July 26th marks the 34th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a landmark law designed to codify the rights and protections of people with disabilities living in the U.S. For several years, July has been celebrated as Disability Pride Month, with many people with disabilities and their advocates viewing the month as both a time of celebration and a highly visible time to raise awareness and advocate for disability rights.
As we approach the second half of Disability Pride Month 2024, you may be wondering what you can do to help people with disabilities. A big step in becoming a better advocate and ally for people with disabilities is to learn about their experiences and listen to their voices. To that end, we’ve compiled a list of Disability Pride Month books to add to your bookshelf. But remember, disabilities exist all year round, not just in July. Once you’ve finished reading this list, check out some of the other books out there. There are dozens of books about disabilities out there.
(Limourence Press)
Limerence Press’s A Quick & Easy Guide series provides quick introductions to topics like sex and gender. This series by A. Andrews focuses on the intersection of sex and disability, providing a starting point for people with disabilities and their partners to establish better communication in and out of the bedroom. It also dispels myths about disabled bodies and offers practical tips for creating enjoyable intimate relationships.
(Beacon Press)
The late Judith Heumann is often called the “mother of disability rights,” and for good reason. Paralyzed by polio at 18 months old, Heumann fought hard to pursue an education and become a teacher, but was initially denied both due to her paralysis. She then led a Section 504 sit-in at the San Francisco offices of the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (the longest-ever occupation of a U.S. government building) to pressure the Carter Administration to codify disability protections. This led directly to the creation and passage of the ADA, which was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush in 1990. Her memoir, Being Heumann, is a candid chronicle of her resistance and resilience.
(Duke University Press)
Dr. Sami Schalk’s Black Disability Politics examines the deep connections between the Black and disability movements and why Black disability activists have been underrecognized in the history of the disability rights movement. Her research includes archives from the National Black Women’s Health Project and the Black Panther Party, as well as interviews with current Black disability cultural activists and activists, aiming to deconstruct white supremacist narratives of the disability movement and re-incorporate multiply marginalized people with disabilities into the fight for protections and rights.
(Arsenal Pulp Press)
In Crip Kinship, author Shayda Kafai delves deep into the art and activism of Sins Invalid, a Bay Area-based performance project that centers disabled, queer, trans, and gender non-conforming people of color. Kafai examines Sins Invalid’s disability justice framework and teachings, which aim to form digital networks and disability emancipatory spaces while dismantling white supremacy in the fight for disability rights and dismantling the gender exclusion and infantilization of disability.
(Ten Speed Press)
Disability is often confusing, frustrating, and frightening for people with disabilities and their families. In Demystifying Disability, author Emily Ladau uses plain, understandable language to explain how to think, speak, and act about disability, how to recognize ableism, and how to make accessibility the norm in your everyday communications and planning. This is an excellent resource that provides a large amount of information without overwhelming the reader.
(Vintage)
Disability activist and author Alice Wong has edited two-thirds of the planned disability-focused titles from Vintage. Disability Visibility features a selection of essays by contemporary disabled writers that range in scope and tone, from personal reflection to impassioned calls to action. Disability Intimacy features a selection of essays by contemporary disabled writers about what caregiving, sex, community, or other intimacies mean to them. The third book in the series, Disability Vulnerability, focuses on the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts. It is due to be published in 2026.
(Duke University Press)
First published in 1999, Exile and Pride chronicles the history and politics of disability from the perspective of Eli Clare, a white, disabled, genderqueer activist and author. Clare’s unravelling of oppressive systems and how they intersect is a call for social justice movements to prioritize accessibility for all as their first and foremost commitment.
(Arsenal Pulp Press)
In this follow-up to Care Work: The Future is Disabled, writers and activists Leah Lakshmi Piepna Samarasinghe examine the importance of building peer care networks in the face of mass disability events like COVID-19. They examine how disabled people are saving each other’s lives through mutual aid, community building, art, organizing, and more, and how this work can and should define the future of disabled lives. Because disability itself is not the problem, systemic discrimination and neglect are.
(Atria Books)
Keah Brown, author of #DisabledAndCute, a disability activist and author, was born with cerebral palsy, which has influenced the way she lives her life. In her debut memoir, The Pretty One, she examines her relationship with her non-disabled identical twin sister, her love for romance, her love for paramours and pop culture, and how the media’s inadequate portrayal of disability has impacted her journey of self-love. Brown loves herself, and in these essays, she makes it clear that normalcy is no longer her goal, because it would force her to hide some of the best parts of her.
(Ten Speed Press)
Read This To Get Smarter by Blair Imani is a concise, accessible introduction to social justice topics, including disability, for readers at all learning levels. Outside of the pages of her book, Imani posts video content on social media called “Smarter In Seconds,” where she discusses more specific aspects of the broad topics covered here and regularly features expert guests.
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