Developmental Disability Awareness Month

March is Developmental Disability Awareness Month. Each year, the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities (NACDD) and their partners create a social media campaign highlighting various ways individuals with disabilities and their supporters come together to create community. This campaign finds ways to raise awareness about integrating individuals with developmental disabilities in every part of the communities in which they live. They also want to shed light onto all of the barriers these individuals still face in connecting with others in their communities.

Developmental disabilities include a variety of disabilities like Autism, Down syndrome, or Fetal alcohol syndrome disorder. These are a group of conditions that have caused an impairment in someone’s areas of language, learning, physical or behavior. It is estimated that in the United States about 17% or 1 in 6 children from the ages of 3 to 17 years old have at least one developmental disability. With the proper support, many individuals can live normal lives and integrate into the area they reside in.

In 1987 this month of awareness began with a presidential proclamation and it has now become a national movement. It has helped the general public become more aware of how individuals live, how they see themselves, and aided everyone in learning how to help people with developmental disabilities achieve their own dreams.

For more information, please see:

‍ https://www.nacdd.org/ddam1/

‍ https://www.specialneedsalliance.org/blog/march-is-developmental-disabilities-awareness-month/

https://www.summitdd.org/news/dd-awareness-month-2021/