Epilepsy Awareness Month  and

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:

The Disability Pride movement is long-standing, and became more evident as a day of celebration in 1990 - the same year that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) became law.   Boston celebrated its first Disability Pride Day that year, however many are also familiar with the earlier 504 disability civil rights movements of the 1970s which is chronicled in the movie Crip Camp, (Crip Camp Netflix link, Crip Camp YouTube link, which highlights the advocacy efforts of Judy Heumann and James LeBrecht, among others).  The Capitol Crawl in March of 1990 created momentum for the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act later that year. This July marks the 34th anniversary of the ADA, and many cities across the country celebrate disability pride with parades and festivals.  Let's work together to support access and inclusion so more people can say it loud, "I'm disabled and I'm proud!" 

We look forward to celebrating with you all month long.  We ALSO celebrate Disability Pride every day, and especially in October, when more students are on campus.

There are many other events, celebrating  Global Accessibility Awareness Day, and Deque (an organization that specializes in accessibility and digital equality) is hosting an upcoming training about digital accessibility fundamentals. This training will cover the following:

 Credit: Elisabeth Woolner via unsplash.com.

Each year, millions of people navigate the lived experience of mental illness.  UMBC's Office of Accessibility and Disability Services, in solidarity with Student Disability Services, joins the movement  with its many departmental partnerships, to promote mental health awareness, fight stigma, and provide support. One in five people will have a mental health diagnosis in their lifetime.  We are in this together, indeed, we are stronger together for mental health.

#Take a Mental Health Moment is this year's motto from NAMI:  more information about Mental Health Awareness Month from NAMI (National Alliance of Mental Illness), including promotional material, is linked here.

NAMI shares information about identity and cultural aspects that influence individual journeys, including people living with a disability.  They also link to this article on why having mental health professionals with disabilities is important.

In addition to UMBC's NAMI student organization's outreach, to  end the stigma toward mental health, behavioral health or substance use disorders - On Our Own of Maryland's Distorted Perceptions/Refocus Look Again Campaign is a local Anti-Stigma initiative that supports mental health with local outreach to end stigma.  More information on their campaign is linked here.

Students (undergraduate and graduate) groups and resources include:

UMBC Retriever Integrated Heath has counseling and related services (Link) which includes
Faculty and staff mental health supports available through Human Resources include:

If a campus member's health situation changes (such as a recent injury or diagnosis, they can apply for, or update academic accommodation requests via Student Disability Services (link) and work-related accommodations via Accessibility & Disability Services (link).  ADS works in partnership with HR for faculty, staff and student employee job-related situations.

A thumbnail photo credit Marcel Straub via  Unsplash