Module 2: Disability Pride as Survival Strategy

Learning Intentions: Understand disability pride as political resistance, explore language and identity as tools of liberation, and examine the power of refusing shame.

Reflection & Engagement Options

Journal Prompts

1. How has society taught you to think about disability? What messages about disabled bodies and minds did you absorb growing up? 

2. What's the difference between inspiration narratives and authentic disability representation? Can you think of examples of each? 

3. If you identify as disabled, how do you prefer to describe yourself and why? If you don't identify as disabled, what have you learned about language preferences from disabled communities? 

4. What would it mean for you to practice disability pride in your daily life, regardless of your own identity?

Discussion Questions for Learning Communities

1. How does disability pride serve as resistance during times when disabled people are under political attack? 

2. What's the difference between visibility as empowerment and visibility as vulnerability? How do disabled people navigate this tension? 

3. How can non-disabled people support disability pride without appropriating or speaking over disabled voices? 

4. What role do joy and celebration play in liberation movements? Why is disabled joy particularly radical? 

Creative & Artistic Engagement

• Visual Arts:

  • Create a photo series celebrating disabled bodies in your community

  • Design pride flags or symbols representing different aspects of disability identity

  • Make art challenging, inspiration narratives about disability

Performance & Movement:

• • Write and perform pieces about the difference between pity and pride

  • Create accessible dance or movement celebrating different ways of moving

  • Develop characters that show complex, joyful disabled lives

Music & Sound:

• • Create playlists featuring disabled musicians across genres

  • Write songs about disability pride and resistance

  • Record audio stories about disabled community and culture

Digital & Tech:

• • Start a social media campaign celebrating disabled joy in your community

  • Create accessible memes about disability pride

  • Build a digital archive of positive disability representation

Community Art:

• • Organize a disability pride event in your community

  • Create a community storytelling project about disabled experiences

  • Start a disabled artists collective or showcase

Writing & Documentation:

• • Interview disabled people about what pride means to them

  • Write pieces challenging ableist language and assumptions

  • Document the history of disability pride in your area