AWP recognizes July as Disability Pride Month and champions the importance of actively working towards a more inclusive and accessible global culture and environment. Disability comes in all shapes and sizes, visible and invisible, internal and external, short-term and long-term. We understand that disability does not discriminate. At AWP we strive to foster an environment where writers and authors feel free to express themselves without judgement or discrimination. The staff at AWP have compiled a list of disability resources including articles from The Writer’s Chronicle, Disability Pride Month events, and informative resources on the history of disabilities and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

We are also excited to premiere an event on YouTube with a live chat, in honor of Disability Pride Month. AWP is excited to announce our latest installment of Virtual AWP: Writer to Writer Conversations & Readings, featuring W2W mentor and disability activist Eileen Cronin in conversation with her two mentees. This event will premiere Thursday, July 14 at 6:00 p.m. ET. To receive a reminder and a direct link to this free event, as well as updates on future events, register online.

To learn more about Disability Pride Month and disabled writers, poets, and authors, check out our Disability Pride Month booklist.

Writer’s Chronicle

What We Don’t Talk About When We Talk About Identity by Eileen Cronin, Summer 2020

Writing the Story of Mental Illness for Young Readers by Ann Jacobus and Nancy Bo Flood, April 2022

Disability in Children’s Literature: Not an Anomaly—An Imperative by Melissa Hart, Brian Tashima, Rachel DeWoskin and Naseem Jamnia, February 2019

The Lyric Mode: Crip Time & Its Metaphors by Emily Rose Cole, April 2020

Writer’s Notebook

Historical Scans by T. K. Dalton

Rewatch Online Events from AWP

#AWP19 The Strengths of Complexity and the Power of Limitations: Writers on Disability

#AWP21 Disability’s Influence on Literature: Realism as a Craft Concept, Sponsored by AWP

#AWP22 Since My Body Discovery and Embodiment of Disabled Voices, Sponsored by Zoeglassia

Disability Pride Month Events

All events are virtual and have links to register for each event.

Monday, July 4

8­­:00–9:30 a.m.— SIC will be hosting What Disability Pride Month Means to Us, a panel led and focused on disabled experts and their stories in the workplace. Rachel Mole, SIC CEO and workplace inclusivity expert will be leading the panel with featured speakers Victoria Jenkins, Virginia Ossana, and Lydia Wilkins. Tickets are available for purchase on a sliding scale basis, and the event will take place online.

Tuesday, July 5

9:30–10:30 a.m.— Inclusive Arts Vermont presents Digital Access: Key Elements for Inclusion of Disabled People, the final workshop in a series of disability awareness and inclusivity programs. This session will focus on creating and implementing an accessibility action plan. Registration is free, and this event will take place online.

6:30–8 p.m.— Peer Support Space, Inc will be hosting Disability (Is Not a Bad Word), a virtual peer gathering. This group meets every first and third Tuesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. Host Beck DeTremp is a disabled person who is passionate about creating an inclusive space for people who are disabled, chronically ill, those with mobility impairments, and anyone living outside of the able-bodied and neurotypical spectrums. This event offers free registration and will take place online.

Wednesday, July 6

12:30–2 p.m.— The Royal College of Nursing Library & Archives will be hosting A History of Learning Disability and Human Rights, a program that will explore the modern history of learning disability education, legislation, and lack thereof. Registration is free, and this event will take place online.

Thursday, July 7

2:00 p.m.— Together! 2012 presents another Pop-up Poetry Café Open Mic for deaf, disabled, and signing poets. This event will be a Zoom workshop and will feature live captions and BSL interpretation. Registration is free, and this event will take place online.

Monday, July 11

6:30–8 p.m.— The Disabled Babes Book Club hosted by Peer Support Space, Inc will be meeting again this July. Although the Disabled Babes Book Club thanks allies for their role in disability advocacy, the club will stay closed to anyone who does not identify as a disabled person. This event is free to attend and will take place online.

Wednesday, July 13

5:30–7 p.m.— Jade T. Perry will be facilitating a discussion based on the book Care Work: Dreaming Disability Justice by Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha. Jade T. Perry is writer, educator, speaker, and artist dedicated to Black feminism and healing. This event will take place on Zoom and offers free registration.

Tuesday, July 19

6:30–8 p.m.— Peer Support Space, Inc will be hosting Disability (Is Not a Bad Word), a virtual peer gathering. This group meets every first and third Tuesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. Host Beck DeTremp is a disabled person who is passionate about creating an inclusive space for people who are disabled, chronically ill, those with mobility impairments, and anyone living outside of the able-bodied and neurotypical spectrums. This event offers free registration and will take place online.

Thursday, July 21

2:00 p.m.—Hassell Inclusion will be hosting a monthly installation titled Digital Accessibility Experts Live, a webinar designed to assist workplace leaders with accessibility problems in the digital workspace. July’s installation will be centered on drafting a digital accessibility plan based on the ISO 30071-1 Digital Accessibility Maturity Scorecard. The creator of the scorecard Peter Bricknell will also be in attendance. This event offers free registration and will take place online.

Thursday, July 28

6:00–7:00 p.m.— Join DRM, Black Girls Vote, and other distinguished speakers in Black Women and Girls at the Intersection of Disabilities and Race, a virtual event exploring the history of the Americans with Disabilities Act and how Black women and girls are affected in different facets of our collective culture and society. Disability experts Keri Gray and Vilissa Thompson will be leading this discussion and panel. Registration is free, and this event will take place online.

7:00–8:30 p.m.— Open Book invites writers to join the Off the Beaten Path Creative Writing Group. In this segment, writers will be looking at works by LGBTQ+, disabled, and BAME authors for inspiration. Open Book provides a safe space for writers of all different backgrounds and aims to cultivate a confidential and respectful writing environment. Registration is free, and this event will take place online.

History and Resources

The CDC has designed a user friendly set of infographics and statistics about disability in the United States. According to the website, 26% of U.S adults are living with some type of disability.

Learn more about the history of disability by checking out the National Park Service’s article “Disability History: The Disability Rights Movement.”

Check out the Disability History Museum’s extensive online resources, including a library catalogue of disabled news features dating back to the early 1900s.

Explore the history of the Braille system through The National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled’s website.

Emerging America has compiled a list of educational primary sources on disability history.

The National Center for Learning Disabilities has constructed an interactive timeline of the history of the Americans with Disabilities Act.