Disability Pride Month
Disability Pride Month
Disability Pride Month takes place every July in the UK since 2015 and celebrates people with disabilities, their identities, culture and their contributions to society. Disability Pride has its origins in the USA, when in 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was passed to prevent people with disabilities being discriminated against. Now it is an opportunity to raise awareness of people living with disabilities (visible and invisible), neurodivergence and long-term mental health conditions, start positive conversations and celebrate the disabled community, their culture, identities and contributions to society.
If you are planning an activity for Disability Pride Month, or an EDI event at any time of the year, please get in touch with the EDI Centre.
Disability Pride Month Events
Disability Pride Month Book Corner
1-31 July 2024 (see library opening hours for details)
The ABLE Network group have created a reading list featuring books by disabled authors, themes about disability, or disabled characters that represent the lived experiences of disabled people. Books from this list will be featured at the Abdus Salam, Charing Cross and Hammersmith Libraries through the month alongside resources for disabled staff and students.
Please head to the libraries to pick up your new fiction, non-fiction or poetry favourite!
ABLE Coffee morning: Surviving an ableist jungle
5 July 2024, 09.00-10:00, MS Teams Online
Mari da Veiga will be joining ABLE’s Friday Coffee morning with practical approaches to self-regulation for disabled staff and allies. Outside of the ideal settings of peaceful meditation retreats and sanitised yoga rooms, Mari will guide participants through an interactive session, using real-world situations, to make techniques for self-regulation more accessible and integrated to everyday stress-triggers.
This is only open to ABLE network members, but you can join ABLE now.
Disability Pride Month events
ABLE Network x Imperial 600 Badgemaking with Badge Cafe
9 July 2024, 13.30-16.30, Library Cafe, South Kensington Campus
ABLE Network Group have joined forces with Imperial 600 to celebrate the intersection of disability and queerness for Disability Pride Month. This is a drop-in session open to all. All materials will be provided just bring yourselves and your creativity.
This is a drop-in session (no registration required).
ABLE Coffee morning: Movement for mental health
12 July 2024, 09.00-10.00, MS Teams Online
Michael Cole will be joining ABLE’s Friday Coffee morning to discuss movement for mental health and what it means for a neurodivergent academic.
This session is only open to ABLE network members, so please consider joining the ABLE Network now.
Disability Pride Month Events
Intersectional Approaches to Women’s Health Research & Care
16 July 2024, 12.00-13.30, online
At Inclusive Research: co-hosted by Nariell Morrison & Rutendo Muzambi, we will hear from researchers whose work focuses on how to make research more inclusive to women and females from otherwise underrepresented groups, in particular ethnic minorities and neurodivergent people. This event is the first part of a webinar series run by the Women's Health Network of Excellence, in collaboration with Able@Imperial in celebration of Disability Pride Month.
Disability Pride Month in conversation with Dr Ossie Stuart
25 July 2024, 15.00-16.00, MS Teams online
Dr Ossie Stuart is a disabled person, from a black and minority ethnic background. He is an equality and diversity consultant with fifteen years’ experience as a trainer and specialist adviser, who has provided disability and equality/diversity training for various bodies. Since 2013 he has also run the annual Calibre Leadership and Management Programme at Imperial.
Hosted by Calibre graduates, Eleni Erotokritou and Aabida Patel, this event will take place online via Microsoft Teams.
Disability Pride Month Events
Intersectional Approaches to Women’s Health Research & Care
30 July 2024, 12.00-13.30, online
At Inclusive Care: hosted by Dr Carinna Hockham, ABLE committee members Dez Mendoza, Elliann Fairbairn, and Aabida Patela will share lived experiences of navigating the healthcare system with a disability and other intersecting characteristics. The webinar series will conclude with a talk by Dr Ragheshri Dhairyawan on her upcoming book 'Unheard: The Medical Practice of Silencing', followed by Q&A. This event is the second part of a webinar series run by the Women's Health Network of Excellence, in collaboration with Able@Imperial webinar series in celebration of Disability Pride Month.
Disability Pride flag colours – What do they represent?
The Disability Pride flag was created by Ann Magill in 2019 and uses colour to represent the different types of disability and how they affect people individually.
- Red – Physical disabilities
- Gold – Neurodivergence (ADHD, AuDHD, Autism Spectrum, Cognitive Functioning Difficulties/Executive Dysfunction, Dyscalculia, Dysgraphia, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, Misophonia, Slow Processing Speed, Stammering and Tourette's Syndrome)
- White – Invisible and undiagnosed disabilities
- Blue – Mental health conditions and illnesses
- Green – Sensory disabilities
The flag aims to raise awareness of people with disabilities and works to challenge and ultimately end the ableist stigma that disabled people are still facing in society today, by promoting that disability is a natural part of human diversity.
(Disability Pride Month flag image via Wikimedia Commons created by Ann Magill)