Disability Awareness Days Calendar

The items listed below are annual disability-related events or days of focus with links to resources for prayers, education, and other resources.

January

• Pro-Life Month and Prenatal and Postnatal Diagnosis* Awareness Month

  • Prenatal and Postnatal Support
  • Physician Assisted Suicide

February

• Rare Disease Day (Feb 28 or 29)

  • Prayers of the Faithful and Resources

March

• Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month

  • Bulletin inserts, prayers of the faithful, prayers, and a fact sheet

• World Down Syndrome Day (March 21)

  • A Life Like Yours: Maddie's Story
  • A Perfect Gift: Parenting a Child with Down Syndrome
  • Prenatal Diagnoses and the Future of Down Syndrome

April

• World Autism Day (April 2)

• World Autism Month

  • Prayers of the Faithful
  • Parish Bulletin Announcement
  • Awareness Prayer
  • Sample Autism Pew Cards

May

• Mental Health Awareness Month

  • Prayers of the Faithful
  • Article on supporting persons with mental illness
  • Quotations by Pope Francis about mental illness

June

• Alzheimer's and Brain Awareness Month

  • What does a dementia-friendly parish look like?
  • Dementia-Friendly Worship: Finding Spiritual Peace with Dementia
  • Peace with Dementia Rosary

July

• Minority Mental Health Month

  • Minority Mental Health Month Resources

August

• Purple Heart Day

  • Resources for recognizing veterans

September

• Deaf Awareness Month

  • Bulletin insert, prayers of the faithful, prayers in ASL, stories, and a fact sheet

• National Suicide Prevention Awareness Month

  • Prayers of the Faithful
  • Suicide Prevention Resources

• Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Awareness Month

  • Prayers and Resources

October

• National Depression Education and Awareness Month

  • He wore a crown of thorns: Anxiety and depression from Catholic, clinical, and personal perspectives
  • Dust in the Blood: Theological resources for life with depression

• Mental Illness Awareness Week (1st full week in October)

  • Prayers of the Faithful
  • Mental illness-related homilies

November

• National Family Caregivers Month

  • CatholicCaregivers.com for educational information, prayers of intercession, and resources for parishes in supporting caregivers
  • NourishForCaregivers.com and ThePeaceInTheStormProject.com are programs built to help parishes support caregivers.

December

• International Day of Persons with Disabilities (Dec 3)

  • Pope Francis' message from December 3, 2021

 

*Nationally, January is designated as Birth Defects Month. Honoring the importance of language and word choice in respecting the inherent dignity of all persons, NCPD has changed the language to prenatal and postnatal diagnosis.