Some love, and reassurance, from me at the end of Disability Pride Month

Dear Disabled friend – here’s some love at the end of Disability Pride Month.

Save this for yourself, or send it to a Disabled friend who you think might like to hear or read these words 💕 An instagram version of this video is here. 

Video: Carly, a woman with a red face and short dark curly hair, wearing a colourful floral jumpsuit, talking to camera. There are captions on the video.

The transcript is “Dear Disabled friend, 

At the end of Disability Pride Month, I want to say a few things. 

You are allowed to call yourself disabled, and you’re most welcome in the disability community – even if your disability is not visible or you don’t think it’s “severe” enough or you haven’t received an official diagnosis. There’s no gate-keeping from me. 

You are allowed to experience joy – big or small, and even when you’re in a pain flare or have experienced ableism or discrimination. 

You are allowed to earn money.

You can have individual success and should celebrate your achievements and not apologise for them. You also shouldn’t apologise for being disabled or your access needs. 

You are allowed to be happy. 

And you’re allowed to rest – to show love to your body and mind, and also to take a break from fighting injustice. Ableism can wait.  

Disability pride takes work. Some days you may be prideful, and some days your body, mind, voice or senses may mean that your disability pride takes a back seat. That’s ok – you’ll find pride again soon. Identifying as disabled and finding disability pride can be liberating – and it’s not just for the month of July.

And finally, you are allowed to love yourself, and to be loved. 

Happy Disability Pride Month. I’m proud of you, and proud to be a part of the disability community. “