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March is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month

The Grand Island Independent - 3/6/2018

The Arc of Central Nebraska is proud to join advocates across the country to recognize March as Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month. This year's theme is "See Me for Me!" To us, this means looking beyond someone's disability and seeing someone as a person first and not just a person with a disability. This starts by simply using People First Language, which emphasizes the person, not the disability. For example, instead of saying, "She is disabled," one should say, "She has a disability." By placing the person first, the disability is no longer the primary, defining characteristic of an individual.

The Arc's advocacy efforts were crucial to President Ronald Reagan's signing of a proclamation in 1987 affirming that "Americans are becoming increasingly aware that such disabilities need not keep individuals from realizing their full potential in school, at work or at home, as members of their families and of their communities."

The month of March commemorates the progress in improving the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and highlights the challenges that remain in achieving full inclusion. While we still aim to increase public awareness, our focus has shifted to the importance of inclusion and living life side by side. To learn more about the Arc of Central Nebraska and our work, visit www.arccentralne.org or find us on Facebook www.facebook.com/arccentralne.

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