As part of Disability Pride Month, the Wishbone Words team wanted to share some of our personal thoughts and experiences. Below, you will find several reflections on disability pride, what it means to us, and how we’re celebrating and/or caring for ourselves this month.
“I do it for the survivors, the aging, and the born-different”
Photo courtesy of Kitty
Every summer, I think about shame.
The shame to tolerate our denial, neglect and abandonment—the shame that keeps us hidden in our homes—leads us into quietness and complacency and surrender. It is for that reason that I carry disability pride close to my heart throughout July. I hold this pride for the community. I do it for the survivors, the aging, and the born-different. I do it for myself and for the sake of everyone I will ever come to meet.
Kitty, Assistant Poetry Editor
“I can use my experiences to help others”
Disability pride is something I think needs to be more widespread. I mean, the college I just graduated from only added a Disabled Students Alliance this past year! And it’s not usually something I see in the books I read, with few exceptions. That’s something I really want to rectify in the future.
For me specifically, well, I have a few reasons to be proud of my scoliosis, including that I can use my experiences to help others and help them feel like they’re part of a community. Although I do need to remind myself that scoliosis is in fact a disability from time to time, I’m happy so long as I can help to build that community. Plus, hey, the scar from my surgery looks pretty cool, if I do say so myself!
Nina, Social Media Assistant
“Powerful, beautiful, and proudly disabled”
Disability pride is such a novel concept to me, because for so long before I found this community on the internet, disability and pride were not words that were synonymous with each other. Now, I can’t imagine living in a world without this celebration of diversity. Every July, I am grateful to be educated on different conditions and connect with people to learn about their experiences. It’s a time to give visibility to what is usually invisible.
Recently, I have found myself embracing my disability like never before — and it’s all down to online representation. My wheelchair was decorated for my wedding back in April and for one of the first times in my life, I was proud to be seen in it. I made a makeshift veil from leftover material from my wedding dress, draping fairy lights along the back so it lit up at night. I had flowers intertwined in my wheelchair’s spokes.
Photo courtesy of Hollie
I was proud to have compliments on my wheelchair, which is typically just an aid to gets me from one place to the next. My wheelchair has been a source of embarrassment and shame in the past, it felt like a burden to those who had to assist me by pushing. But on my wedding day, I made myself feel powerful, beautiful, and proudly disabled.
Hollie, Editor in Chief
“I am still learning how to embrace this new part of myself”
Disability Pride is a concept I’m still trying to wrap my mind around. Just a few months ago, I was diagnosed with several mental health conditions, and I’m still adjusting to how my life has changed as a result. There are often days where my frustration and grief overshadow everything. But in the midst of these challenges, I have found a community that has welcomed me and cared for me. I am still learning how to embrace this new part of myself, but I find joy and comfort in knowing that I have others by my side.
Maggie, Website Manager
“Disability, whether it is visible or not does not wait for a month”
“You don’t look sick.”
That’s true, I don’t. Neither do my kids but with every smile, every step we take, we are in pain. Disability Pride Month is important to me. It is every month, week, and day. Disability, whether it is visible or not does not wait for a month.
This morning, I had reconstructive dental surgery because of the lack of enamel on my teeth. I smile and continue on with my day, as if I weren’t in pain.
My children, 17, 10 and 9, do the same, pretending their kneecaps, and shoulders are stable but they fall. They are called clumsy but the truth of the matter is, “they don’t look sick”, but they are.
Photo courtesy of Gen
Remember to be mindful of the people around you and be kind and gentle to yourselves and others.
Gen, Assistant Poetry Editor
“I’m doing what I can to honour myself inwardly”
This disability pride coincides with the ending of a relationship and a new home for me, so while a lot of my time is taken up by learning how to live alone for the first time in 7 years, I’m trying to honour pride by putting as much focus into listening to my body as possible, respecting its need for rest instead of harming myself by pushing past all my body’s limits.
I don’t have the spoons to celebrate outwardly with other people this year, so I’m doing what I can to honour myself inwardly, like being kind to Me and paying attention to what Me needs. As well as treat myself to a beautiful pair of crutches in my favourite colour!
Rohbyn, Magazine Designer
“I’m still valid and I’m still enough”
I’ve lived with various chronic illnesses since childhood. As I got older, some conditions progressed and new ones were diagnosed. Two years ago, I got my first wheelchair after using crutches on and off since high school. Last year, I had a surgical feeding tube placed after battling various digestive disorders for over a decade. To outsiders, wheelchairs and feeding tubes have a negative connotation. To me, they mean freedom and give life.
Photo courtesy of Noelle
Disability pride is important because sharing and teaching others about living with chronic illness and disabilities has the power to change lives. It can reach people who feel isolated and alienated and make them realize they aren’t alone in their fight. Sure, there are still days when I get embarrassed in public or want to hide because of the medical devices I use. I get anxious people will ask questions or claim I don’t look sick enough or disabled enough to need assistive devices or accommodations. The truth is that my conditions are dynamic. They don’t look the same day to day and that’s okay. I’m still valid and I’m still enough and so is every other person who identifies as disabled even though that truth can be hard to believe. Our conditions may make us feel less than, but we all matter and we are all important.
Noelle, Managing Editor
Leave a Reply