May 7 – National Barrier Awareness Day

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nAsnRonald Reagan proclaimed May 7 National Barrier Awareness Day, inn1986, he said, “Eighty percent of Americans will experience somendisability in their lifetime. That makes it necessary for all of usnto understand and appreciate both the barriers they must surmount andnthe contributions that they can make to our society.”
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nMaybenyou think, with all the laws mandating access for people withndisabilities – the disabled person parking placards and wheelchairnaccessible restrooms, the ramps and elevators, the curb cuts andnaudible street signals—maybe you think that there are no barriersnleft to remove. 
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nBut of course there are countless barriers still, innthe world and even in the U.S…There are private buildings andnpublic parks that have not yet been retrofitted to accessiblendesigns, modes of transportation that have not yet been addressed,nand cost barriers to getting service animals.
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nButnthe largest barrier, according to some, is other people’s attitudes.nIf you try so hard not to stare at a person with a disability thatnyou won’t even glance at him, if you shush a child who says somethingnabout a person with a disability instead of teaching her in anfriendly, matter-of-fact way about the disability, if you are afraidnto acknowledge a wheelchair or a white cane or a hearing aid – thennyou are helping to make people with disabilities feel unseen andnunacknowledged.

Worst of all, some people with disabilitiesnget the feeling that some people automatically assume that one’sndisability means that there is something wrong with with one’s brain!
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Cerebral palsy is not a metal disability.

nSo…takenthe time today to notice barriers and think up some way of removingnone or two of them. Take the time to raise consciousness aboutndisabilities. And realize that you will probably be part of then80%…At some point or another, you will have a broken leg or anenergy-sapping illness or a loss of sensory acuity or a need for a cane or walker. 
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nHow do you wantnto be treated, if and when something happens to you?
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nNationalnDay of Reason 
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nWriter,ncomposer, and artist Rabindranath Tagore’s birthday 
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nAnniversarynof the recovery of the painting ThenScream 
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nTchaikovsky’snbirthday


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• nMayn holidays 

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• nMayn birthdays 

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• n Historicaln anniversaries in May

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• nJunen holidays

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• nJunen birthdays

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• nHistoricaln anniversaries in June

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