International Day of Persons with Disabilities

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Today, December 3, 2021, we recognize International Day of Persons with Disabilities. A 1992 UN General Assembly proclamation started the annual observance of this day, two years after the United States signed the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26, 1990.

One common misunderstanding of disabilities is that they only show up as physical mobility impairments — but disabilities are visible and invisible, something a person is born with or acquired at any point in life. There are 61 million adults in the United States living with disabilities — and one billion people worldwide experience some form of disability (about 15% of the world’s population). Even with the ADA providing legal safeguards for access and inclusion, we, as people working in the healthcare environment, know that individuals with disabilities continue to face immense discrimination and inequities — and are among the hardest hit by COVID-19.

On this day of observance, we recognize the language we use in our work as an important tool to increase awareness of judgment and the impact our words have on others. In a recovery-oriented program, our goal is to use language that affirms a person’s value, importance and makes them feel welcomed and safe.

In Telecare’s clinical model, the Recovery-Centered Clinical System (RCCS), we have a guide available for recovery-oriented language. This guide can be used to inform our staff’s daily progress notes or assessments on the job; on a personal level, this guide can support a journey of learning how our language impacts those we serve – and those we work with, live among, and love.

Below are resources on learning more about persons with disabilities and the many ways we can show up to better understand and support this community. If you’re interested in reviewing our recovery-oriented language tool, please click here to contact us.