Don’t miss out on these 2019 events

There are plenty of events happening over the next couple of months. Here are some of the highlights:

September: Muscular Dystrophy Awareness Month
Muscular Dystrophy (MD) is a genetic disease that causes progressive weakness and loss of muscle mass. Most people with MD rely on a wheelchair as the disease progresses. The most common adult form of MD affects one in 8 000 people worldwide. September is global MD awareness month. For more information on the disease, visit the Muscular Dystrophy Association website at www.mda.org.

5 September: World SCI Day
World Spinal Cord Injury Day is observed every year on September 5 to create awareness among the general public about SCIs, to promote better inclusivity and to ensure greater success of prevention programmes. SCI can be caused by an accident or disease and affects between 250 000 and 500 000 people globally. For more information about World SCI Day, visit www.worldsciday.org.

6 September: Casual Day
Casual Day, the flagship awareness and fundraising project of the National Council of and for Persons with Disabilities, will take place on September 6 this year. The theme is “Time to shine with persons with disabilities”. Buy a sticker for R10 and support people with disabilities. In 2018, the project raised R31 million. Visit www.casualday.co.za to find out more.

14 September: QASA AGM
The QuadPara Association of South Africa (QASA) will have its annual general meeting on Saturday, September 14, and everyone is welcome. For more information, keep an eye on our social media sites or visit the QASA website at www.qasa.co.za. 

1 – 3 October: Disabling Normativities
The Wits Centre for Diversity Studies (WiCDS) will host an international conference from October 1 to 3 at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg with the theme “Disabling Normativities”. This conference aims to take the notion of the disabling effects of normative social relations seriously and look at ways of reducing them. Visit www.disablingnormativities.com to find out more.

23 – 25 October: Southern Africa Assistive Technology Expo
The Southern Africa Assistive Technology Expo (SAATE) will be held at Safari Court Hotel & Conference Centre in Windhoek, Namibia, from October 23 to 25. The theme is “Wake up and do it for yourself: To promote and advance local assistive technology (AT) solutions for Southern Africa”. The SAATE forms part of the Assistive Technology Information Mapping Project (AT-Info-Map) run by the Southern Africa Federation of the Disabled (SAFOD), the University of Washington and AfriNEAD. It works with local disability organisations to address gaps in AT availability. For more information, visit www.saate.org.