Discover What Disability Pride truly means

from an OT with Lived Experience

Pride is often linked to:

means not just living with a disability, but living openly, authentically, and unapologetically. It’s about seeing disability as a source of identity, community, and strength, not shame or limitation.

As an occupational therapist with a physical disability, I often find myself at the intersection of two worlds: the clinician and the lived experience. It’s a powerful, sometimes complicated, and deeply personal place to be. But more than anything, it is a place of pride.

isn’t about pretending life is easy. It’s about rejecting the idea that our bodies or minds are broken. We need to accept our disability and this can be tricky when all people want to do is ‘fix’ you. It’s about embracing who we are — entirely — and recognizing that our experiences bring strength, insight, and value, not that our disabilities are an issue! This acceptance can be a barrier for people as we feel we should keep up with our family/friends instead of looking at how we can adapt things to make it accessible for us and family/friends. Some people can have the thought or opinion that it’s too much effort to adapt the situation or why should people change things just for them? So acceptance as to what you can/can’t do is needed and having the ability/confidence to verbalize this to others. Of course this isn’t an easy process and can take time, it can also be a process that’s repeated several times throughout peoples lives.

When I work with clients, I bring more than clinical knowledge. I bring lived empathy. I know what it means to navigate a world that wasn’t designed with us in mind. I know the difficulty of acceptance, the frustration of inaccessibility, the fatigue of advocacy, and the quiet resilience of adapting — not just for survival, but for joy. And I also know the power of creativity, community, and claiming space unapologetically.

is about enabling participation, finding meaning, and supporting identity. Disability pride aligns with that mission. It challenges outdated models of “fixing” and instead centers empowerment, autonomy, and acceptance. I don’t practice OT to “normalize” anyone. I practice to help people live fully — however and whatever that is or looks for them.

I am proud of me and what I’ve achieved physically, it has been a challenge especially as I get older but I’m proud of how we can adapt but also the way it’s taught me compassion, patience, persistence, and perspective. I am proud of the way it defies expectations — mine, and society’s. I’m proud to be me with my disability.