In 1987, the United States established Developmental Disabilities Month with the goal of celebrating the talents and skills of those with developmental disabilities as well as highlighting the issues they face.
But what is a developmental disability? According to the National Library of Medicine’s Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), developmental disabilities are “disorders in which there is a delay in development based on that expected for a given age level or stage of development.” These conditions are quite common; the CDC states that 1 in 6 children ages 3-17 have a developmental disability. Some examples of developmental disabilities are hearing loss, vision impairments, autism spectrum disorders, and learning disorders.
The National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities runs an awareness campaign every year to mark the month. This year’s campaign is called “We’re Here All Year,” which is meant to promote that awareness and support for people with developmental disabilities should take place throughout the year, not just in March. The campaign is currently seeking photos of individuals working, attending school, volunteering, etc., as part of their everyday lives to showcase in a photo gallery later in the year.
One of the many ways to support people with developmental disabilities is to improve accessibility in our own work. To mark this month, we here at Himmelfarb have provided a short but non-exhaustive list below of accessibility tools and websites that can help ensure information is equitable for everyone.
Color Contrast Checker: If someone is colorblind or has a visual impairment, colors that are too alike in tone can be harder to read. Using online color contrast checkers like this one, you can ensure your graphics and PowerPoints are easier to read.
Captions: Making a video or a TikTok? Add captions to allow people with hearing loss to enjoy your video, too.
Digital Accessibility: When someone has a visual impairment, they may use a screen reader to read content online. Formatting choices that you can make in your own documents will make them as accessible to screen readers as possible. GW has best practice guidelines for making PDFs accessible along with other web-based content.
Language Matters: Some terms used to speak about those with disabilities are based in painful history. Take some time to learn common terms that are used by these communities and how they should be used. When it comes to individuals, ask them what they prefer. https://www.ndrn.org/resource/communicating-about-people-with-disabilities/
Test Proctoring Services and Notetaking: GW disability support services can provide test proctoring services or notetaking services for students registered with them.
Works Cited
"2025 DD Awareness Month: We’re here all Year!", https://nacdd.org/ddam2025/.
"Accessibility Guidelines.", 11/09, 2021, https://www.ndrn.org/accessibility-guidelines/.
"Developmental Disabilities.", https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/68002658.
"Developmental Disability Basics.", 5/16, 2024, https://www.cdc.gov/child-development/about/developmental-disability-basics.html.
