International Day of Persons with Disabilities

Each year, December 3rd is observed as the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities. This is a day that serves as an opportunity for the Langara College community to celebrate persons with disabilities as valued, contributing members of our community and highlight that they also deserve equitable treatment, support, dignity, opportunity, and inclusion. The day’s purpose is to promote awareness of disability issues, instil pride in disability identity, and mobilize support for disability rights, wellbeing, and social participation. 

Shifting Perspectives: Individual Barriers to Systemic Responsibility

This international day challenges institutions to shift from viewing disability as an individual “problem” to recognizing that many of the obstacles that persons with disabilities face are built into social, structural, and attitudinal systems. It is also an occasion to highlight the benefits that arise for everyone when societies remove barriers and become more inclusive. To begin that journey of a more equitable future, consider: how do our spaces and communications enable or disable full participation? And, how can barriers be removed?

Reflecting on Accessibility Equity and Justice at Langara

To further engage with the themes of the United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we encourage you to watch an excerpt from Examined Life featuring a conversation between Judith Butler and disability activist Sunaura Taylor, which asks us to reflect on the following questions:

  • Do we or do we not live in a world where we assist each other?
  • What basic needs have been identified as social issues for which community support is provided?
  • How do you, as an individual, position yourself when asking for or providing community support?

Marking the International Day of Persons with Disabilities invites reflection on how inclusion, accessibility, and equity are understood and practiced within education and workplace contexts. It is a reminder that the presence of barriers is not inevitable, but often the result of long-standing systems, environments, and assumptions that can be examined and reconsidered.