Celebrating disabled and neurodivergent students

Disability History Month has been celebrated nationally since 2010 from mid-November to mid-December. This time of year was chosen intentionally to fall during academic term time and to cover important dates such as World AIDS Day (1 December), International Day of People with Disabilities (3 December) and International Human Rights Day (10 December).

This year’s theme is ‘Disability, Life and Death’, and encourages us to examine the value society places on disabled lives.

How to get involved

We have lots of events taking place across the month.

On November 20, we’ll be making a collaborative quilt in the spirit of craftivism – a creative means of collective action that has historical significance within disabled people’s movements.

We have a hand casting event on November 29 where you can create your own paper-mâché hand cast inspired by British Sign Language (BSL) signs, in appreciation of BSL’s historical and contemporary importance to communication and identity within D/deaf communities.

If you want to learn more, there are lots of books, films, and resources on history of disability and disabled people:

• The Library's Disability Awareness book recommendations
• The British Film Institutes' 'Disabled Britain on Film' collection
• Historic England's 'A History of Disability: From 1050 to the Present Day'

Find out more about what's going on across the University during Disability History Month.