There are many important disability awareness days and awareness months that fall in the latter half of the year. In this post we’ll highlight the ones you should have marked in your calendar, and meaningful ways you can get involved and show your support.
Here at Open Road Access, disability inclusion and amplifying the voices of the disabled community is at the heart of everything we do. If you’ve found yourself on this blog post and you’re new to our work, check out our mobility hire service and our Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle rentals here!
Why Are Disability Awareness Days So Important?
Although disability inclusion should be a year-round effort, awareness days give us a brilliant opportunity to focus our advocacy on a specific cause and champion disabled voices.
Having a set time or place to raise awareness offers a powerful reason for individuals and organisations to come together and create change. It can also empower people with lived experience of disability or long-term health conditions to speak up and share their stories.
Often, the burden of advocacy and changemaking falls on disabled people alone. This can be very difficult, because many of us are usually already having to manage additional access needs or dealing with challenging symptoms. This in turn means we may not be able to channel all the energy we want to into raising awareness, and that’s why it’s so important that we have non-disabled allies to join in and show their support too.
Also Read: Accessible Transport Partnerships: Building Community Together
How To Join In With Disability Awareness Days
There are many ways to get involved with disability events and awareness days – several of them completely for free. For each of the occasions we highlight below, we’ll include a link to the relevant organisation’s website.
On these websites, you will find more information about the cause, and plenty of ideas and inspiration for how you can get involved. This may include…
- Ideas for fundraising events you can organise, or links where you can make a one-off or regular donation
- Social media campaigns and hashtags you can use to raise awareness online
- Template letters for contacting your MP that you can copy and personalise to let them know about specific issues relating to the cause
- Volunteering opportunities where you can donate your time and skills to support the movement
- Media and content call-outs where you may have the opportunity to tell your own story on a larger scale, for example as a media case study for television, journalism, or radio
Upcoming Disability Awareness Days/Months, October – December 2026
1st October: Breast Cancer Awareness Month. This campaign encourages people to regularly check themselves for signs of breast cancer, wear pink for awareness, and fundraise for research and patient support.
1st October: ADHD Awareness Month. The goal of this global coalition is to spread reliable information about ADHD and increase awareness and understanding among the wider public.
1st October: Dwarfism Awareness Month. Though Dwarfism Awareness Day falls on the 25th October, the whole month is dedicated to championing identity and belonging among the Dwarfism community.
5th-11th October: Dyslexia Awareness Week. Charities are focussing on improving the lives and wellbeing of people with dyslexia, with an emphasis this year on dyslexia in the workplace and access to adjustments for employees.
6th October: World Cerebral Palsy Day. This year’s campaign is focussed on contacting local leaders and those in positions of power, encouraging people with CP to voice the change they want to see in care and inclusion.
8th October: World Sight Day. IAPB takes this opportunity to advocate for eye care that is ‘accessible, available, and affordable for all’ affected by sight loss globally.
10th October: World Mental Health Day. This year, leading charity Mind is championing their See Me Now campaign, highlighting the importance of same-day access to support for people with mental health issues.
11th-17th October: OCD Awareness Week. Mental health charities focus on Obsessive Compulsive Disorder during this week, sharing factual information and real-life stories to raise awareness of the condition that is accurate and inclusive.
20th October: World Osteoporosis Day. A time for events and social media campaigns raising awareness for osteoporosis and encouraging people of all backgrounds to take good care of their bones.
22nd October: International Stammering Awareness Day. Organisations use their visibility on this day to educate others about stammering, remind people that not every conversational space needs to be filled, and to empower and build confidence in those who stammer.
3rd November: Purple Tuesday. This annual campaign shines a light on the value of businesses and organisations improving their accessibility for disabled people, and the social and financial benefits of investing in disability inclusion training. Please note that at the time of writing, it is unclear whether Purple Tuesday will be run by the same organisation who has led the cause for the past eight years.
14th November: World Diabetes Day. For 2026, the focus of this awareness day is on early diagnosis and access to timely care as a way of reducing risk and improving outcomes for people affected by diabetes.
19th November: Carers Rights Day. Carers should be championed and supported year-round, but Carers Rights Day is a time to recognise the 5.8+ million unpaid carers in the UK and ensure they are aware of their rights and the support they may be able to access.
19th November – 19th December: Disability History Month. This cross-sector campaign encourages workplaces, organisations, policymakers and individuals to take positive action and become more disability-inclusive. For 2026, the month’s theme is ‘disability, politics, and democracy’, with a big focus on the social model of disability.
3rd December: International Day Of People With Disabilities (IDPWD). Led by the United Nations, this global initiative campaigns for disability equality. This year’s theme is likely to focus on leadership opportunities for disabled people and the positive ripple effect this can have on global accessibility and inclusion.
If you’re taking part in any events or initiatives for these awareness days, our team at Open Road Access would love to hear all about it. If a Wheelchair Accessible Vehicle (WAV) would make life easier for your fundraising or awareness-raising plans, get in touch today to see how we can help!
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