Disability Pride

Over the course of July, which is Disability Pride Month, I’ve been reflecting on (and getting very angry about) the stigma around disability. My perspectives on this issue are limited due to my own internal biases, my experiences, and the nature of my disabilities being invisible. For that reason, I’ll never fully understand the challenges and barriers faced by folks with visible disabilities or disabilities that are different than mine. Not to mention that every disabled person has vastly different experiences, and there’s no “one size fits all” when it comes to accessibility needs. So, I’ll write based on my experiences and the experiences that others have shared with me, but I want to acknowledge that it will be a very limited scope.

There's a lot of stigma around disabilities in our society. I’ve heard so many people make assumptions that disabled people can’t have a good quality of life, or that becoming disabled is one of the worst things that could happen to someone. Not only is this untrue, but it’s actively harmful. Being told that you’re “brave” just for existing in a disabled body, or receiving condolences from people for your “unfortunate situation” isn’t comforting, it’s patronizing. Similarly, there is a widespread issue of infantilizing disabled people by assuming they are “helpless” or aren’t competent or able to make decisions for themselves (eg. a service provider might choose to speak to a caregiver rather than the person for whom they are supposed to provide the service because they assume the caregiver will know better). This stripping away of autonomy is disrespectful and dehumanizing. Speaking of dehumanizing, because disability is seen as being “outside the norm” despite 27% of the population in Canada over the age of 14 having at least one disability (Statistics Canada 2023), society makes disabled bodies into a spectacle - something to tokenize, to stare at, to scrutinize, or to fear. Disabled people become hypervisible in public spaces, yet somehow still invisible in the sense that disability often isn’t taken into consideration when spaces or systems are designed.

Another unfortunately common experience for a lot of disabled folks is having others deny or minimize your disability. In social settings and work settings, it manifests as being called “lazy” or “dramatic.” In medical settings, it looks like gaslighting from doctors. Medical gaslighting is widespread and experienced by all genders and sexes, but women, femmes, and people with uteruses are disproportionately impacted (Sebring 2021). Regarding people with uteruses, endometriosis comes to mind. In Canada, it takes an average of 5 years to get diagnosed with endometriosis (The Endometriosis Network Canada), largely due to symptoms being dismissed by healthcare providers. 

The pervasiveness of sexism and misogyny in healthcare is one of the many reasons why recognizing the intersections of disability justice and gender equity is so important. These issues are also deeply intertwined with racial justice, as BIPOC people are also disproportionately impacted by medical gaslighting (Boakye et al. 2024). Everything is connected, and intersectionality, which has roots in Black feminist literature, (Crenshaw 1991) should always be considered when approaching any social justice issue.  

Stigma around disability and the fear of being gaslit, dismissed, or penalized makes it difficult to seek accommodations, and even when accommodations are granted, they aren’t always put into practice. Theoretically acknowledging someone’s disability and agreeing to accommodate them is very different from actually doing so. Often in the workplace, expectations remain the same – same deadlines, same office hours, etc. Capitalism isn’t built for accessibility. It’s hard to hold a stable job when you’re expected to operate as if your disabilities don’t exist, or when you’re penalized for missing work or deadlines due to flare ups, or when so many workplaces are physically inaccessible. Existing under capitalism is unnatural which is why it’s difficult and painful for nearly everyone, but disabled folks experience unique difficulties. 

We need widespread systemic and cultural change. This will involve abolishing capitalism, but until that day comes, we must work towards increasing accessibility, building communities and spaces where disabled folks are safe and celebrated, and educating ourselves and others on disability justice.