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Developmental Disabilities Awareness Day
The NJCDD Celebrates its 5th Annual Developmental Disabilities Awareness Day at Six Flags Great Adventure
In what has become a new tradition at the New Jersey Council on Developmental Disabilities, we closed out the summer of 2015 with our annual Developmental Disabilities Awareness Day (DD Awareness Day) celebration at Six Flags Great Adventure in Jackson. On Saturday, August 29, the Council was joined by volunteers from across the state, including those representing Community Options, Inc., Easter Seals NJ, The Family Resource Network, Community Access Unlimited, and the Statewide Parent Advocacy Network, Inc. (SPAN), to meet and greet Six Flags guests and promote awareness and respect for our state’s population of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and their families.
Hundreds of people took advantage of our special partnership with the theme park to obtain deeply discounted tickets to join us for this celebration. Park-goers stopped by our DD Awareness Day tables in droves to receive information about our developmental disabilities community and the services offered to those with I/DD and their families. While visiting us, they were also able to receive a variety of fun prizes and giveaways including bracelets, knapsacks, bandannas, buttons and more.
One of the key components of our DD Awareness Day celebration is to promote our R-Word campaign, which calls on kids and adults alike to help bring an end to the use of the word “retarded” in casual conversation. We also spread the word about our Anti-Bullying campaign, encouraging community members to take a stand with us against bullying – particularly aimed at those with disabilities – in our schools and neighborhoods.
As is often a gratifying sight to see at each year’s DD Awareness Day, Six Flags guests could be spotted throughout the park all day wearing their disability awareness materials, helping us to further our message about respect, awareness, and inclusion for our state’s thriving and diverse disabilities community.
