Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 2 March 2000 — Page 20

The Muncie Times, March 2, 2000, page 20

Governor proclaims March as Disability Awareness Month

INDIANAPOLIS—Last year, more than 1,000 groups and individuals in Indiana helped promote Disability Awareness Month through a variety of activities. As a result, millions of Hoosiers were reached by the campaign. The Indiana Governor’s Planning Council with Disabilities launches Disability Awareness Month each March to promote inclusion, independence and employment for people with disabilities. Awareness Month is celebrated by several states across the nation. “Indiana joins other states across the country to proclaim March as Disability Awareness Month,” said Gov. Frank O’Bannon. “Disability-related issues are important to our state, I am proud to support Indiana’s advocates in celebrating our achievements.”

The Disability Awareness Month 2000 theme is: Every day 54 million Americans with disabilities are labeled. (Statistic drawn from the U. S. Census Bureau’s Web site.) But instead of what you might expect, i.e. “disabled” or “handicapped,” the message says, “visionary,” “speaker” and “chairman.” The three different images illustrate a person with a disability being labeled in an unexpected, but realistic, fashion. For example, in the poster series, the first poster features a woman with a visual impairment, and she is labeled “visionary,” with an emphasis on “vision.” The other posters follow this same format, with one showing a young pair of hands using American sign language with the label “speaker.”

A third poster shows a business man in a wheelchair— his label is “chairman.’ The artwork and theme emphasizes that the common labels applied to people with disabilities are incorrect. Smaller “labels” run through the posters giving examples of realistic characteristics of people with disabilities, such as “writer,” “CEO” and “artist.” This year, the council is offering a series of three posters, rather than one. “We feel that this new approach will be an excellent way to get the message to more people,’ said Suellen Jackson-Boner, executive director of the council. “The posters will have consistent graphic elements but each has its unique message in the label and image. Also, having more posters gives organization more options when displaying them.”

As in previous years, Disability Awareness Month 2000 will be celebrate with community-based activities, carried out by hundreds of advocates and people with disabilities throughout the state. The activities are centrally coordinated by the Governor’s Planning Council and include events, such as mayoral proclamations, art contests, and awareness campaigns in schools, government agencies and businesses. More and more businesses, organizations and not-for-profit agencies are seeking value in conducting Disability Awareness Month campaigns. Across the state, activities and programs are being planned to recognize awareness of disability issues in schools, churches, businesses and by individuals.