A MAJOR celebration of locals living with a disability is being planned for Enniskillen next week.
The event has been organised by phenomenal local woman Shelley Cowan – the driving force behind popular local group JustUs – to mark Disability Pride Month, and will take place at Enniskillen Castle at 11am on Tuesday morning, July 16.
Shelley said the event was “to celebrate people with disabilities, their identities, their culture and their contributions to society”, and to honour those who are working to create a more inclusive and accessible society.
“Come along and let’s celebrate being proud and being unapologetically us,” said Shelley, who thanked David McAviney for sponsoring the event banners and flags, and Ricky Mullan for sponsoring the t-shirts.
Those attending the event are asked to wear the colours of the disability pride flag, if possible. They are: green for sensory disabilities; blue for emotional and psychiatric disabilities; white for non-visible and undiagnosed disabilities; gold for neurodiversity; and red for physical disabilities.
Speaking to the Herald, Shelley explained Disability Pride Month was an opportunity to, “Recognise us as individuals, celebrate the things we can do and acknowledge our abilities and our achievements.
“Help us follow our dreams, our goals, and our aspirations – yes people with a disability have those too,” she added.
Noting there had been a lot of progress in recent decades, Shelley said there was still much to be done across society in terms of improving inclusivity and accessibility, particularly in rural areas like Fermanagh, and in terms of the language we use.
Regarding inclusive language, Shelley explained this “means being more mindful of our words and thinking about how our words can be interpreted.
“Disrespectful language profoundly impacts on people with a disability, with many feeling hurt, excluded and inferior,” she said.
As a small example – and one this paper has been guilty of – the correct term is ‘adult with a disability’ not ‘disabled adult’.
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