Opportunities to recognize and discuss disability all month long
Below you will find the names of famous disabled people born this month, dates of note in disability history, awareness/acceptance days related to specific disabilities and dates of cultural significance.
If there’s something you’d like to see on this month’s calendar, please let us know.
December
View the complete Disability Calendar of Events
December 3 - International Day of People with Disabilities
The annual observance of the International Day of Disabled Persons was proclaimed in 1992 by United Nations General Assembly resolution 47/3. It aims to promote the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities in all spheres of society and development, and to increase awareness of the situation of persons with disabilities in every aspect of political, social, economic and cultural life.
Building on many decades of UN’s work in the field of disability, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), adopted in 2006, has further advanced the rights and well-being of persons with disabilities
Learn more about Disability History and Culture on our resource page.
December 3rd - 9th - Clerc-Gallaudet Week
In December 1974, DC Public Library established Clerc-Gallaudet Week as a way of honoring the birthdays of Laurent Clerc and Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet (December 26, 1785 and December 10, 1787, respectively) and promoting library awareness in the deaf community and deaf awareness in the library community.
Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, a hearing minister from Connecticut, and Laurent Clerc, a deaf teacher from France, met by chance in 1815…but their partnership would found a school, plant the seeds of American Sign Language, and provide the foundation for both deaf education and Deaf Culture in the United States.
Learn more about the partnership of Clerc and Galludet.
December 9 - Pennhurst State School and Hospital closed (1987)
Landmark lawsuit leads to the 1987 closure of Pennhurst, one of the largest state-run institutions for people with disabilities in Pennsylvania.
December 18th - Judy Heumann (born 1947)
Judith (Judy) Heumann is a lifelong advocate for the rights of disabled people. She contracted polio in 1949 in Brooklyn, New York and began to use a wheelchair for her mobility. She was denied the right to attend school because she was considered a "fire hazard" at the age of five. Her parents played a strong role in fighting for her rights as a child, but Judy soon determined that she, working in collaboration with other disabled people, had to play an advocacy role due to continuous discrimination.
December 18 - Ralph Braun (born 1940)
Ralph Braun was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy as a boy and later lost his ability to walk. He would go on to found an entire company devoted to mobility products called BraunAbility. He manufactured a motorized scooter, which he called the Tri-Wheeler. He also revolutionized the mobility industry by creating the first automobile wheelchair lift. This invention would allow individuals in wheelchairs to get anywhere they needed to go. They were also able to use public transportation, as BraunAbility wheelchair lifts began to appear on buses and trains. BraunAbility was the only company in the nation whose dealers would evaluate the circumstances and needs of individuals in order to find the best mobility options for them.