Disability Pride Month

 Films and Stories to Watch During Disability Pride Month

The Americans with Disabilities Act was signed into law on July 26, 1990. This month, we pay tribute to the incredible impact this landmark civil rights law has had on the lives of individuals with disabilities. Join us as we celebrate Disability Pride Month with this special collection of films and programs that shed light on the disability rights movement and the courageous people who have driven it forward.  

Watch these stories and the works of storytellers whose creations depict the diverse spectrum of disability experiences in North Carolina and beyond on PBS NC and the PBS app. 

American Masters: Marcella 

Discover how celebrated writer Marcella Hazan shaped Italian cuisine in America. After immigrating to New York in the 1950s, she began making authentic dishes from her Italian roots and inspired millions of Americans with her cookbooks while having a disability resulting from a childhood injury that affects the use of her right arm.

Watch American Masters’ “Marcella,” Friday, 7/11, 10 PM on PBS NC and the PBS app. 

Change, Not Charity: The Americans with Disabilities Act 

The emotional and dramatic story of the decades-long push for equality and accessibility that culminated in the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. A story of courage and perseverance, the film highlights the determined people who literally put their bodies on the line to achieve their goal and change the lives of all Americans.  

Watch Change, Not Charity: The Americans with Disabilities Act, streaming now on the PBS app. 

My Home, NC: Basketball, Friendship and Purpose: The Journey League Story 

Journey League is more than a basketball program—it’s a community. Through year-round games, skill-building and friendship, Journey League empowers athletes with special needs to find purpose, joy and belonging. Meet inspiring players whose passion shines at UNC, NC State and NBA halftimes—and see how the game is changing lives, one basket at a time.  

Watch My Home, NC’s “Basketball, Friendship and Purpose: The Journey League Story,” streaming now on the PBS app. 

My Home, NC: Blawesome Flower Farm: Redefining Inclusion & Purpose 

Raimee Sorensen, a young man with autism, finds success through Blawesome, a flower farm he founded with his mom, Rebecca. The farm fosters meaningful work opportunities and exemplifies that our communities are stronger with spaces where everyone thrives. In this story, follow Raimee as he harvests vibrant blooms and delivers bouquets to his community, proving that disability is not inability.

Watch My Home, NC’s “Blawesome Flower Farm: Redefining Inclusion & Purpose,” streaming now on the PBS app. 

Sci NC: How Doctors Are Treating Tremors Without Opening Your Brain 

Imagine not being able to write, drink coffee, or screw in a lightbulb because your hands won't stop shaking. For patients with essential tremors, these daily struggles are reality. But at Novant Health in North Carolina, doctors are using sound waves instead of surgery to treat this brain disorder—and the results are immediate. 

Watch Sci NC’s “How Doctors Are Treating Tremors Without Opening Your Brain,” streaming now on the PBS app. 

Sci NC: Building a Bionic Ankle

Prosthetic limbs have come a long way in the past several centuries, from solid iron to wooden supports. A joint project between NC State University and UNC-Chapel Hill is dedicated to designing a prosthesis that follows a user’s commands by responding to the signals sent from their brain. Take a look at the research transforming how we work with limbs and the hopes to develop a bionic ankle.

Watch Sci NC’s “Building a Bionic Ankle,” streaming now on the PBS app. 

Sci NC: Overcoming the Stigma of Autism

There are many forms of the neural disorder autism, hence the term “autism spectrum.” Meet artists, teachers and others living with autism, and learn about the work being done to eliminate the stigma and misconceptions that surround it.

Watch Sci NC’s “Overcoming the Stigma of Autism,” streaming now on the PBS app. 

Black Issues Forum: Living with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities (IDD) 

Racial and ethnic health disparities are a pervasive public health problem. Research finds similar health disparities among people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Host Kenia Thompson discusses diagnosis, treatments and the impact with guests Nicole Harris, a disability resource advocate; and NaShonda Bender-Cook, Wake County special education teacher and interventionist. 

Watch Black Issues Forum’s “Living with Intellectual or Developmental Disabilities (IDD),” streaming now on the PBS app. 

