Disability Pride Month celebrates disabled persons embracing their disabilities as integral parts of who they are, reclaiming visibility in public and interacting fully with their disabilities out in the open. Nearly everyone faces hardships and difficulties at one time or another. But for people with disabilities, barriers can be more frequent and have a greater impact. 

Disability Pride Month is celebrated every July and is an opportunity to honor the history, achievements, experiences, and struggles of the disability community. July marks the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), landmark legislation that broke down barriers to inclusion in society.

The World Health Organization (WHO) describes barriers as being more than just physical obstacles, but as factors in a person’s environment that, through their absence or presence, limit functioning and create disability. Some of the most common barriers include:

• Attitude Barriers: Stereotyping the disabled occurs when you assume their quality of life is poor, can’t do the same things, or they are unhealthy because of their impairments.
• Communication Barriers: Communication barriers are experienced by those who have disabilities that affect hearing, speaking, reading, writing, and or understanding, and who utilize different ways to communicate than those who are without these disabilities.
• Physical Barriers: Physical barriers are structural obstacles in natural or manmade environments that prevent or block mobility (moving around in the environment).  This could be a building without a ramp, absence of elevators, or steps or curbs that block mobility, etc.
• Policy Barriers: Policy barriers are frequently related to a lack of awareness or enforcement of existing laws and regulations that require programs and activities be accessible to people with disabilities. Denying qualified individuals the ability to participate in certain programs, or denying reasonable accommodations for a person’s disability to perform their job are some examples.
• Social Barriers: Social barriers are related to the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, learn, work and age – or social determinants of health – that can contribute to decreased functioning among people with disabilities.

Society’s understanding of disabilities is improving as we recognize “disability” as what occurs when a person’s functional needs are not addressed in his or her physical and social environment. Instead of thinking about disability as a personal deficit or shortcoming, consider it our social responsibility to understand that all people should be supported to live independent and full lives and recognizing and addressing the challenges they face.