July is Disability Pride Month, an event dedicated to celebrating the unique strengths and contributions people with disabilities have made to society. In the U.S.
, the celebration coincides with the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which was signed into law on July 26, 1990, by former President George H.W. Bush.
To celebrate this month, we asked readers and listeners to share their experiences with disability. We wanted to know: What's one thing you wish people knew about living with a disability? Overwhelmingly, you told us that disabilities aren't one size fits all. We received answers from people with disabilities ranging from the physical to the mental, developmental and cognitive.
Nearly everyone emphasized that not all disabilities are visible or immediately recognizable from looking at someone. But these common refrains were also accompanied by differences of opinion. "Remember that one person’s experience is their own, no matter their affinity groups," Laura Williams of Philadelphia said.
“Their personal, individual reality exists alongside the realities of millions of different people." "Disability is vast, varied and beautiful," Hannah Soyer of Des Moines, Iowa., said.
"My lived experience as a queer disabled woman is unique to me, as is the lived experience of every other disabled person." The nearly 300 responses from NPR readers represent a wide breadth of disabled experiences. Though no one person's story is universal, these were some of .