UK Disability History Month

UK Disability History Month logo, yellow circle with black triangle

UK Disability History Month started this week and runs until 22 December 2010. It's the first one and we are delighted to be able to be part of it.

Their aims are to

• Celebrate our struggles and achievements as disabled people, with our allies: this could be our parents, friends, professionals, work colleagues and neighbours
• Create a greater understanding of the barriers in society that disable people. Looking at the history of how such barriers and inhuman treatment are fuelled by negative attitudes and customs, whilst recognising this as oppressive disablism.
• Develop and campaign on what needs to be changed for disabled people to achieve full equality in all areas of life
• Make equality a daily reality. The UK Government have passed the Equalities Act 2010 and ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. Much has to happen to make these Rights a daily reality for the 12 million disabled children and adults in the UK.
• Recognising the multiple identities of disabled people. We want to cover the full range of impairments and link with disabled people also struggling against sexism, racism and homophobia and other forms of discrimination.

These are very similar to the aims of Oor Mad History.

I think people with mental health problems need to see ourselves as disabled people and recognise our common cause with other groups of disabled people. We are all affected in our own ways by the same thing - lack of understanding, discrimination, inequality, stereotyping...

UK Disability History Month is an ideal time to explore what we have in common and what are our differences.

What do you think these are?