Celebrating Disability Pride Month: Honoring Strength, History, and Community

At Shared Horizons, we’re proud to join the disability community in celebrating Disability Pride Month this July. As a pooled special needs trust serving people in the Washington, DC region, our mission is rooted in empowering people with disabilities to live with dignity, independence, and financial security. This month offers a special opportunity to recognize the history, contributions, and resilience of people with disabilities—and to reaffirm our commitment to a more inclusive future.

What is Disability Pride Month?

Disability Pride Month commemorates the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in July 1990—a landmark civil rights law that protects people with disabilities from discrimination and ensures access to public spaces, employment, education, and more. But beyond legislation, Disability Pride Month is a celebration of identity, community, and pride in being disabled. It challenges the stigma often associated with disabilities and encourages society to recognize disability as a natural and valuable part of human diversity.

Why Disability Pride Matters

For many, Disability Pride is about embracing one’s identity without shame and rejecting the idea that disabilities should be hidden or overcome. It’s about recognizing that access barriers—not disabilities themselves—are what limit opportunities. This month reminds us all that every person deserves the right to thrive in their community with the resources and respect they need.

At Shared Horizons, we see firsthand the power of financial planning tools like pooled special needs trusts in supporting that independence. Trusts help protect vital public benefits while providing funds for quality-of-life expenses, allowing people to make choices about their own lives with greater autonomy.

How You Can Celebrate and Learn

• Learn disability history: Explore the rich stories of disability rights movements and the people who have shaped them. The Arc offers excellent resources to get started: Why and How to Celebrate Disability Pride Month.

• Support disabled creators and organizations: Whether through purchasing art, reading books, or attending events, your support amplifies disabled voices and talents.

• Reflect on accessibility in your own spaces: Consider ways your home, workplace, or community can be more welcoming and inclusive to people with different abilities.

• Join the conversation: Use hashtags like #DisabilityPride and #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs to engage with the disability community online and learn directly from lived experiences.

Moving Forward Together

At Shared Horizons, Disability Pride Month deepens our resolve to ensure financial inclusion for people with disabilities. We are honored to serve as trusted partners in managing resources that support independence, empowerment, and quality of life.

This month—and every month—we celebrate the achievements, talents, and voices of people with disabilities in Washington, DC and beyond.

To learn more about how a pooled special needs trust can support you or your loved one, visit www.shared-horizons.org.

Sources:

The Arc of the United States. Why and How to Celebrate Disability Pride Month. Accessed July 2025.

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. https://www.ada.gov/

National Disability Institute. What Is Disability Pride?

Disabled & Here Collection. Disability Pride Toolkit