Updated July 10, 2024 at 14:27 pm
July is Disability Pride Month, an event that raises awareness of the approximately 61 million American adults who live with at least one disability that is neither physical nor visible, such as a learning disability, developmental disability, intellectual disability, mental illness, or chronic illness.
Yet despite the commonality of disability, not many people know how to talk about it or interact with people who have a disability.
“To many people, [disability] “This frightening and overwhelming subject remains a mystery,” says disability rights activist and author Emily Radau, “but when it comes to disability, that’s not what we should be doing, because disability is only part of what makes someone who they are.”
/ Left: TenSpeed Press, Right: Rick Guidotti
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Left: TenSpeed Press, Right: Rick Guidotti
Emily Radau is a disability advocate, speaker, and author of Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to Be an Ally.
In her 2021 book, Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to Be an Ally, Radau shares her thoughts on how people with and without disabilities can work together to make the world a more inclusive and accessible place.
Radau, a wheelchair user with multiple disabilities, points out that there is no single story about the disability experience, and while it is not the responsibility of people with disabilities to educate non-disabled people about the nuances of disabled life, she says progress can be made through dialogue.
“This is how powerful disability activists who came before me made progress, and this is how we will continue to make progress,” she wrote.
We spoke with Radau about the advice she would give to anyone (disabled or not) who wants to end stigma against people with disabilities in America and become a better advocate.
Learn and use the right language
/ Emily Radau/Ten Speed Press
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Emily Radau/Ten Speed Press
“Language is one of the most important signals of whether we accept or reject someone’s identity,” says Radau. In her book, she lists words that shouldn’t be used and suggests words to use instead. Here are some of her suggestions:
What is a disability?
Disability is a natural part of the human experience, Radau says. What it means to be disabled is not a single experience, and being disabled or having a disability is certainly not inherently bad or shameful. So we shouldn’t use the words disabled or disability. They’re not bad words.
What is disability discrimination?
Radau defines ableism as “attitudes and behaviors that devalue others because of their disability.” Ability discrimination exists in many different forms and places. It can be something as small as someone asking about your disability, or as big as limited access to public transportation, which provides people with disabilities with access to employment, education, and even health care.
One size does not fit all
The disability community is not one. “If you’ve met a disabled person, you’ve met a disabled person,” Radau says. Each person with a disability has their own unique experience with their disability. For example, in Radau’s family, she, her mother, and her uncle have the same rare genetic disorder. But the disability manifests and affects each person differently. One person’s experience can influence another’s, but one experience does not reflect the experience of the entire community.
It takes constant effort to be an ally
“Being an ally isn’t just about holding the door for someone or using the right terminology and then being done with it and saying, ‘I was a good ally today,'” Radau says.
It goes back to the idea of recognising what a stereotypical disabled person looks like and understanding how a black or transgender disabled person experiences disability differently than, say, a white woman in a wheelchair.
“To me, being an ally means asking yourself, ‘Who has a seat at the table?'” Radau says. “It’s a constant learning process, and it can be difficult, but the more we know, the better we can do.”
Additional resources
Books
movie
Crip Camp: A Disability Revolution (2020) Sins Invalid: An Honest Claim to Beauty (2013)
video
The podcast portion of this story was produced by Sylvie D’Aglis.
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