Disability Pride Month

 

I was 7/1/23 old when I learned that July is designated Disability Pride month.  We even have a flag, and I like it very much. The link explains the different colors and why it’s in the form of a lightning bolt. I especially like the concept of learning to work around the obstacles of living with disabilities.

I wondered what was so special about July. When I investigated, I smacked myself on the head. I should have known better. In July 1990 President George H.W. Bush signed the American With Disabilities Act (ADA) into law. I’d advocated for it; how could I have forgotten?

I was a teen and young adult when legislation finally began to pass recognizing the rights and equality of those living with disabilities. These laws included: the 1973 Vocational Rehabilitation Act Sections 503 and 504 (outlawing discrimination against people with disabilities in education and work), PL 94-142 Education For All Children Act (providing education for all in the “least restrictive environment’), and, finally, the ADA.

So, what is the difference between the VR Act of 1973 and the ADA? Basically, the VR Act applied to federal agencies and those institutions receiving federal funds. The ADA is applied everywhere regardless of whether a company or institution receives federal funds.

My parents were Deaf. By the time the VR Act of 1973 was passed, they were already in their 40s. They did benefit from it in that they could request an interpreter in certain situations. Another boon coming out of it was closed captioning. Now they could finally understand many of the programs they’d been missing out on, particularly the news.

PL 94-142 ensured that kids with disabilities could be educated with their peers instead of being segregated or sent to institutions. The process was called mainstreaming. Deaf students had more choices of colleges and universities to attend. Interpreters would be supplied for them.

Most of my 20+ years of interpreting for the Deaf were in the field of education. I interpreted for elementary, middle, and high school students mostly. This is just my opinion but after seeing the fact that the Deaf kids were isolated from their hearing peers, I no longer believed that mainstreaming provided the least restrictive environment for these kids. I began advocating transfer to schools for the Deaf, where the students would be among peers and could learn their native language and culture. For all other students, who could hear, mainstreaming is definitely the best way to go.

When the ADA became law, I began interpreting in so many other forums: workshops, employee training or meetings, doctors’ offices, hospital ERs, and mental health facilities. The ADA was the civil rights act for people with disabilities.

When I was an interpreter, my fingers were straight and long. Deaf clients complimented me on them. My signs were clear and easy to understand. I played an acoustic guitar and played barre chords with ease. During those years, I saw my mother’s fingers become crippled with arthritis. She was in a great deal of pain as her fingers became knobby and twisted. It hurt to see her become increasingly unwilling to use her hands.

Now I see my own fingers twisting and becoming knobby. Today they hurt like the dickens. I have both rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. I gave up one of my favorite activities because it became too difficult to enjoy: playing the guitar. My fingers won’t form a simple chord, never mind stretch to make a barre chord.

But that’s OK. The lightning shape of the disability pride flag relates to making the necessary adjustments. On the days I can’t hold a fork properly to cut my food, I grasp it in my left fist and saw away with the knife with my right. I use my computer to write 90% of everything instead of handwriting.

I have arthritis in joints throughout my body. Some days, between arthritis and fibromyalgia, everything is hard. I move slower on those days, but I don’t stop. I take a nap if I need to.

I have dysthymia and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Thanks to therapy and medications that work, I don’t have so many deep dark days. When I do, I’ve learned how to get through them. I don’t suffer from panic attacks anymore.

I’ve applied to get a bachelor’s from Rowan University. Thanks to the VR Act of 1973 and the ADA, I know I can receive accommodations. I can ask for a notetaker. I can ask for a longer time to take a test. I can answer test essay questions on a computer.

I am much more than a medical diagnosis or the prescriptions I take. I am a person with different abilities, those I’ve had from birth and those I’ve incorporated to get around obstacles. I am proud to claim the disability pride flag.