Written By: Ryan C. Parrey
Author Bio: Ryan Parrey is a Senior Lecturer and Director of the Disability Studies program at EWU. His research and teaching focus on how meanings of disability circulate between practice-based settings and everyday encounters, with a focus on popular culture and lived experiences of ableism.
December 3rd is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) as proclaimed by the United Nations in 1992. This day of recognition is intended to promote “the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities at every level of society…and to raise awareness of the situation of persons with disabilities in all aspects of political, social, economic, and cultural life.” (World Health Organization, 2023) The significance of this observance is that it foregrounds disability as a social, cultural, and political issue of importance to everyone rather than simply a personal problem that some of us either suffer from or else overcome. The day is intended not only to recognize the importance of access, inclusion, and equity for disabled people but also to acknowledge our value and contributions to society.
Observing the International Day of Persons with Disabilities signifies a commitment to addressing, and reversing, historical injustices faced by disabled people along with their continued systemic marginalization in everyday life. Disabled people have been viewed as burdensome and less-than within a variety of cultural and historical contexts throughout the world. Advancements in medicine and therapeutic interventions in recent decades reframed disability as a lack or loss of function that hinders activities of daily life such as education, employment, and social skills. While this is in some ways an improvement, it still encourages society at large to think of us as pitiable if we have not been “fixed” or inspirational if we have, leaving no space for us to simply live our lives. Keeping these contexts in mind, it is worth noting that the institutionalization and forced sterilization of disabled people remains legal in many countries as well as several parts of the United States (National Women’s Law Center, n.d.) and that education and unemployment rates of disabled people globally are strikingly low. (United Nations, 2022)
While the IDPD is about remembering bleak histories it is also about celebrating continued advancements in access and inclusion along with affirming the value of disabled people. Most notably, the UN’s Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities prohibits discrimination against disabled people while promoting access and inclusion across UN member States (UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, n.d.). This includes access to education, public transportation, housing, and digital spaces. Specifically, the CRPD takes an intersectional approach, recognizing that the rights of disabled women, children, and other multiply marginalized people are especially at risk. Unfortunately, to date the United States has not officially signed on to the CRPD.
Within the US, IDPD provides the occasion to celebrate landmark legislation along with the ongoing role of disabled people in shaping a better tomorrow. The Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975 and Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1990, for example, ensured that children with disabilities receive a free and accessible education in public schools. It also called for students to be placed in “the least restrictive environment”. Building on this, the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 is a civil rights legislation milestone as it prohibits discrimination against disabled people in employment, public transportation, public services and facilities, and telecommunication. Although laws like IDEA and ADA are intended to safeguard the rights of disabled people, advocates and educators like former Secretary of Education Judy Heumann and Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth stress that a more accessible world improves everyone’s quality of life. In other words, if you appreciate the positive impact of curb cuts, automatic doors, ramps, or captioning then you have disabled people to thank for it!
In addition to legislative advancements, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities encourages us to appreciate the work of disabled people as cultural leaders. We can remember, for instance, the work of people like activist Alice Wong, as well as journalist Jen Deerinwater. When reflecting on the lives and work of these individuals, IDPD helps us remember that disability issues, like the concerns of any marginalized group, are always intersectional and that the cultural work to redress them must always be a collective action. Within the US, for example, organizations like the Ford Foundation and its Disability Futures program provides an incubator for disabled artists and creators to develop work that challenges not only ableism but also racism, homophobia, and class division. (Ford Foundation, n.d.) Likewise, the disability justice collective Sins Invalid produces work that fiercely combats societal expectations concerning disability, race, and sexual orientation. Beyond the US, artists like Axel Brauns from Germany, Claudia Gordon from Mexico, and Kwame Nyong’o from Kenya create pieces that affirm the vibrancy and value of their lives as well as the lives of other disabled people.
Readers may have noticed that while December 3rd is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, I have consistently used the term “disabled people” in this post. This choice is in keeping with disability rights and justice principles and practices. While the language we use to refer to people whose minds and/or bodies do not match social expectations has changed for the better over the years, there is still room for growth. Many professions, especially those in the domain of human services, have adopted person-first language such that one would say “person with a visual impairment” when describing me, for example. The idea here is that this language acknowledges the personhood of people living with impairments. On the other hand, disabled activists, advocates, and educators recommend using identity-first language as in the term “disabled person” with the understanding that doing so affirms the value of such persons individually and collectively while side-stepping the need to remind others that we are, first of all, people. I close with this distinction because it is worth knowing and because the International Day of Disabled Persons is about embracing the difference and diversity of everyone, regardless of what you call them.
Further reading Resources
Neilson, Kim (2013). A Disability History of the United States. Boston: Beacon Press.
Schalk, Sami. (2022). Black Disability Politics. Durham: Duke University Press.
Stiker, Henri-Jacques. (2019). A History of Disability. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.
Wong, Alice. (2020). Disability Visibility Project. Knopf Doubleday Publishing.
References
National Women’s Law Center. (14 November 2022). Forced Sterilization of Disabled People in the United States. Retrieved from https://nwlc.org/resource/forced-sterilization-of-disabled-people-in-the-united-states/
United Nations. (n.d.). Disability and Employment Fact Sheet. Retrieved from https://nwlc.org/resource/forced-sterilization-of-disabled-people-in-the-united-states/
United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs. (n.d.). retried from https://social.desa.un.org/issues/disability/crpd/convention-on-the-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities-crpd
World Health Organization (2022). International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/campaigns/international-day-of-persons-with-disabilities#:~:text=International%20Day%20of%20Persons%20with%20Disabilities%20(IDPD)%20is%20a%20UN,every%20year%20on%203%20December
