Celebrating Disability Pride for young learners & caregivers

By Children’s Librarian Shelley Harris

July 26 marks the 25th anniversary of signing the Americans With Disabilities Act into law, and July as a whole marks the 25th anniversary of Disability Pride Month. As always, we are eager to celebrate this vibrant, vital, diverse community within our larger library community! 

For many non-disabled people, disability is considered a negative word, something to be avoided by using euphemisms instead: special needs, differently abled. They have rarely heard disabilities spoken about, so do not know how to speak about them. This directly leads to ableism, the intentional or unintentional bias against disabled people and the accommodations they need to function independently in society. 

So what is a disability? The Nora Project defines it as a difference in the way a person completes one or more of the tasks that we all complete every day. A disability can affect the way a person looks, how they move, the ways they communicate their thoughts, ideas, wants, and needs, or it can affect how they think or learn new information. There’s nothing good or bad about it, it’s just a normal and neutral part of life.

I talk with my mouth. My brother uses an augmentative communication app on a tablet and also his hands to communicate. I read best with my eyes. Some people read best with their ears, others use their fingers. Because of my ADHD, I learn, think, communicate, and make friends differently than most people. These are all different ways to do the same thing, and each way is valid!

Here are resources to share with your children, disabled and abled, so they are comfortable with disability diversity from a young age. 

Share videos, books, and more

This video offers a great look at how to start conversations about disabilities.

These videos give tips on how to share disability-affirming books and books by disabled authors.

These books are affirming and validating for kids with and without disabilities:

• You’re So Amazing! by James & Lucy Catchpole. One-legged Joe is “amazing.” He knows this because wherever he goes people always tell him he’s amazing for sliding down the slide, kicking a ball, just eating an ice cream. Can’t he just be Joe?
• We Move Together by Kelly Fritsch. Fair is everyone getting ice cream; unfair is a step that blocks people in scooters or wheelchairs from getting some. Follow a mixed-ability group of kids as they creatively negotiate everyday barriers and find joy and connection in disability culture and community.
• I Am Me by Susan Verde. Sometimes we hide who we really are to conform to the way we think we are supposed to be in the world. Sometimes we compare ourselves to others and feel we don’t fit in. But when we realize we are something to be celebrated and we proudly live out loud as our true selves, we can make our unique mark on the world—and share our joy!

Plus, check out our newly updated Disability Reads bibliography, for kids with and without disabilities.

With an Oak Park Public Library card

Use your library card to borrow:

• iPads loaded with 6 augmentative and alternative communication apps
• Supported gardening, identity, and sensory kits
• Braille reader and labelers
• Read-aloud scanner pens (pictured above)

Library programs

We offer weekly storytimes for kids with disabilities all year long, plus monthly gardening and playgroups during the summer. See what is coming up »

We also have a variety of supported program and activity videos to replicate at home.

Learn more

Explore previous disability pride posts, links, books, and resources:

• Disability Pride: Activities for early learners & info for caregivers
• Disability Pride Month: Activities for early learners & caregivers
• Normalizing autistic acceptance: Videos & books for early learners & caregivers
• Supported Services at the Oak Park Public Library
• Accessibility at the Oak Park Public Library