The Arc Plans for a National Day Out Event for Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month

March is national Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month. The Arc invites you to join us on March 29 in a grassroots initiative to help raise awareness about people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD).

What should you do? If you are a person with I/DD or know someone who has I/DD, simply make plans to go out somewhere in public on Saturday, March 29. That’s all. Just plan a day out and about enjoying the things you like to do. And, in the process help raise awareness and generate some conversation about people with I/DD during Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month. This one-day movement will serve to harness our collective power to gain allies, foster understanding, dispel myths and encourage a greater understanding among people without a disability.

Year round, The Arc works to promote and protect the rights of people with I/DD to live, learn, work and play as valued and contributing members of their communities. We fight for legislation to remove barriers to full participation and inclusion and have been successful on many fronts. But sometimes the barrier has nothing to do with the width of a doorway or an employer’s hiring practices. Sometimes the barrier is as subtle as a nervous glance from an uninformed person in line with you at the market.

So, this March 29, let’s all go out and start breaking down those social barriers once and for all. As an individual with I/DD, this is your chance to personally help raise awareness just by being yourself and participating in the things you enjoy alongside others in your community without disabilities. Make plans now to hit the movies, the park, your local shopping center or restaurant and maybe spark some conversation in the process. If you are a friend or family member of a person with I/DD, make plans now to enjoy a fun activity together in public and take the opportunity to show others that we’re all not so different after all.

Visit The Arc’s website at www.thearc.org/lets-go-out and find out more about this campaign and things you can do join in. And spread the word using the hashtag #DDAware on social media during the month of March. Follow us online at www.facebook.com/thearcus or www.twitter.com/thearcus and be sure to show us what you end up doing on March 29 by sharing your photos using the hashtag #DDAware.

Want to do more? You can help support The Arc’s national organization through a tax-deductible donation. Or you can find your local chapter at www.thearc.org/findachapter.