Disability Awareness Activities For College Students

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It is important for the youth to know that it’s not ok to treat the disabled differently. Here’s disability awareness activities for college students that you can take up on campus and get our children involved.

Do you know that one in every five Americans has a disability? It means that approximately 49 million Americans have one or other disability.

Thus, the need of the hour to understand the importance of disability awareness, and the best way to do so is to start educating them early.

Disability Awareness Activities For College Students

Yes, if we teach our children about disability awareness, they will not only grow as accepting of the people with special needs but also help others understand them better.

So, today, we plan to learn about the specific activities that college students can do to spread disability awareness. 

What Does Disability Awareness Mean?

In simple words, disability awareness is being mindful of certain disorders that affect a person’s physical or mental condition. Disability awareness, however, isn’t just awareness of a disease but what can a person do to improve the current situation of disabled people. 

It is a big part of disability awareness to educate others about realizing and understanding how life is for disabled people, thus taking measures to make them feel better and included in various activities. 

Therefore, it is not enough to know that discrimination based on disability is unlawful. You must be conscious of your actions, thoughts, and behavior towards a disabled person. 

You might also like to read: Is HIV Considered A Disability?

What Can You Do To Spread Disability Awareness in College?

When it comes to being kind and accepting toward disabled people, it is essential to start learning about their hardships as soon as possible. If you are in college and deeply care about spreading awareness about disability amongst your peers, below are some of its activities. 

Disability Awareness Activities For College Students

Organize a disability awareness event on the campus 

Most people have no idea about organizing a disability awareness event in college because most people aren’t used to talking about this topic. So, how can you manage this event most appropriately? Below are a few suggestions related to disability awareness activities for college students.

  • Choose your target audience. For example, do you want to organize the event for educating people only or also want to include disabled people to share their stories?
  • Gather a dream team (people passionate about the cause) and brainstorm all the possible ideas that can make the event a success. Assign the task to students, student leaders, alumni, and professors, including everyone interested. 
  • Conduct and evaluate a risk assessment and make sure that you do not repeat the mistakes done by others in the past. 
  • Decide the deadlines, events, tasks, etc., of the event. Use Google documents to update the events. 
  • Promote your event on social media and in person. Share the pamphlets with the nearest NGOs and other organizations for disabled people, social media channels and, of course, within the campus. Use fliers, T-shirts-, posters, announcements, etc., to publicize the event!
  • Praise your team during the preparation, the event, and after the event is done! Say thank you to the people who show interest in the event and connect with them from time to time to keep them invested in the event. 

You might also like to read: Can You Get Disability For Vertigo?

Improve your disability awareness skills

We can apply these valuable tips in our classrooms and beyond to create a more harmonious and motivating environment for disabled people. These will undoubtedly be suitable disability awareness activities for students.

  • Understand that everyone is different and that we need to open our hearts to accept the same. Every individual is unique, and thus, they should be taken as they are, disabled or not. 
  • Replace assumptions with answers and go beyond stereotypes. For example, if a person is good at their job, it doesn’t matter if they have suffered from depression in the past. Everyone struggles with something in life. It doesn’t mean that they aren’t capable of living a healthy life or do not have it in them to perform better in the future. The same should be the case with disabled people. 
Disability Awareness Activities For College Students
  • Give them time and dig deeper to know their lives better. It is recommended to get a deeper insight into the life of a disabled person rather than creating a judgement about them. Everyone is different, as mentioned in the first point, and so, instead of gossip, go ahead, talk to them, and know their strengths and weaknesses, especially if you are a fellow student, teacher, or employer. 
  • Learn about the laws related to disabling people not just to keep yourself educated but also for the sake of disabled people. Often, even people with special needs do not know their rights. So, if you are someone capable of learning the laws, it is advised to do so and help your fellow disabled student or employer. 
  • A task analysis, for example, autism disabled people’s performance, is a great way to learn about their strengths and weaknesses. In this way, you will be able to give them the tasks that they can convincingly finish.

There are many more things you can do to improve your disability awareness. However, the above points are an excellent place to start your awareness journey. 

Frequently Asked Questions

What activities can a disabled person do?

If a person is disabled, it doesn’t mean that they cannot indulge in enjoying new activities. Check out the list below to learn about the activities that a disabled person can do.
Fly a plane
Adopted sports for children
Adaptive snowshoeing
Geocaching
Gardening
Horse-back riding
Scrapbooking
Mountain climbing (with special equipment)
Scuba diving

What is the color for disability awareness?

Orange is the colour for disability awareness. However, different ribbons of color support other causes of disability in children and adults.

Why is it important to raise awareness about disability?

It is essential to do so because society is typically biased towards disabled people. It is a stereotype that makes us treat them differently without even knowing what they are capable of despite having special needs.
Disability awareness educates people on removing misconceptions about disabled people while also teaching them how to approach them. The understanding helps people improve their professional and personal relationships with those with special needs or disabilities.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to disability awareness, we, as a society, have a long way to go. Thus, it is best to drop the stereotypical ideas of how we should treat disabled people and be open to the fact that we have a lot to learn and unlearn in this area. 

However, hope is a good thing, and sooner or later, we will be able to educate ourselves about disability awareness and sensitize others about the same.