Disability Pride

Dispatches from a Post-ADA World

By: Ben Mattlin

Narrated by: Anthony Michael Lopez

Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

An eye-opening portrait of the diverse disability community as it is today, and how disability attitudes, activism, and representation have evolved since the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

In Disability Pride, disabled journalist Ben Mattlin weaves together interviews and reportage to introduce a cavalcade of individuals, ideas, and events in engaging, fast-paced prose. He traces the generation that came of age after the ADA reshaped America, and how it is influencing the future. He documents how autistic self-advocacy and the neurodiversity movement upended views of those whose brains work differently. He lifts the veil on a thriving disability culture—from social media to high fashion, Hollywood to Broadway—showing how the politics of beauty for those with marginalized body types and facial features is sparking widespread change.

He also explores the movement’s shortcomings, particularly the erasure of nonwhite and LGBTQIA+ people that helped give rise to Disability Justice. He delves into systemic ableism in health care, the right-to-die movement, institutionalization, and the scourge of subminimum-wage labor that some call legalized slavery. And he finds glimmers of hope in how disabled people never give up their fight for parity and fair play.

Beautifully written, without anger or pity, Disability Pride is a revealing account of an often misunderstood movement and identity, an inclusive reexamination of society’s treatment of those it deems different.

©2022 Ben Mattlin (P)2022 Beacon Press

Critic reviews

“A celebratory account . . . Upbeat and carefully researched, this valuable guide reveals current trends within the disability community.”
—Publishers Weekly

“A notable landmark examination…Disability Pride should take center place in any discussion of past, present, and future inclusive actions and perceptions of the disabled community as a whole.”
—Midwest Book Review

“Passionate, deeply researched, and full of insight, Disability Pride probes the most profound legacy of the ADA: the ways that it forever transformed how disabled people feel about themselves, from passive recipients of charity to active agents in the transformation of society and leaders in a new kind of civil rights movement. A brilliantly written and timely book.”
—Steve Silberman, author of NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity

Excellent

Well, rounded, thoughtful, thoroughly researched. Very accessible to those new to the movement as well as seasoned veteran and advocate. Will definitely be referring back to this resource often and recommend to colleagues and other advocates and allies.

Do Read

Only read this if you want to be a better person. Suck less, listen more. That’s not what the author says, it’s just a suggested strategy for people like me.

Informative and well written

I am so inspired and empowered by this book. Becoming disabled, four years ago was really difficult and this book helped me find pride and value in a beautiful community. Thank you, Ben!