National Disability Awareness Month is held in October to raise awareness about issues that arise within the lived experience of people with disabilities, and celebrates the many and varied contributions of Americans with disabilities.
NDAM's roots go back to 1945, when Congress enacted a law declaring the first week in October each year "National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week." In 1962, the word "physically" was removed to acknowledge the employment needs and contributions of individuals with various types of disabilities. In 1988, Congress expanded the week to a month and changed the name to "National Disability Awareness Month" to address inclusion more broadly.
Americans with disabilities make up almost one-fifth of our population, which brings more celebration to this month, underneath the umbrella of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) celebrating its 32st anniversary, and Section 504 celebrating its 51st Anniversary. This month includes:
- ADHD Awareness Month
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Breast Cancer Awareness Month
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Dysautonomia Awareness Month
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Learning Disability Awareness Month
- National Disability Employment Month
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National Down Syndrome Awareness Month
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Spina Bifida Awareness Month
- Mental Illness Awareness Week (October 6-12, NAMI)
- National Depression Screening Day (October 10)
- World Cerebral Palsy Day (October 6)
- OCD Awareness Week (October 13-19)
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White Cane Awareness Day (October 15)
- Invisible Disabilities Week (October 20-26)
and given the beauty and complexity of being human, we respectfully nod to disability-related health conditions that are highlighted at other times. We see you. You matter.
Accessibility and Disability Services, remains committed to building on past progress and creating inclusive change as we work in partnership with the entire UMBC community, including Facilities Management, Human Resources and Instructional Technology. Student Disability Services provides support for students with disabilities, as education is a path toward progress. While huge strides have been made with accessibility and inclusion (which can happen via accommodation), people with disabilities still face discrimination and lack of understanding. and has many events planned - the fight for full inclusion remains (Judy Heumann Ted Talk link).
Retriever Integrated Health includes The Counseling Center as counseling (of course) as well as workshops and group meetings - they are recruiting for their Executive Functioning Workshop now.
Retriever Integrated Health also has a range of health services that support campus members of all abilities in the new, very-accessible Center for Wellbeing across from Erickson Field (D7 on the map).
Student Organizations:
Faculty Group: Disability Studies Working Group
A sampling of Disability Awareness Events:
Oct 2: Campus Accessibility Tour
Oct 3: Fix Your Content Day (Session 1 at 10am and Session 2 at 2p)
October 11: Delta Alpha Pi Disability Honor Society Meeting
October 14: Campus Accessibility Walk
Oct 15: Assistive Tech Open House
October 15: Voice Thread and Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
Oct 17: Create Accessible Documents
Oct 17-19: Superfest Virtual Film Festival
October 22: Cyborg Meets AI Virtual Lecture with Dr. Ashley Shew 4:00
A photo of UMBC's Campus Visitor Guide Accessible Route Map next to a disability pride pin and an illustration of diverse group of fourteen people, each with differing disabilities accompanies this post.
