{"id":6608,"date":"2016-07-02T00:00:37","date_gmt":"2016-07-02T04:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/?p=6608"},"modified":"2019-11-22T20:53:33","modified_gmt":"2019-11-23T00:53:33","slug":"pass-it-on-ideas-to-honor-disability-awareness-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/pass-it-on-ideas-to-honor-disability-awareness-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Pass it On! Ideas to Honor Disability Awareness Month"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Disability-Awareness\"<\/a>Each day, I hope that through my words and actions, I make the day a brighter place for someone.\u00a0 Of course, as Occupational Therapists, we aspire to this as part of our work, but I am encouraging you to take it beyond the job today.\u00a0\u00a0 In honor of Disability Awareness Month<\/strong>, I’d like you to try to find a way to make it a brighter day for someone with a disability.\u00a0 Think random acts of kindness with a purpose!<\/p>\n

For those of you who don’t have a lot of experience with persons with disabilities, or if you just want to inform family and friends, here are some tips.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t assume!<\/strong> Don\u2019t assume someone with a physical disability also has an intellectual disability. Treat them as your equal and they may delight you with their wit or insight.<\/p>\n

Don’t be afraid<\/strong>.\u00a0 Fear stifles interaction and can make you hesitant to make that kind gesture or start a conversation.<\/p>\n

Make eye contact.<\/strong> Make sure each person you speak to can comfortably see you.\u00a0 Come around the counter or kneel so that they can see you more easily.<\/p>\n

Ask first. <\/strong>If you think someone may need some assistance with a door or package, ask first. They may be very capable of completing the task in their own way and time, so be respectful of their ability<\/p>\n

Aside from what you can do today, consider the ways you can make a long-term impact in your community.<\/p>\n

Use your social media<\/strong> accounts to spread positive stories of accomplishment by persons with a disability.<\/p>\n

If you are an employer, consider hiring someone <\/strong>with a disability. As a first step, contact organizations in your community that help people with barriers to employment.<\/p>\n

Check out the neighborhood playground<\/strong>.\u00a0 Does it have inclusive play equipment?\u00a0 If not, how could you help make that a reality?<\/p>\n

Recent stats show that nearly 50% of persons shot by police have been diagnosed with a disability, Contact your local police department<\/strong> and see if they are receiving specialized training, like the Crisis Intervention Team Model<\/strong>.\u00a0 Such training helps officers to recognize mental health or disability-related symptoms so they are not misinterpreted.<\/p>\n

Patronize businesses<\/strong> that go the extra mile to serve folks with a disability and let them know that you appreciate their efforts. For example some stores are using technology to create zones where patrons with hearing aids can filter out background noise and converse with staff.\u00a0 Some movie theaters have special showings for kids on the spectrum.\u00a0 Some big box retailers are making special shopping carts available for shoppers with special needs.\u00a0 And some companies are working hard to make their websites accessible to persons with disabilities.<\/p>\n

A disability is not the only thing that defines someone – each person living with\u00a0 a disability has friends and family, hopes and dreams, likes and dislikes and they can be impacted by your kindness just like anyone else in this world.\u00a0 Remember the golden rule and treat them just as you would want to be treated.<\/p>\n

Pass it on!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Each day, I hope that through my words and actions, I make the day a brighter place for someone.\u00a0 Of course, as Occupational Therapists, we aspire to this as part of our work, but I am encouraging you to take it beyond the job today.\u00a0\u00a0 In honor of Disability Awareness…<\/p>\n

Read more<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6656,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6608","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-i-love-ot"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/Disability-Awareness.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6608","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6608"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6608\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6661,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6608\/revisions\/6661"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6608"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6608"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ottoolkit.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6608"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}