Disability Pride Month: Celebrating the ADA and people with disabilities

July is Disability Pride Month, a global movement to celebrate people with disabilities and to advocate for change. This month commemorates the anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act being signed into law. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 27% of the U.S. population has some kind of disability – a little over 1 in 4 people. Most people will experience being disabled at some point in their lives, either temporarily or permanently. I did not grow up as a person with a disability. When the ADA was signed into law 34 years ago, I didn’t understand its significance. Now, as someone with vision loss, I know that, without the ADA, there are numerous barriers I would have to face. I am a person who not only lives with a disability but thrives with a disability. I wholeheartedly embrace my status as a person with vision loss. I’ve been fortunate enough to advocate for disability employment opportunities with federal legislators and tell my story on national and local levels to provide hope for other people with vision loss. There was a time I felt the loneliness of a disability; I couldn’t get out of bed and my...