{"id":13250,"date":"2022-07-01T08:10:26","date_gmt":"2022-07-01T08:10:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/devblog.foresters.com\/?p=13250"},"modified":"2022-06-27T15:30:17","modified_gmt":"2022-06-27T15:30:17","slug":"disability-pride-month-living-life-with-confidence-and-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devblog.foresters.com\/en-gb\/community-en-gb\/disability-pride-month-living-life-with-confidence-and-peace\/","title":{"rendered":"Disability pride month: living life with confidence and peace"},"content":{"rendered":"

July is Disability Pride Month1<\/sup>, but before discussing how and why this day is celebrated, it\u2019s important to note a couple of things:
\nDisability can be the result of trauma or violence, so \u201cpride\u201d should never be forced on or expected of anyone who is disabled.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Disability Pride means different things to different people. It\u2019s important to respect each person\u2019s lived experience.<\/li>\n
  2. Disabilities can be both visible and invisible. The categories include mental illness, intellectual and developmental disabilities, invisible and undiagnosed disabilities, physical disabilities and sensory disabilities.2<\/sup><\/li>\n
  3. People living with disabilities don\u2019t want to be perceived as \u201cinspirational\u201d when they do what able-bodied people do \u2013 or for simply existing.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    According to Andrew Pulrang, a freelance writer with lifelong disabilities, \u201cfor people with disabilities, \u201cdisability pride\u201d feels more like a declaration of unconditional pride in being disabled<\/em>, embracing it, and being part of a disability community. We are proud because of who we are, and that pride doesn\u2019t depend on meeting anyone\u2019s benchmarks for how \u201csuccessful\u201d or \u201cnormal\u201d we might appear to be. For many of us, it\u2019s also a direct encouragement to be seen and to interact fully, with our disabilities upfront and not hidden or minimized for the comfort or convenience of others or ourselves.\u201d3<\/sup><\/p>\n

    It can, claims Pulrang, be an opportunity for people living with disabilities to embrace the idea of what he calls \u201cconfident visibility.\u201d Because isn\u2019t that what everyone wants \u2013 to feel comfortable and confident in the world?<\/p>\n

    What is Disability Pride Month?<\/strong><\/p>\n

    AmeriDisability describes Disability Pride as, \u201caccepting and honoring each person\u2019s uniqueness and seeing it as a natural and beautiful part of human diversity,\u201d and connects it to the larger movement for disability justice.4 <\/sup>The month-long celebration started in the United States in 1990 and has spread to countries around the globe.<\/p>\n

    How to celebrate Disability Pride Month<\/strong><\/p>\n

    \u00a0<\/strong>We can all engender more equity by taking actions such as:<\/p>\n