Advocate for People with Disabilities
By now you’ve probably learned that getting involved with us is as simple as attending our events or volunteering your time. But what if we told you that you can play a bigger role in making a difference for people living with disabilities in our community? Read on to see how.
Make The First Five Count
In the first few years of a child’s life, parents eagerly await each milestone. Yet, every year, more than one million children with unidentified disabilities enter school with issues that put them behind their peers. Easter Seals makes it easy to find out if your child is at risk.
Together we can give every child an equal opportunity to learn and grow—but it’s important to get kids the help they need in the critical years before they turn five.
Easter Seals’ Make the First Five Count® is designed to give children at risk of developmental delays, disabilities or autism the right support they need to be school-ready and build a foundation for a lifetime of learning.
We’re also calling on our elected officials to protect—and grow—all funding for early intervention programs. There is no better investment than in the future of our children.
Ways to join the movement:
- If you believe all kids deserve to start school, ready and able to learn alongside their peers, join us at MaketheFirstFiveCount.org and speak out today.
- And, if you’re a parent, make sure your child is reaching his or her developmental milestones. It’s easy to find out, simply go to MaketheFirstFiveCount.org to take our free online screening tool. It’s also available in Spanish.
Learn more about Make The First Five Count
People first language
Want to know what the first—and most significant—step to changing negative stereotypes and attitudes toward people with disabilities? It begins with rethinking the way written and spoken images are used to portray them.
Because a person is not a condition or a disease, avoid referring to someone with a disability by his or her disability alone. For example, don’t say she is a “C.P.”, an “autistic” or an “epileptic.” Instead say, “she has cerebral palsy, or has autism, or has epilepsy.
Your concerted efforts to use people-first language can help to change negative stereotypes and to stop defining a person by their disability. Remember, a person is a person first, the disability comes second.
Download a PDF copy of the Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities People First Language Handout.*
Learn more facts about disability on our National website
*This document is in Adobe PDF format. You will need to download free Adobe Acrobat Reader software to view these documents. If you do not have Acrobat Reader, you can download it for free by clicking here.
You can help with our Public Policy Priorities
People with disabilities and Easter Seals have a significant stake in government programs. Why? Because for many individuals with disabilities, their ability to get an education, earn a living, and live independently in the community is dictated by the availability of services and supports. Many of the resources that people with disabilities need come only from the federal government.
Easter Seals' legislative efforts focus on health care, early intervention, child care, education, employment, housing, supports for older Americans, assistive technology, transportation and nonprofit organization operations.
Learn about our public policy priorities on our National website
Find your local elected officials
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