Billboard Campaign: Why We Need to Engage in the Conversation Around Disability!

We wanted to run a billboard campaign to bring awareness to disability and show why inclusion is so important in our communities. We chose to focus our message on why people need to join the conversation and movement for change.  Currently there exists a lot of misinformation about disability as well as stigma associated with it. We wanted to tackle this, with the goal of having people “rethinking disability” and look at it as a positive rather than a negative.  We also need decision makers to recognize that by continuing to make decisions that benefit “status quo typically developed individuals” that children, youth and adults that fall outside of that small definition, continue to be excluded from participating in all facets of life.

The Canadian Human Rights Commission states that people living with disabilities have the right to live free from discrimination, to enjoy the same quality of service, quality of education, quality of vocation, quality of inclusion and the same quality of life as every person in Canada. This is a fundamental human right and as a community we need to do more to ensure that people living with disabilities are able to exercise these rights!

Billboards One and Two:

Rethinking Disability – There is the misconception that somehow people with a disability are different to people without a disability, and are not able to achieve, feel, do, create, and live the same as people without a disability (Gorter, 2009). Unfortunately these perceptions have influence in how many people view disability and as such often tend to overlook the many positive impacts and contributions that people living with disabilities make within their families, communities and within society itself.

Did you know that people living with disabilities are some of the most creative people in our world? They are constantly having to create new ways to do things because our communities are not always built for their needs.

Let’s rethink how we look at disability are recognize that disability is natural, normal and pretty cool!

#celebrate differences!

Billboards Three and Four:

These two are obvious – current playground designs exclude children, youth and community members who are living with a variety of disabilities (physical, sensory and cognitive). Playground design that is not based on “universal principles” send the message of who belongs in that space and who does not.

We need to change how we design playgrounds and include ALL community members in the design process from the beginning so no one is left out from using them!

Billboard Five:

This billboard introduces families to our Go Baby Go Toddler mobility program. Link HERE to find out more about our program and see if your child qualifies for a modified ride on vehicle adapted for their specific needs.