Disability Pride Month Reflections

Watch my TEDX talk here.

It’s Disability Pride Month, a time to celebrate, reflect, and importantly, continue the conversations that are still so needed.

Disability is a deeply complex subject. Many of us living with disabilities walk a fine line: we don’t want to be defined solely by our conditions, yet we still need to be seen, heard, and supported. We need systems that actually work, policies that reflect lived realities, and environments, physical, societal, and professional, that are truly inclusive.

The problem? We’re still far from that reality.

We live in a world where economic systems and social structures often fail to properly support disabled people. Even when there’s willingness, there’s also resistance, ignorance, and layers of red tape. And then there’s the deeper, more insidious part: the everyday, often unconscious discrimination that shows up as microaggressions, assumptions, and silencing.

Many disabled people, including myself, experience this daily. Not always out of malice, often it stems from lack of education, exposure, or awareness. That’s exactly why these conversations are vital. My TEDx talk was born from this very place: a need to raise awareness, to speak up not just for myself, but for the many whose voices have been lost in a system not built for us.

So many people say, “I didn’t realise disabled people needed that.” And that’s the point. If our needs were more visible, if our stories were more central, if the systems actually asked and listened, we wouldn’t be so easily overlooked.

Thriving, when you’re disabled, often becomes a privilege. That might sound strange, especially in a so-called modern world, but it’s the truth. Access to the right care, housing, finances, community, and visibility can drastically shift whether someone is simply surviving or actually living. People that are unable to work aren’t shamed in the way that people often are.

I’ve lived between many lines: wanting to be empowered and independent, yet having to navigate discrimination and bureaucracy just to get basic needs met. I don’t want to be solely defined by my disability, yet I have to advocate for myself, because without that, the right support doesn’t show up. That’s the complexity. We can't separate advocacy from survival.

During Disability Pride Month, we absolutely should celebrate the disabled community, our strength, our creativity, our resilience. But we must also have the uncomfortable conversations.

As I said in my TEDx talk, accessibility isn’t just about ramps (though yes, ramps are still essential). I still walk into restaurants or shops where a simple ramp becomes a dramatic ordeal, as though asking for access is asking for something extraordinary, instead of something basic and fair.

But access goes beyond that. It means accessible boardrooms, inclusive policies, sensory-friendly spaces, and flexible work practices. It means acknowledging invisible disabilities, neurodivergence, chronic illness, mental health struggles. It means designing a world that’s multidimensional, because people are.

We also need to stop framing access as a “special privilege.” Disabled people aren’t asking for special treatment, we’re asking for equal footing. We’re asking to be part of the world without shame, struggle, or the burden of constantly proving our worth.

The truth is, when one thing breaks down in a disabled person’s life, whether it’s transport, support, income, or care, it can trigger a chain reaction that affects everything. And unpaid carers, family members, and loved ones are often stretched thin, trying to hold all of that up. It’s not sustainable. And it’s not fair.

So this month, I want to say this to my fellow disabled people:
You are enough. You are valuable. You are worthy of being seen and heard.
Whether your disability is visible or invisible, whether you're thriving or surviving—you matter.

I know the wellness and personal development world can feel particularly tricky. There’s pressure to “heal,” to be seen doing enough, to appear like you’re progressing. But healing isn’t linear, and neither is living with disability. If you're not "doing all the things," you're not failing. You are adapting to a world that wasn’t built with you in mind. That takes strength, not weakness.

To those who are able-bodied or don’t share these lived experiences: your role matters too. Don’t look away. Listen. Ask. Learn. Get comfortable with the discomfort. You won’t get it all right, but being part of the conversation is a start. That’s how change begins.

Let’s stop assuming and start asking. Let’s stop shaming and start supporting.
Let’s remove the barriers, physical, social, and internal, that keep disabled people from being seen not just as contributors, but as leaders, innovators, friends, colleagues, creators, and change-makers.

Let’s make sure that thriving is not a privilege, but a possibility for all.

And if you’ve read this far, thank you. You’re part of the butterfly effect. These small shifts in perspective, these micro-moments of awareness, they ripple out. And they do create change.

Let’s keep going, together.

All my love

Hannah X