Carl the Collector 

Carl is a warm-hearted raccoon with autism who loves collecting and organizing. The series showcases the strengths and experiences of autistic individuals while teaching kids about friendship, problem-solving and communication.   

Watch Carl the Collector, every day, 11 AM on Rootle PBS KIDS. Streaming now online and on the PBS KIDS Video App. 

POV: Name Me Lawand 

Lawand, deaf from birth, seeks a fresh start with his family in the UK after a traumatic year in a refugee camp. At Derby's Royal School for the Deaf, he learns sign language and discovers a way to communicate with the world. As he thrives, his family faces deportation, challenging their stability. Name Me Lawand is a love letter to the power of friendship and community. 

Watch POV’s, “Name Me Lawand,” streaming now on the PBS app only with PBS NC Passport.

Matter of Mind: My Alzheimer's 

Matter of Mind: My Alzheimer’s is an intimate portrayal of three families confronting the unique challenges of Alzheimer’s and how this progressive neurodegenerative disease transforms roles and relationships. Whether it's a partner caring for a loved one or an adult child shifting into being their parent's caregiver, these stories show how families evolve when a loved one is diagnosed. 

Watch Matter of Mind: My Alzheimer’s, streaming now on the PBS app only with PBS NC Passport.

Matter of Mind: My Parkinson’s 

In Matter of Mind: My Parkinson's, three people navigate their lives with resourcefulness and determination in the face of a degenerative illness, Parkinson’s disease. An optician pursues deep brain stimulation surgery; a mother raising a pre-teen daughter becomes a boxing coach and an advocate for exercise; and a cartoonist contemplates how he will continue to draw as his motor control declines. 

Watch Matter of Mind: My Parkinson’s, streaming now on the PBS app only with PBS NC Passport.

POV: Is There Anybody Out There?

Born with a rare disability, filmmaker Ella Glendining wonders if there is anyone who can share the experience of living in a body like hers. This simple question–one which non disabled people take for granted, leads to a journey to not only others who live like her–but to the realization that meeting them changes how she views herself in the world, as well as many surprises along the way.

Watch POV’s, “Is There Anybody Out There?,” streaming now on the PBS app only with PBS NC Passport.

Move Me 

At 27, Kelsey Peterson dove into Lake Superior as a dancer and emerged paralyzed. But within the Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) community, she found allies in her quest to discover who she is now and to dance with disability. When a cutting-edge trial surfaces, it tests her expectations of a possible cure. She finds herself both scared it might not work—and scared that it might. 

Watch Move Me, streaming now on the PBS app only with PBS NC Passport.

Matter of Mind: My ALS 

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a neuromuscular disease with an average survival time of 2-5 years from diagnosis. In this intimate exploration, three people with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, bravely face different paths as they live with this progressively debilitating illness.

Watch Matter of Mind: My ALS, streaming now on the PBS app.

American Masters: Elsa Sjunneson: DeafBlind fencer, hiker, published author 

This short film is an extended look at some of the themes explored in American Masters - Becoming Helen Keller, and hopes to provide an updated representation of modern DeafBlind role models today. Elsa Sjunneson is a DeafBlind professor and media critic, skilled fencer and hiker, and published author who has written for Marvel Comics. She is a Hugo Award and Aurora Award winner. 

Watch American Masters’ “Elsa Sjunneson: DeafBlind fencer, hiker, published author,” streaming now on the PBS app.

Take Me Home 

Anna is an adult with a cognitive disability living with her mother in Midland Florida. When her mother is unresponsive, she calls her sister for help, but without the language to be believed, Anna is brushed aside. Emily returns home and is immediately engulfed in a futile struggle for medical information, while Anna’s world is deconstructed. 

Watch Take Me Home, streaming now on the PBS app.

American Masters: Kitty O'Neil: The Fastest Woman in the World

Kitty O’Neil (1946-2018) was a deaf racecar driver, stunt legend, and daredevil. Known as “the fastest woman in the world,” O’Neil broke the land speed record in 1976, clocking an average of over 512 mph in a three-wheeled rocket car across Oregon’s Alvord Desert.

Watch American Masters’ “Kitty O'Neil: The Fastest Woman in the World,” streaming now on the PBS app.