Disability Pride Month

Every July, the city of Lake Oswego, Oregon recognizes Disability Pride Month with events throughout the city.

Disability Pride Month promotes acceptance of disability as an identity, community, and culture. It honors the history, achievements, and experiences of people with disabilities while challenging ableism and discrimination.

Disability pride is about embracing people with disabilities as fully human. It is not about denying challenges or “liking” one’s disability but rejecting shame and the idea that disabled people are less capable of contributing to society.

At Lake Oswego Public Library, we are proud to support Disability Pride Month with a growing collection of books by and about disabled people. These include works that reflect authentic disability experiences, often written by disabled authors themselves, avoiding stereotypes that reduce disability to plot devices or negative tropes. This month, explore our curated booklist that highlights diverse perspectives on disability:.


Updated June 24, 2025
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Access state-level health and demographic data about adults with disabilities.
Watch documentaries about the history of the disability rights movement and meet artists and families whose stories examine their disability experiences.

Although not yet officially recognized in the United States, since 2004 Disability Pride Month has been celebrated with parades in cities including New York, Chicago, Madison, and Los Angeles.

A quiet kind of thunder
Barnard, Sara
Paper Book
A girl who can't speak and a boy who can't hear go on a journey of self-discovery and find support with each other in this gripping, emotionally resonant novel from bestselling author Sara Barnard. Perfect for fans of Morgan Matson and Jandy Nelson. Steffi doesn't talk, but...
El deafo
Bell, Cece
Paper Book
Cece Bell's #1 New York Times Bestseller graphic novel El Deafo is the origin story of a student with hearing loss and a hearing aid becoming a superhero. A John Newbery Medal Winner Now an Apple+ Animated TV Series! ...
The pretty one : on life, pop culture, disability, and other reasons to fall in love with me
Brown, Keah
Paper Book
From the disability rights advocate and creator of the #DisabledAndCute viral campaign, a thoughtful, inspiring, and charming collection of essays exploring what it means to be black and disabled in a mostly able-bodied white America. Keah Brown loves herself, but that hadn't...
Dancing after TEN : a graphic memoir
Chong, Vivian
Paper Book
In late 2004, Vivian Chong's life was changed forever when a rare skin disease, TEN (Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis), left her with scar tissue that would eventually blind her. As she was losing her sight, she put down as many drawings on paper as she could to document the experience. In Dancing After...
Invisible differences : a story of Asperger's, adulting, and living a life in full color
Dachez, Julie
Paper Book
Meet Marguerite. She feels awkward, struggling everyday to stay productive at work and keep up appearances with friends. She'ssensitive, irritable at times. She makes her environment a fluffy, comfortingcocoon, alienating her boyfriend. The everyday noise and stimuli...
Wheels of courage : how paralyzed veterans from World War II invented wheelchair sports, fought for disability rights, and inspired a nation
Davis, David
Paper Book
Out of the carnage of World War II comes an unforgettable tale about defying the odds and finding hope in the most harrowing of circumstances. Wheels of Courage tells the stirring story of the soldiers, sailors, and marines who were paralyzed on the battlefield during...
Deaf utopia : a memoir-- and a love letter to a way of life
DiMarco, Nyle
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER A heartfelt and inspiring memoir and celebration of Deaf culture by Nyle DiMarco, actor, producer, two-time reality show winner, and cultural icon of the international Deaf community Before becoming the actor, producer, advocate, and model...
More alike than different : my life with down syndrome
Egan, David
Paper Book
In this inspiring memoir, David Egan tells his own story, giving us a window into a life spent pushing boundaries. With a family undaunted by his diagnosis of Down syndrome, Egan learned early to speak up for himself. He has since become a powerful advocate for all people with disabilities. His...
How to be human : an autistic man's guide to life
Fleming, Jory
Paper Book
An unforgettable, unconventional narrative that examines the many ways to be fully human, told by the first young adult with autism to attend Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. As a child, Jory Fleming was wracked by uncontrollable tantrums, had no tolerance for...
Marbles : mania, depression, Michelangelo, & me : a graphic memoir
Forney, Ellen.
Paper Book
Cartoonist Ellen Forney explores the relationship between "crazy" and "creative" in this graphic memoir of her bipolar disorder, woven with stories of famous bipolar artists and writers.   Shortly before her thirtieth birthday, Forney was diagnosed with bipolar disorder....
Where you see yourself
Forrest, Claire (Young adult author)
