{"id":1629,"date":"2023-09-12T15:49:23","date_gmt":"2023-09-12T22:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dredf.org\/web-log\/?p=1629"},"modified":"2023-09-19T16:45:58","modified_gmt":"2023-09-19T23:45:58","slug":"curiosity-and-joy-in-disability-advocacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.dredf.org\/web-log\/2023\/09\/12\/curiosity-and-joy-in-disability-advocacy\/","title":{"rendered":"Curiosity and Joy in Disability Advocacy"},"content":{"rendered":"

September 12, 2023<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Credit: Disabled and Here<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Every July, during Disability Pride Month, we take time to highlight what we value about our culture, our rights movement, our community, and ourselves as disabled people. It\u2019s not an easy subject, what with the ableism that many of us are still unlearning, or being faced with. Sometimes feeling proud can feel like work, like we need to do this or show it because that\u2019s what good disabled people do during Disability Pride Month, right?!<\/span><\/p>\n

But when I thought hard about it, I realized that Disability Pride \u2013 for me, anyway \u2013 is more about the little stuff than the big stuff. With it being about the little stuff, it transcends a designated month and becomes a way of life and a value that I want to integrate into my daily life. That \u201clittle stuff\u201d is the joy that we experience in our lives, sometimes by dint of our disabilities, sometimes without. I know that my disabilities allow me to focus on small things that bring me great joy \u2013 a gecko winking, dew on a flower, a smashed leaf that is shaped like a heart. This is a gift, I realize now, and I also realize that by highlighting some of my joy and the things I focus on, I not only validate that it\u2019s a disabled expression \u2013 and make it easier for others to do as well \u2013 but I\u2019m sharing part of the disabled experience and releasing some of the heaviness that is associated with advocating for disability rights.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here’s an Instagram reel I made for Disability Pride Month<\/a> where I talk more about Disability Joy. <\/span><\/p>\n

Focusing on our joy and feeling light about ourselves was something I saw in a recent panel about accessibility, <\/span>Don\u2019t Whisper, SHOUT: The IPG Inclusion Breakfast 2023<\/a>:<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n