Every Dec. 3, the world pauses for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. It’s a day institutions mark with a statement or blue wheelchair emoji and call it awareness. For people with disabilities, the day lands differently. It brings a mix of exhaustion, hope and reminds us that we are seen, albeit usually only once a year.

People with disabilities move through systems that rarely fit us. We work, love, study, parent and try to build lives that feel full, all while dealing with rules that buckle under exactly zero flexibility. At times, it can feel like the moment we try to grow, the system tightens.

For instance, if we earn a paycheck, we risk losing the support services that let us live independently. If we marry the person we love, we risk losing the eligibility we depend on due to income limits. If we move across a geographic line, we risk losing everything.

This is not a theoretical concept. People live this daily, which is why this day matters. The world does not need one more “inclusion” graphic. People with disabilities deserve a daily reminder that disability is woven through every family, community, classroom and workplace.

Nothing is inspiring about a person being unable to access care. Nothing is brave about a person being forced to fight for basic support services. People with disabilities are not trying to prove inspiration; we are simply trying to have the same freedom as everyone to grow and take opportunities without fearing that support will disappear.

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities invites people to rethink the entire idea of access and pushes us to zoom out.

Accessibility is not only about ramps and captions, even though those do matter. It is also about financial rules that make sense, eligibility criteria that do not punish people for working or marrying or relocating, and support that moves with the person. When support is stable, people thrive, and when people thrive, outcomes improve for everyone.

One thing this community never lacks is innovation. People with disabilities build solutions constantly. Someone could be writing brilliant policy ideas from their bed, running a business from their living room, or testifying in a courtroom with oxygen tubing tucked under their nose.

The disability community holds more creativity than most institutions know how to comprehend.

The most exciting part is that people with disabilities are now leading. There are more disability-led companies and collectives than ever before. Some notable disability-owned businesses include Disclo, Access Now, Diversability, LaVant Consulting and Making Space.

People are rewriting the rules, insisting on dignity and challenging the idea that independence means doing everything alone.

If you are non-disabled, your job is not to feel guilty. Your job is to raise awareness that leads to action. Notice the barriers that never impact you and then ask why they exist.

Why does a marriage license change eligibility? Why does income limit access to services that involve survival? Why does moving force a person to start over? Why are people still begging for basic accommodations in 2025?

None of these questions are small, but they all point to something simple: The rules were built without us in mind, so the only way forward is to rebuild.

If you want to honor this day, start by listening. Ask people with disabilities what support means to them, what freedom looks like and what they need to feel safe stepping into opportunity. These answers are blueprints. Once you learn them, you cannot unlearn them.

The future will be shaped by lived experience and by the people who understand that supportive systems allow us to participate fully. It will be shaped by people with disabilities who build boldly because they know exactly where the gaps are and how to close them.

The International Day of Persons with Disabilities is a reminder that people with disabilities deserve systems that do not collapse the moment life changes; communities flourish when care is consistent and dignity should never depend on income limits or zip codes.

This is direction, not inspiration, and the direction is forward.

Lilly Grossman is a social work graduate student writing about accessibility and campus culture in her column, “The Quiet Part,” which runs every other Thursday. She is also the diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility director at the Daily Trojan.