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Disability History Month 2020

This year Disability History Month runs from the 18th November to the 20th December 2020.

UK Disability History Month (UKDHM) is an “annual event creating a platform to focus on the history of our struggle for equality and human rights”.

The official theme for this year’s Disability History Month is Access and we’d like to ensure that “accessibility is addressed in all its complexity, encompassing the physical environment, transportation, information and communication, and services.”

The ‘Social Model’ of disability was developed by people with disabilities and says that “people are disabled by barriers in society, not by their impairment or difference”. You can watch a video explaining the social model of disability here.

To minimise physical access issues for the people of Sheffield and visitors, we have partnered up with AccessAble, a website which provides detailed access guides for places such as restaurants, hotels and tourist attractions.

We also believe that this year it’s important for us to understand how Coronavirus is affecting those with a disability, which has largely put further pressure on them and their support networks. An example of the impacts can be found on the gov.uk report Covid-10: deaths of people with learning disabilities.

To mark this year’s Disability History Month, we are providing a diverse selection of resources from the arts, culture and entertainment industries to help broaden our understanding on disability and inclusion. Please see our list below to get started…

Topical Youtube videos:

  • Watch this fantastic TED Talk by Amy Oulton. At 11.51 she gives us a powerful and mobilising statement that tells us where our aims for inclusive access should take us, “A utopic world for me would also be one where the presence of disability is so mainstream that people are no longer surprised by or uncomfortable about it. What I want you to do is start by imagining disabled people in the middle of the action and then asking the questions to make that happen.”

Podcasts:

  • BBC Ouch
  • The Hilarious World of Depression
  • The Accessible Stall Podcast
  • The Resilience Sessions Podcast
  • Carousel Radio 
  • No Triumph, No Tragedy
  • Abnormally Funny People
  • Honestly with Clemmie Telford

Books:

  • On The Edge of Gone - Corinne Duyvis (fiction)
  • The Memory of Light - Fransisco X (fiction)
  • Life Disrupted: Getting Real about Chronic Illness in Your Twenties and Thirties - Laurie Edwards (non-fiction)
  • Thank You, Mr Falker - Patricia Polacco (children’s fiction)
  • Laughing At My Nightmare - Shane Burcaw (non-fiction)
  • The Centre Cannot Hold: My Journey Through Madness - Elyn R. Saks (non-fiction)
  • The Pretty One - Keah Brown (non-fiction)
  • Resistance and Hope: Essays by Disabled People - Alice Wong (non-fiction)

Online Events:

Blogs/Articles:

Websites for further information: