July marks the 33rd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ushering in the celebration of Disability Pride Month. While the ADA is a piece of US-centric legislation, it became the inspiration for the UN Convention for the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) spawning a new consciousness of global pride dedicated to reworking negative stereotypes while creating the modern sensibility of the disability narrative. It was the role of these narratives that counteracted old tropes characterized by stigma and ableism. Throughout the month, Mindset Matters will travel deeper into this new country of disability and explore the evolving meanings of Disability Pride.
However, to truly embrace a modern understanding of Disability Pride, one must recognize that its very foundation is built upon Disability Justice. Each co-exists to chronicle a new story that continues to redefine the relationship of disability in a broader world. However, Disability Justice in its modern permutation can be reflected beyond just traditional activism and harnessed to impact those with disabilities in new ways illustrating not only how they define themselves, but their place in the world. A prime example of this new form of Disability Justice lies at the juncture of academia, politics, and business and resides at the Global Disability Innovation Hub, based at University College of London. The GDI Hub as it is referred to is a research and practice center driving disability innovation for a fairer world. Part of their ethos is the belief that disability innovation is a facet of a bigger movement for Disability Justice, which is essential in disrupting current ideas and practices to create new possibilities. The organization operates in 41 countries, working with more than 70 partners, and delivering projects across a portfolio of £50m. GDI Hub has reached 29 million people since its launch in 2016 by developing bold approaches, building innovative partnerships, and helping to create new ecosystems to accelerate change. Though what identifies GDI Hub as a true changemaker is not only their recognition of the confluence of better data and evidence, defining an innovative ecosystem, and community participation but their capacity to help shape the underlying mechanisms that will, in turn, offer a pathway toward greater Disability Pride.
GDI Hub believes that the most effective pathway to Disability Justice and ultimately Disability Pride is through systemic change harnessing the power of Assistive Technology (AT) and getting it to the people that need it most. Within the past few weeks, GDI Hub among many other academics, policymakers, and country delegates gathered at the United Nations in New York for the Conference for State Parties for The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. During the proceedings, GDI Hub provided insights into What Works – a critical initiative titled AT2030 to improve access to life-changing Assistive Technology (AT) for all. This culminated in a 5-year UK aid-funded investment, initially announced in 2018 in London at the Global Disability Summit. Designed to explore and test innovative ways to address systematic challenges and get Assistive Technology (AT) to the people who need it worldwide. As GDI Hub’s CEO and Co-founder Vicki Austin remarked in her speech at the UN, “We all know that the best innovations have a success story created by a hundred failures. Learning what does not work is as important as learning what does…together we have dared to learn from both.” Both Dr. Austin and the AT 2030 program offer key data that highlight the need for continual policy change but present valuable information that is imperative for businesses to see this as a critical growth market opportunity. GDI Hub has revealed the key to answering the question not whether, but when AT access needs to be a universal reality.
As corporate leadership starts to explore more deeply the value of the AT Movement, new champions are beginning to emerge. One is the government of the United Kingdom which announced at the UN meetings a further commitment of £31 million to the GDI Hub’s AT2030 program. This should galvanize the private sector to recognize that there is real value within the AT Movement. In fact, the market for assistive technology is quite substantial – larger than the size of China, and “approximately 16% of the world’s working-age adults have a disability, and 80% of disabilities are acquired during their working years. That’s 2.5 billion people, with 1.13 billion needing assistive technology.” Couple that with a spending power of around $1.9 trillion and if one considers family members and caregivers, the market size grows to an astounding $13 trillion. Yet still 90% of people who need AT don’t have access, this is where the potential lies.
Disability Justice through Assistive Technology creates new models of access to social and economic mobility. Thus, laying the building blocks for breeding a sense of a new Disability Pride that will only continue to flourish in the years ahead.
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