It’s Disability Pride month, and a cursory glance at the headlines reveals several newsworthy events.
• The Washington Post reports the Biden Administration released new guidance aimed at avoiding discrimination against disabled students who are suspended or expelled at greater rates than their non-disabled counterparts.
• A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reveals 1 in 5 adults under 65 is experiencing symptoms consistent with long COVID. Newer variants may not be more severe; however, the CDC notes they are more transmissible; leaving disabled, and immunocompromised populations to fend for ourselves with no cohesive national response to meet the moment.
• The Los Angeles Times reported Uber has settled with the U.S. Department of Justice agreeing to pay $2 million for violating the ADA over wait times charged to disabled passengers. Sadly, the lawsuit does not address ongoing challenges with service dog discrimination, or the lack of disability access as noted in a recent piece in The Verge.
• The Metropolitan Transportation Authority recently pledged to make 95% of its stations accessible by 2055, a whopping 65 years after the ADA.
I could talk about all these things at length. But I won’t. Not today, at least.
Today, I want to talk about something much simpler. Rest. Taking a break. Paraphrasing a popular book title, I want to explore the subtle art of not giving as many spoons.
Rest is not flashy, it’s not sexy, and it absolutely flies in the face of everything that tells us we should always be hustling, doing, producing, creating, and being “on” as a measure of our worth.
For the disability community there is an even deeper desire and inherent necessity to continually push forward even when we have reached our limit. Everyday, both publicly and privately, we confront ableism, indifference, bureaucracy, prejudice, and a society that questions our right to exist equally on the same playing field as non-disabled people.
We are seen as either inspirational for having “overcome” our disability or pitied for having struggled. There is no in between. What we overcome is not our disability but the barriers of societal ableism we confront daily.
In March of 2020 I wrote:
Sometimes we are out of spoons regardless of what the calendar says; and that’s okay.
And so, on this particular day, I want to celebrate disability pride by taking a break from the advocacy, taking time to recharge, and hopefully gather more spoons.
The headlines will keep coming, the advocacy will continue, just not today. Today, I rest in celebration of Disability Pride Month, and I invite my disabled family to do the same.
#disabilitypridemonth #disabilitypride #rest #hustle