Heading into the Holiday Season with Disability Awareness and Inclusion

Fri, 29 Nov 2024 23:59:46 -0500
accessibility, american, autism, copd, diabetes, dining, disability, epilepsy, hacks, holiday, inclusion, indigenous, native, november, thanksgiving, tips, travel

November in the United States highlights travel, sharing meals and connecting with family and friends, often highlighted with Thanksgiving. Make your celebrations more inclusive and disability friendly with these ideas for a disability-inclusive experience.

People with disabilities also host fabulous meals:

Christine Ha raised expectations by competing on MasterChef

Cook with Jessica Weisberg, the accessible chef

Visit with Chef Steve and look over accessible kitchen design

Aleem Syed's Holy Grill food truck makes feasting portable

Creative solutioneerin

Want to bring some disability-friendly ideas into kitchens this season? Look over some cooking hacks for chefs with disabilities and check out Fall recipes from The Accessible Chef.

For those heading into shopping for the holidays, Yelp is providing crowd-sourced information about business accessibility - which can be an asset to dining out as well. It's also helpful to call ahead with any public business for specific details from dietary restrictions and allergies to stair-free navigation to sensory-compatible environments.

Travel is also a highlight of this season - given the diversity of disability, here is a more inclusive list of tips to ease travel hassles.

November is also about:

Epilepsy Awareness Month and

COPD - Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease - Awareness Month

American Diabetes Awareness Month

Native American Heritage Awareness Month is also tied to November, and as all racial and ethnic identities intersect with disabilities we note:

Understanding Autism in Indigenous Communities

In this November 15 webinar, the National Autism Coordinator, Dr. Susan Daniels, hosts an illuminating conversation with clinical psychologist and parent, Dr. Crystal Hernandez (Cherokee), advocate Jim Warne (Oglala Lakota [Sioux] Nation), and autistic self-advocate Jules Edwards (Anishinaabe), who will talk about the intersection of their Native American heritage with their professional and lived experiences with autism. The discussion focuses on needs across indigenous communities in the U.S. and recent projects and initiatives to increase outreach and provide resources to help Native Americans with autism and other developmental disabilities.

Enjoy November and the holiday season with all that it celebrates and illuminates!