Spotlight
DPPL Celebrates Disability Pride Month
07.01.24
On July 26, 1990, President George H. W. Bush signed the Americans with Disabilities Act.
In 2015, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio declared July Disability Pride Month in celebration of the ADA’s 25th anniversary.
Today, this Disability Pride Month is many things.
It is a chance to learn about and celebrate those of us with disabilities and bring about awareness to ongoing ableism and discrimination against disabled peers.
It is also a chance to listen to and amplify voices from the different disabled communities.
And it’s a chance to honor the history, achievements, experiences, and struggles of disabled people.
What are ways you can learn about and honor Disability Pride Month this year?
You can start here:
- Did you know that the CDC defines 25% of Americans as having a condition that is considered a disability (although only a fraction identify as disabled)?
- Did you know that Disability Pride is associated with positive self-esteem and well-being?
- Disability is a broad term, and can include physical, mental, visible, or invisible disabilities.
Here are some great resources to help you learn more!
ADULT NONFICTION
Disability Pride: Dispatches From a Post-ADA World
Ben Mattlin
An eye-opening portrait of the diverse disability community as it is today and how attitudes, activism, and representation have evolved since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) -- Provided by publisher.
J Fiction
The Chance To Fly
Ali Stroker
After moving across the country, thirteen-year-old Natalie auditions for her new school's play and overcomes her fears and insecurities about performing in a wheelchair.- Provided by publisher.
Graphic Novel
Sensory: Life on the Spectrum: An Autistic Comics Anthology
Andrews McMeel Publishing
"From artist and curator Bex Ollerton comes an anthology featuring comics from thirty autistic creators about their experiences of living in a world that doesn't always understand or accept them. Sensory: Life on the Spectrum contains illustrated explorations of everything from life pre-diagnosis to tips on how to explain autism to someone who isn't autistic, to suggestions for how to soothe yourself when you're feeling overstimulated. With unique, vibrant comic-style illustrations and the emotional depth and vulnerability of memoir, this book depicts these varied experiences with the kind of insight that only those who have lived them can have." --Amazon.
STREAMING VIDEO on kanopy
Zoom In: Microaggressions and Disability
An intimate portrait of five disabled people living in the Pacific Northwest. They discuss microaggressions and implicit bias against people with disabilities, developing disability pride and identity, and how bias affects them every day. The film suggests how teachers, coworkers, health care workers, and families can become better allies to members of the largest minority group in the US.
youth NONFICTION
How to Talk to an Autistic Kid
Daniel Stefanski
Written by an autistic 14 year old boy to help people get along better with and feel comfortable around autistic children.
ADULT FICTION
True Biz: A Novel
Sara Nović
"True biz? The students at the River Valley School for the Deaf just want to hook up, pass their history final, and have doctors, politicians, and their parents stop telling them what to do with their bodies. This revelatory novel plunges readers into the halls of a residential school for the deaf, where they'll meet Charlie, a rebellious transfer student who's never met another deaf person before; Austin, the school's golden boy, whose world is rocked when his baby sister is born hearing; and February, the headmistress, who is fighting to keep her school open and her marriage intact, but might not be able to do both at the same time. As a series of crises both personal and political threaten to unravel each of them, Charlie, Austin, and February find their lives inextricable from one another-and changed forever. This is a story of sign language and lip-reading, cochlear implants and civil rights, isolation and injustice, first love and loss, and, above all, great persistence, daring, and joy"-- Provided by publisher.
PICTURE BOOK
My Friend Isabelle
Eliza Woloson
A young boy named Charlie describes the activities he shares with his friend Isabelle, a girl with Down Syndrome.
middle school fiction
The Silence Between Us
Alison Gervais
Maya has reservations about transferring to a hearing school after studying in a school for the deaf for years, but grows closer to Beau Watson, the student body president, who starts learning sign language to communicate with her.
HIGH SCHOOL COLLECTION
Disability Visibility: 17 First-Person Stories for Today: Adapted for Young Adults
"A young adult adaptation of Alice Wong's Disability Visibility: First Person Stories from the Twenty-First Century"-- Provided by publisher.
PICTURE BOOK
Curious George Joins the Team
Cynthia Platt
"In this brand new Curious George story, George learns that a wheelchair doesn't stop his friend Tina from anything -- even joining a basketball team!"-- provided by publisher.
Youth Fiction
Out of My Mind
Sharon M. Draper
Considered by many to be developmentally disabled, a brilliant, impatient fifth-grader with cerebral palsy discovers a technological device that will allow her to speak for the first time.
PICTURE BOOK
A Sky-Blue Bench
Bahram Rahman
"Young Aria returns to school after recovering from an accident and being fitted with a prosthetic leg, but the school has no furniture and sitting on the floor is too painful. She finds a way to build her own bench, surprising and inspiring her classmates. A sensitive author's note addresses the author's experience growing up in Afghanistan during the civil war and the legacy of landmines."-- Provided by publisher.
YOUTH FICTION
Sleuthing Machine
Dusti Bowling
"Third-grader Aven Green has been solving mysteries for a whole month--cracking such cases as The Mystery of the Cranky Mom. But can this perceptive detective solve two cases at the same time? First her teacher's lunch bag disappears. Then Aven's great-grandma's dog goes missing. Fortunately, since Aven was born without arms, all the "arm" cells went to her super-powered brain instead. (That's her theory.) This hilarious chapter book showcases a new side to Dusti Bowling's unforgettable protagonist."--From Amazon.com.