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.
Disability
identity is intersectional with the history of the LGBTQ+ community
that shares October as an awareness month. October is also Relationship Violence Awareness Month, and we are very conscious that people with disabilities are at a much higher risk of Relationship and Sexual Violence and that any violence can cause, complicate and/or exacerbate disability.
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 50th Anniversary. This month includes:
- ADHD Awareness Month
-
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
-
Dysautonomia Awareness Month
-
Learning Disability Awareness Month
- National Disability Employment Month
-
National Down Syndrome Awareness Month
-
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)
-
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 Neurodiversity group 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
October 25: Dis/Ability on the Job: Accommodations and FML 101 (for non-supervisors)
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