs or setting aside their mobility aids and crawling up the Capitol steps in an act of civil disobedience that later became known as the Capitol Crawl. 104 activists were arrested for unlawful demonstration, many of whom were in their wheelchairs.[16]
On July 26, 1990President George H.W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act into law. Each July is celebrated as Disability Pride Month in commemoration of the historic moment.[17]
Since 1990, Disability Pride Month has celebrated all 1 billion disabled people, their identities and culture, and their contributions to society.[1] It also seeks to change the way people think about and define disability, to end the stigma of disability, and to promote the belief that disability is a natural part of human diversity in which people living with disabilities can take pride.[12] People with disabilities make up 15% of the world's population[13] and are the largest and most diverse minority in the United States making up approximately 26% of the population[14] with people representing all ages, races, ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations, religions, and socio-economic backgrounds.[15]