Paper Book
A Schneider Family Book Award Honor Book What does it take to follow your dreams? Where You See Yourself is a relatable, romantic, and necessary story about a girl who has to figure out what--and who--will bring her the happiness she deserves. By the time Effie...
We're not broken : changing the autism conversation
Garcia, Eric
Paper Book
"This book is a message from autistic people to their parents, friends, teachers, coworkers and doctors showing what life is like on the spectrum. It's also my love letter to autistic people. For too long, we have been forced to navigate a world where all the road signs are written in another...
The silence between us
Gervais, Alison
Paper Book
"The Silence Between Us is eminently un-put-down-able." (NPR) Schneider Family Book Award, Best Teen Honor Book 2020 "This is a great YA contemporary (clean) romance that follows Maya as she navigates a new school and plans for her future. The addition of...
Haben : the deafblind woman who conquered Harvard Law
Girma, Haben
Paper Book
The incredible life story of Haben Girma, the first Deafblind graduate of Harvard Law School, and her amazing journey from isolation to the world stage. Haben grew up spending summers with her family in the enchanting Eritrean city of Asmara. There, she...
Being Heumann : an unrepentant memoir of a disability rights activist
Heumann, Judith E.
Paper Book
Soon to be an Apple feature movie directed by CODA's Sian Heder and starring BAFTA-nominated actress Ruth Madeley as Judy Heumann "This important book will help ensure that every person gets a chance to live up to their full potential and will always have a place at the...
Get a life, Chloe Brown a novel
Hibbert, Talia
Paper Book
A curse so dark and lonely
Kemmerer, Brigid
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller! "Has everything you'd want in a retelling of a classic fairy tale." - Jodi Picoult In a lush, contemporary fantasy retelling of Beauty and the Beast, Brigid Kemmerer gives readers another compulsively readable romance...
Such a pretty girl : a story of struggle, empowerment, and disability pride
LaSpina, Nadina
Paper Book
A memoir by a disability rights activist Such a Pretty Girl is Nadina LaSpina's story--from her early years in her native Sicily, where still a baby she contracts polio, a fact that makes her the object of well-meaning pity and the target of messages of hopelessness; to her...
Sick kids in love
Moskowitz, Hannah
Paper Book
An ALA Sydney Taylor Award Honoree A Junior Library Guild Selection Isabel has one rule: no dating. It's easier-- It's safer-- It's better-- --for the other person. She's got issues. She's got secrets. She's got rheumatoid arthritis....
The oracle code : a graphic novel
Nijkamp, Marieke
Paper Book
#1 New York Times bestselling author Marieke Nijkamp and artist Manuel Preitano unveil a graphic novel that explores the dark corridors of Barbara Gordon's first mystery- herself. After a gunshot leaves her paralyzed below the waist, Barbara Gordon undergoes physical and...
True biz : a novel
Novic?, Sara
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK * A "tender, beautiful and radiantly outraged" (The New York Times Book Review) novel that follows a year of seismic romantic, political, and familial shifts for a teacher and her students at a boarding school for the deaf, from the...
Neurotribes : the legacy of autism and the future of neurodiversity
Silberman, Steve
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller Winner of the 2015 Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction A groundbreaking book that upends conventional thinking about autism and suggests a broader model for acceptance, understanding, and full participation in society for people who...
Fortune favors the dead : a novel
Spotswood, Stephen
Paper Book
A wildly charming and fast-paced mystery written with all the panache of the hardboiled classics, Fortune Favors the Dead introduces Pentecost and Parker, an audacious new detective duo for the ages. "Razor-sharp style, tons of flair, a snappy sense of humor, and all the most...
Sitting pretty : the view from my ordinary resilient disabled body
Taussig, Rebekah
Paper Book
A memoir-in-essays from disability advocate and creator of the Instagram account @sitting_pretty Rebekah Taussig, processing a lifetime of memories to paint a beautiful, nuanced portrait of a body that looks and moves differently than most. Growing up as a paralyzed girl during the 90s and...
A time to dance
Venkatraman, Padma
Paper Book
Padma Venkatraman's inspiring story of a young girl's struggle to regain her passion and find a new peace is told lyrically through verse that captures the beauty and mystery of India and the ancient bharatanatyam dance form. This is a stunning novel about spiritual awakening, the power of...
Born extraordinary empowering children with differences and disabilities
Zucker, Meg
Paper Book
A parent's guide to empowering children to embrace their visible and invisible differences     Meg Zucker was born with one finger on each hand, shortened forearms, and one toe on each misshapen foot, caused by a genetic condition called ectrodactyly. She...

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