Brooke welcomes special guests Nick and Isaac, to discuss the concept of Disability Pride and share their personal journeys towards embracing their disabilities. They emphasise the importance of authenticity and being true to oneself, highlighting the power of sharing personal stories and experiences.

They also reflect on the impact of being open and honest about their disabilities, both online and in their daily lives, expressing their hopes for future Disability Pride Months, advocating for a more inclusive and supportive society that values and respects individuals with disabilities. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Disability pride is about being authentic and true to oneself, embracing one's identity and sharing the realities of living with a disability.
• Sharing personal stories and experiences can have a profound impact on others, creating connections and fostering understanding within the community.
• Embracing disability pride involves accepting oneself, making adaptations, and being open and honest about one's journey.
• The future of Disability Pride Month should involve a movement that goes beyond a tick box exercise, with corporations and organizations actively supporting accessibility and inclusion.
• Advocating for a dedicated senior disabilities minister and government commitment to supporting people with disabilities is crucial for progress and recognition within society.

BEST MOMENTS

"Be you. Find out who you are, what you are. Accept the fact that you need to adapt, figure out who you are, who you want to be, who you want people to see you be, and focus on being you."

"I would love to see a disability pride march around the world. People being out and going through the streets of London or wherever, just being themselves and showing the world, 'Yeah, we're here.'"

"I would like to see Disability Pride Month become an actual movement and a whole celebration. For it to be done not just by people with disabilities or disability charities, but for other businesses and organisations to get involved."

"I think it's being your authentic self. People can tell when you are not being you, when you're trying overly hard. Sometimes those kinds of things of not being trying to be overly polished and just being me means more."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/disabled-and-proud/id1621152878

HOST BIO

Disabled and Proud is the show that brings listeners a different perspective on disability. Each week this podcast highlights an awesome disabled guest speaking about their own disability; why they are proud to be disabled and why they are proud to be themselves. 

The conversations in this show will look at what challenges these amazing people face socially, mentally, physically and life in general. This show is raw, open, honest, funny, welcoming and educational. 

Disabled & Proud does exactly what it says on the tin! And whilst we are creating this space for disabled people to be unashamedly themselves, without the need to conform to society, this is also not about toxic positivity. This show will be shining a big, bright light on disability without it being “Paralympic or pity”. 

As you will hear disability is WHOLE, COMPLETE & PERFECT and whilst the topic of disability can be quite heavy - and we definitely don't shy away from the bad days - this podcast is also about having fun too! Our aim is to play a part in reclaiming the word disability - turning it from inadequacy to perfection!