Inclusion Infusions: International Day for Persons with a Disability
Posted on Friday, November 27th, 2020
Thursday December 3rd is International Day for Persons with a Disability (IDPD). While our College strives to be accessible, its important that we all build a broader understanding of what that means, and where barriers may lie for our learners and colleagues. To help us explore this, and recognize IDPD, Algonquin College is hosting an interactive presentation and Q&A with Michael Jacques, author of “ Can’t Read, Can’t Write, Here’s My book” at 1:00pm. You can register here, attendees will have a chance to win a signed copy of his book.
Here are some fast facts to jump start your thinking before the event:
- The Learning Disability Association of Canada estimates that one in 10 Canadians has a learning disability.
- The Canadian National Institute for the Blind estimated in 2011 that more than three million Canadians have a disability that makes it difficult or impossible to read conventional print.
- Over 81% of people with disabilities reported using some kind of assistive technology or specialized equipment to help them move, communicate, learn or carry out the daily activities of life.
- Proportionately, adults with disabilities were only about half as likely to get their university-level degrees as adults without disabilities, according to the Canadian Human Rights Commission (20.2% vs. 40.7%, respectively).
- More than three-quarters of the employers surveyed by BMO in 2012 said that after recruiting disabled workers, the hires either met their expectations (62%) or exceeded them (15%).
- The same BMO study suggests that almost half of Canadians (48%) believe candidates with a disability could be more likely to climb the corporate ladder if they kept their disability under wraps.
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