This month marks 34 years since the Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law, and Disability Pride Month was officially established nearly a decade ago.

As one blind author and illustrator recently pointed out, disability exists on a spectrum. And the fight for community, inclusion and acceptance is still going strong today.  

In the U.S. in 2021, nearly 42.5 million people — or 13% of the population — had a disability, according to the American Community Survey, conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. An estimated 1.3 billion people have a significant disability worldwide, according to the World Health Organization, which is 16% of the global population, or 1 in 6 people. 

When is Disability Pride Month?

Disability Pride Month occurs annually in July, coinciding with the anniversary of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA) being signed into law. The ADA was signed into law on July 26, 1990, by President George H.W. Bush and protects the rights of people with disabilities against employment discrimination, while fostering inclusion in society.

The goal was also to expand access to all levels of government, public establishments, transportation and communication — building on the protections afforded by Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The 1973 law was the first legislation that addressed the rights of people with disabilities, but its protections only extended to employers who received federal funding. 

Disability pride is also celebrated worldwide — sometimes at different months — including in the United Kingdom, South Africa and elsewhere.

What is Disability Pride Month?

Disability Pride Month was officially established in 2015 during the 25th anniversary of the ADA, with New York City hosting its first Disability Pride Month parade that year.

Celebrations honoring the landmark law began much earlier. The first disability pride events were held in Boston in 1990, the same year the civil rights law was signed. In 2004, Chicago held its first disability pride parade.

The idea of disability pride is rooted in the issue of visibility, much like the LGBTQ and Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) pride.

Chicago's Disability Pride Parade defines its mission in three ways: change "the way people think about and define 'disability'"; break down and end the "internalized shame among people with disabilities"; and promote the belief in society that disability is a "natural and beautiful part of human diversity."

Disability impacts all of us. Patrick Cokley, senior program officer at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, noted that 1 in 4 Americans will develop a disability in their lifetime. Cokley has low vision. 

"If we pretend that it's a small group we've never heard of, or a tiny population, then we do ourselves a disservice," he told CBS News in an interview earlier this year. "We're then also leaving out all of the other myriad of people that might have hidden disabilities, have aging disabilities or acquired disabilities."

Starting points for how to interact with people with disabilities

As a spinal stroke survivor and a late-diagnosed adult with autism, Marisa Hamamoto's lived experience highlights the intersectionality and variety of the disabled community. 

She remembers her earliest experiences of feeling like she never fit in, but believes dance is a universal experience that belongs to everyone. Hamamoto founded Infinite Flow Dance in 2015, an award-winning dance company based in Los Angeles. 

"Being the only Asian American growing up in my neighborhood, I got picked on at school for looking different," she said. "Yet, you know, society — the dance world — was sending out this message that dance was only accessible to a select few."

Her nonprofit employs disabled and nondisabled dancers with a mission to advance disability inclusion — one dance at a time.

"Stigma and discrimination has led to people not having access to education, to employment, to recreation and so many other things in life, and that is not right," she told CBS News. "So we want to really shift that narrative."

Part of that is education. Hamamoto's advocacy has grown over the years since founding Infinite Flow, but she is quick to admit that she is always learning. 

Here are some starting points for how to interact with people with disabilities, according to Hamamoto:

"It's also important not to make assumptions," she said. "No two disabled people have the same needs."

Disability Pride Month is important to highlight because it gives those in the disabled community a collective power, Hamamoto told CBS News. 

She said the road to disability acceptance is a personal journey, but was quick to note that those with disabilities are not alone and there is strength in numbers.

"For some of us, we were born with a disability. For others, disability was acquired in the middle of life," she said. "Disability is a big part of how we live our lives, and disability can be a strength."

In:
• Disabilities
• Americans with Disabilities Act