How do I celebrate this year’s IDPwD?

This Friday is the annual International Day of People with Disabilities. Since I left school in 2019, I made sure to celebrate this in some sort of way.

IDPwD (International Day of People with Disabilities) is an annual celebration for people with disabilities. On the 3rd of December there is, to boost awareness about disability as there is (1) events across the country to celebrate the occasion, and (2) many disabled people and other disability activist come on air (radio and the news) to talk about the event.

I always knew about IDPwD day as a kid, but over the past three years I’ve found out what the celebration really is for people within this community. Most of my friends have 3 or more events to attend on this day. As people want them (folks with a disability) to be a part of the event.

During my primary school years, I remembered that there would be a fate day in my local area. It was year 2 or 3, and I got to go on an excursion to this event alongside other children with disabilities in the school.

Image description: Layne is a young person with blonde hair and pink hi-lights in their hair. Layne is standing in a bathroom next to a sink and a mirror. On Layne’s arm there is a purple circle that says in white writing, “How do I celebrate this year’s IDPwD?”. In the top right corner of the image there is my logo, which is a purple circle and inside this is a white circle. Around the edge of the purple circle it says, “writer · laynecdixon · activist” and in the bottom part of the circle surrounding the corners, it says, “· Writer for disability and inclusion ·”. In the white circle it says “Layne Dixon”.

What do I believe the day is?

This is a day for celebration across the community, from people with physical disabilities, chronic illness, mental health, intellectual disabilities, other learning disabilities, sensory, etc., but it’s also a day to boost awareness and engage non-disabled people in the conversation of disability.

For the past couple years, I’ve been lucky to just celebrate the day. So many of my friends have 2, or 3, or even more events to go to in the one day.

How can you get involved in an event?

There is so many events across the globe happening on the 3rd of December – this Friday to celebrate the occasion. For information about IDPwD events for 2021 (in Australia) you can visit, https://www.idpwd.com.au/events/calendar/

Thanks for everyone who has read my latest blog. You can find out more about me, and my journey as a writer and a disability activist over on Instagram and Facebook.

How do I celebrate this year’s IDPwD?

What do I believe the day is?

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