Celebrating limb differences during Disability Pride Month
18th July 2024
18th July 2024
July is Disability Pride Month in the United States, commemorating the passage of the American with Disabilities Act more than 30 years ago when a large gathering of disabled protestors sat in at the United States capitol demanding legislation on disability reform. This became known as the ‘Capitol Crawl.” Overall, there are almost 43 million U.S. citizens living with disabilities, or about 13% of the overall population. While we celebrate limb differences all year round, we want to highlight the triumphs and day-to-day the community goes through in a monthly snapshot.
We started our celebration of Disability Pride Month with a collaboration with one of the best known children’s brands in the world. We teamed up with Disney to create a custom Tiana Hero Arm for a 9-year-old girl from Atlanta whose response to being asked “what do other people think about your limb difference?’ was “people are a little jealous.” Elisa knows that her limb difference is one of her superpowers!
Watch Elisa fully embrace the Disney princess life, and find her featured on the Disney’s blog here.
You may have seen Trace goofing around on TikTok with his Hero Arm vs Lego Hand videos that have been viewed by millions of people around the world. One thing you won’t see on his TikTok channel is his line dancing to a morning Energizer routine. Trace recently attended his first ever Camp No Limits weekend and through volunteering nurtured his inner child.
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Growing up with a limb difference before the age of social media and countless ways to connect, I never had an opportunity to attend a camp full of other campers who looked just like me. In fact, I didn’t meet anyone else with a limb difference until I was 21. Every time I attend a camp as a counselor or volunteer, I am simply overjoyed for every kid in attendance.
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We recently invited Casey to join our team User Talks Q&A, and one thing became quickly apparent is that regardless of disability, whether visible or not, the US national healthcare system still does not cater for the needs of those living with disabilities. Read Casey’s journey of overcoming severe PTSD while battling with insurance companies for a prosthesis he needed.
Michael recently rated his Hero Gauntlet as a 4.5/5, Mo rated his Hero Gauntlet an 8/10 (we really need to fix those magnets), and Terry said he loved it! Terry is a bilateral amputee and this month spoke to Wired about what he likes about the Hero Gauntlet and what’s coming next. Terry uses the Hero Gauntlet the most when he’s out of the house, and says its best use is for shopping. “It makes carrying items, such as bags, much easier,” he says. But crucially, the Gauntlet is also useful around the house. “If I need to use my screwdriver, turn on the tap, or handle some of my stickier door knobs,” he says, “I’ll go grab my Gauntlet first.” Read more here.
Sign up here if you’re a partial hand amputee, above elbow amputee, below elbow amputee, congenital amputee, or have limb paralysis.
*The* calendar event of the USA year, we cannot wait for the Lucky Fin Project weekend kicking off 26th July. The gathering will now see close to 1,000 families from the limb difference community, which is one of the largest gatherings (certainly for children born with limb differences) in the world. This year we teamed up with the incredible people at Lucky Fin to help three families fundraise for their Hero Arms with the unboxing happening at LFP weekend! We hope to see you there, find out more here.
❤️ Red represents physical disabilities
💛 Yellow if for Neurodiversity
🤍 White represents invisible and undiagnosed disabilities
💙 Blue stands for emotional and psychiatric disabilities, including mental illness, anxiety and depression
💚 Green is for sensory disabilities, including deafness, blindness
🖤 Black represents the mourning over the eugenics and the neglect that disabled people have to fight against.
However you’re celebrating Disability Pride Month, we hope you get a chance to wave the flag for the community, make some noise, and continue to make inroads for accessibility, care, and representation!
That’s all from us for now, Happy Disability Pride Month.