“My disability exists not because I use a wheelchair, but because the broader environment is not accessible.” – Stella Young, writer, comedian and advocate

People living with disabilities face discrimination in various aspects of life, including education, housing, health care, and employment. Sadly all too often, early on in their lives, disabled children and young people are mislabeled as ‘incapable’ and have their right to make decisions around their own lives taken away from them. 

Disability Pride Month, an opportunity to ‘listen to what the voices of disabled people have to say about their rights and what they need.” (Johnson,2021)

For some disabled young people being able to verbally share their how they feel can be challenging but by equipping them with tools that enable them talk about their lived experience can open a variety of doors not only for them but for society as a whole.

We understand it is imperative that these young people have their voices listened and acted upon. We have worked alongside thousands, many with learning needs and/or physical disabilities, to develop digital participation tools such as Express that ensure disabled young people’s wishes, feelings and opinions on their life can be amplified without barriers, in a way that suits them.

We aim to make our tools as accessible as possible by integrating them with Reciteme, an assistive toolbar offering a variety of accessible features, such as text resizing, options to alter background and text colours and  reading assistance with text-to-speech functions.

How to celebrate Disability Pride Month

• Engage with disabled creators – authors, actors, content creators.
• Educate yourself about ableism.
• Support the rights of disabled people whilst being aware of the disability perception gap; meaning non-disabled people do not understand and comprehend how disabling the world really is. This lack of understanding means change can be slow.
• Celebrate the differences within your classroom.