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DENNIS PUNZEL | Wisconsin State Journal | dpunzel@madison.com | 608-252-6179 http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/disability-pride-event-focuses-on-possibilities/article_25ba2a19-b668-5fd0-9d61-13cfb5e9e972.html Ellen Samuels didn’t choose to be disabled. And when a rare genetic condition began to limit her ability to walk in her early 20s, she did not exactly embrace the experience. But then she attended a disability and activism conference, and it turned out to be a life-altering experience. “I saw people with all kinds of disabilities,” Samuels said. “I saw people using wheelchairs, using canes, blind people, deaf people … people I’d been taught to think of as someone you might pity or be uncomfortable with. “And they were loud and proud. I thought, ‘I know how to do that, I know how to be proud of who I am and not be ashamed.’ ” That is the attitude that inspired organizers of Madison’s first Disability Pride celebration, which attracted several hundred people Saturday to Brittingham Park. “The real mission of Disability Pride is to build community within Madison,” said Jason Glozier, disability rights specialist with the city of Madison and a founding organizer of the event. “Our real hope is that we can break down some of the stigma and barriers that society has created to people becoming included and integrated into the community.” Sara Karon, who was involved in the first-ever Disability Pride event in Boston in 1990, said economics and transportation are the two biggest obstacles for many disabled people. “I think all of that ultimately is rooted in attitude and this viewing of people with disabilities as being all about need rather than being about contribution,” Karon said. “Today is about saying, ‘Here’s part of the contribution that people with disabilities are making to the world’ and celebrating that.” Samuels, a professor of disability studies at UW-Madison, learned that lesson long ago through her personal transformation. “People often think of disability as an individual tragedy, something to be overcome,” she said. “So they see disabled people as either pitiable or very inspirational, or both. They don’t see us as people living lives of as much diversity and complexity as everyone else in the world. “Not only do you not have any choice, but you realize that it brings tremendous richness to your life,” Samuels said. “It’s not a matter of losing something, it’s something you gain. I can’t imagine now the last 20 years of my life if I hadn’t been part of the disability community.”