07/22/2022

July is Disability Pride Month

Michiganders Celebrate July 26th as “A Day to Honor the Signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act” in Michigan

Did you know July is Disability Pride Month? Even though it has been celebrated by members of the disability community for more than 30 years, most people – including most disabled people – are not aware it exists.  

What Is Disability Pride Month?

Disability Pride Month celebrates the 1990 passage and signing into law by President George H.W. Bush of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in several areas, including employment, transportation, public accommodations, communications, and access to state and local government’ programs and services. According to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division: “The ADA is one of America's most comprehensive pieces of civil rights legislation that prohibits discrimination and guarantees that people with disabilities have the same opportunities as everyone else to participate in the mainstream of American life…” Following the passage of the ADA in 1990, the city of Boston held the first Disability Pride Day event, and Disability Pride Month was born.

Disability Pride Month not only celebrates the disabled people the world over, their identities and culture, and their contributions to society, it also aims to change the way people think about 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.

According to the World Bank, 1 billion people 15% of the world’s population – experience some form of disability. In the United States, 41.1 million (12.7%) of the total civilian noninstitutionalized population had a disability in the United States in 2019. Here at home, according to the CDC, approximately 2.3 million adult Michiganders have some type of disability.

Individuals with disabilities are the largest and most diverse minority within the population, representing all abilities, ages, races, ethnicities, religions, and socio-economic backgrounds.

According to the International Association for the Study of Pain, “Lower back pain has been the leading cause of years lived with disability since 1990 and remains a significant global public health concern.” The global burden of disability associated with LBP has been increasing since 1990.

July 26^th is “A Day to Honor the Signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act” in Michigan

Earlier this year, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a proclamation declaring July 26, 2022, as “a day to honor the … anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act in Michigan and encourage everyone to renew our commitments to equity and inclusion as we work to make our state a welcoming and accessible place for everyone.” In her proclamation, Governor Whitmer noted that according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, “about 27 percent of people in Michigan have disabilities, and these rates increase with age, with 41 percent of Michigan adults who are 75 years or older having a disability of some kind.”

According to the International Association for the Study of Pain, “Lower back pain has been the leading cause of years lived with disability since 1990 and remains a significant global public health concern.” The global burden of disability associated with LBP has been increasing since 1990.

Help Spread the Word About Disability Pride Month!

You can promote visibility and mainstream awareness about Disability Pride Month in your office and/or community by:

• Addressing Disability Pride Month in your patient newsletter and practice’s social media postings
• Sharing your practice’s accommodation and accessibility statement on your website and other communication channels
• Share the Disability Pride Flag (see below)

The Disability Pride Flag

Each element of the Disability Pride Flag symbolizes a different part of the disability community:

• The Black Field represents the disabled people who have lost their lives due not only to their illness, but also to negligence, suicide, and eugenics
• Each color represents a different aspect of disability or impairment (Red = physical disabilities, Yellow = cognitive and intellectual disabilities, White = invisible and undiagnosed disabilities, Blue = mental illness, and Green = sensory perception disabilities)

The flag was redesigned in 2021 based on feedback from the disabled community that, when viewed online (especially while scrolling), the original lightning bolt design created a strobe effect, and posed a risk for people with epilepsy and migraine sufferers, so be sure to use the most up-to-date version (shown above).