While Disability Pride runs strongly throughout our HeartShare community all year, July 26th was deemed the first official day of celebration in 1990 in recognition of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In 2015, states across the country designated July as Disability Pride Month in honor of the ADA’s 25th Anniversary, including NYC Mayor de Blasio.

This year’s 2024 theme, set by The Arc’s National Council of Self-Advocates, is “We Want a Life Like Yours,” declaring that the disability community deserves to live and experience life to its fullest potential but often falls short due to society’s restraints.

The first step in helping the disabled community thrive is hearing from their experiences. We put together a few resources and highlighted a few local events to help our supporters continue their knowledge of the history of the disability community and how we can be stronger anchors of support moving forward.

Learn The History

The History of the Disability Pride Flag

The History of the Disability Rights Movement