Disability Awareness Day

The Barbados Council for the Disabled with the support of the Ministry of Education has sought to recognize and celebrate an assigned day during the month of March as “Disability Awareness Day” in schools in Barbados.

It is recognized that children are most receptive and vulnerable to information and skills at a very young and formative age. It is to this age group that we plan to implement the main component of this project. Educate with an emphasis on awareness of disability issues which they will confront at some point of time in their lives.

In Europe and North-America several organizations choose a specific day to heighten public awareness on the issues of persons with disabilities.  In one town in Europe, there is a major exhibition put on by over two hundred and eighty exhibitors showcasing several facts surrounding disabilities.  In Schools in some parts of North-America, from elementary straight through university-level, students are encouraged to embrace and get closer to the concept of disability and some of the realities which daily confront us.
It is against this backdrop that the Council launched in our own Schools Disability Awareness Day “DAD”.

Every year all schools will recognize the last Wednesday in March, which is celebrated annually in Barbados as the Month of the Disabled. Awareness posters and literature dealing with disability issues will be distributed throughout the school system. It is our intention to introduce in the coming years a number of activities that will become a permanent fixture in the curriculum of all schools. Programmes will be implemented to encourage participation in discussions, competitions, essays and other events specifically designed for the day. Schools will vie for A Disability Awareness Shield annually.
This initiative is now in its fourth year in Barbados.

ANTICIPATED OUTCOMES

We feel it is imperative that children as the leaders of tomorrow become aware of the issues relating to disabilities and recognize that it is more of a social malady and not a state to which the hopeless and unfortunate are condemned; but rather a life with challenges not unlike their own, a life with the right attitudes and accessible environment can lead to a more meaningful and rewarding society.

DAD in photos 2008