Every July, Disability Pride Month calls us to do more than celebrate. It calls us to pay attention.
As a former educator, disability advocate, and mother to a child with a disability, I’ve seen firsthand how our systems still fall short. My son was diagnosed with Spina Bifida before birth and underwent spinal surgery while still in the womb. Since then, we’ve faced a lifetime of medical challenges, school meetings, insurance battles, and daily reminders that our world was never designed with kids like him in mind.
Disability isn’t rare — and it’s not someone else’s issue. It’s part of the human experience. One in four adults in the U.S. has a disability; one in five children has special healthcare needs. In Livingston County alone, one in seven children receives special education services.
And yet, we still treat disability as an afterthought, even though it’s the only and largest minority group that anyone can join at any time for any reason.
July 26 marks the 35th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), a law won through the tireless advocacy of disabled activists. It was a turning point — but not a final destination. Today, that progress is under threat.
Programs like Medicaid and Medicare, which provide critical support to disabled people, face severe cuts. There are calls to eliminate the Department of Education, which would erase the few federal protections families like mine depend on. And after 50 years, IDEA — the law promising every child a free and appropriate public education — has still never been fully funded. Congress pledged to cover 40% of the cost; they’ve barely reached 13%.
This isn’t just a broken system. It’s one designed to exclude.
Disability Pride Month matters because it forces us to ask better questions:
• Who is missing from this room?
• Are we truly listening to people with lived experience?
• Are we creating spaces where disabled people belong—not as an afterthought, but from the very start?
Making our world more accessible benefits everyone. Curb cuts help wheelchairs — and also strollers and delivery carts. Captions support deaf people — and anyone watching a video in a quiet space. Inclusive playgrounds don’t just allow more kids to play — they create more joy for all.
So why should Disability Pride Month matter to you?
Because our community is stronger when everyone has a seat at the table. Because building a better world shouldn’t depend on whether or not you’re personally affected.
My son isn’t broken. He isn’t a burden. He’s curious, brave, funny, compassionate, and full of light. And he deserves to be seen — not just in July, but every day.
Disability Pride is not about inspiration — it’s about action. Read a book by a disabled author. Our local libraries have disability pride displays you can check out right now! Watch a documentary that centers disability stories. Learn about disability activists that are the reason for the change we have seen in the last 50 years. Connect with local advocacy groups like The Arc Livingston, Disability Network, and Michigan Alliance for Families. Follow what the Abilities Alliance coalition of Livingston County is doing. Ask how you can make your school, workplace, church, business, or community more inclusive.
The change starts with you.
Because when we build a world where disabled people belong, we build a world that’s better for all of us.
Kasey Textor-Hilton is a former teacher and disability advocate working to make the world more inclusive for her son and others with disabilities. She resides in Livingston County with her husband and two children, and has her first children’s book coming out this fall that walks children through having to go through surgery. You can find her disability inclusive work on Instagram @almostsavedbythebell.
