Disability pride month

It is July, and this is the month for #DisabilityPrideMonth, celebrating people with disabilities and their value for society. Some might ask, why should you celebrate disability? That is why I’d like to share my insights on the importance of disability pride via The InCluencer.

Pride, being yourself

Disability pride is an interesting phenomenon, especially given that in an increasing volume of countries the (local version of the) word ‘disability’ is under scrutiny. People tend to use more positive words, because disability gives a negative feeling, or it is all about what people cannot do instead of what they can do. Today I’d like to talk about the importance to recognize disability as a good word, because pride is all about respect, being respected for who you are, and visibility in society. What better topic to start #DisabilityPrideMonth with?

Disability is not a bad word

There is a campaign under disability activists, also supported by me, which is called: “Disability is Not a Bad Word”. The campaign centers around the fact that we (the disability community and world around us) must embrace disability as a positive thing. A disability is not a bad thing, because we (people with disabilities) do not need fixing, we need a world which embraces us and provides an accessible and inclusive environment where we can participate at will.

Some contest this, and interesting enough mostly people outside the disability (activists) community, feel the need to use so called ‘more friendly’ words like: “differently abled” or ‘special needs” or even "extraordinary". Not realizing that this is a form of talking around, not recognizing, even denying a person fully in his/her/their existence.

For many a painful experience, because a person’s disability is part of their life, part of their lived experience as human being, as parent, as partner, as employee and whatever you wish to fill in here. For others with a disability a reason to accept these so called ‘friendly’ wordings and learning, growing up even, that disability is a bad word you should avoid. The last is of course the contrary of disability pride, that is why I hope that #DisabilityPrideMonth will gain more attention in Europe this year.

A few rules of thumb in disability etiquette

I’d like to use this blog as opportunity to set my rules of thumb for disability etiquette:

1. Always recognize a person in his/her/their full existence, this includes the word disability (or neurodiverse)
2. Do not talk around disability, call the beast by its name instead of friendly meant words
3. If you don’t know, just ask the person with a disability in front of you but never assume!

With these 3 rules of thumb, you can make the difference in disability etiquette and assure people with a disability feel welcomed and valued, being proud of who they are in all aspects of life!

Bianca Prins is Global Head of Accessibility at ING Bank, and trailblazer in the business disability community. A pioneer in the development of a global strategic Accessibility approach in the fast evolving business roles to include people with a disability in business. With LinkedIn #TheIncluencer articles Bianca is sharing insights on accessibility business opportunities, challenges and struggles towards a sustainable and disability inclusive world for all!

#accessibility #a11y #disability #DisabilitySmart #DisabilityInclusion #Diversity #Inclusion #business #chage #trailbazer #strategy #HR #DiversityAndInclusion #D&I #sustainability #IAAP #CPACC