McMaster community encouraged to rethink disabilities

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/DisabilitiesAwarenessDay08.jpg” caption=”Disabilities Awareness Day runs from 10 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Monday, February 2. “]As part of Diversity Week at McMaster, MSU Diversity Services and the School of Social Work's Disability Action Group are hosting Disabilities Awareness Day to bolster discussion among the campus community on disabilities. The event aims to raise awareness and encourage students, staff and faculty to think about disabilities and people with disabilities in new ways.

“A top priority for McMaster is to create an inclusive community that ensures all members feel recognized and valued for their contributions to the University,” says McMaster President Peter George. “Disabilities Awareness Day provides an excellent opportunity to foster a better understanding of disabilities across campus and for McMaster community members to learn firsthand about disabilities from those who have them.”

Disabilities Awareness Day runs from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Monday, February 2 in the McMaster University Student Centre. The day is packed full of various activities that reflect the diversity and complexity of the term “disability” as both a category and a lived experience.

Activities include ongoing screenings of disability films and documentaries, information booths with representatives from assorted community and on-campus organizations, a dance presentation by the McMaster Break Dancers, displays of art, photography and poetry, and informative presentations from disabled students.

Events continue into the evening at Bridges Cafe from 8 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Julia Devaney will perform “My Leaky Body,” a narrative which looks at the experience of chronic illness and the medical system, followed by performances from poet Jess Sachs and comedian Alan Shain.

For a detailed agenda of the day's events, please click here.