Canadian student announces global campaign in the new year to highlight barriers people with disabilities face

A global social media campaign in the new year called #EndAbleism aims to highlight the many barriers that people with disabilities face around the world. Behind the campaign is a young student from Canada Olivia Karp. Olivia, who has a learning disability, hopes to create greater awareness and sensitisation.The social media campaign will be through the Attention and Action campaign.

Worldwide people with disabilities face multiple barriers. Larger awareness and sensitisation are critical to address this.

Canadian student Olivia Karp wants to help create that and has announced a social media campaign called #EndAbleism in January 2021.

“My aim is to raise awareness about the barriers people with disabilities face”, says Olivia, who is a student of political science. “I was diagnosed with a learning disability when I was in grade one and throughout my school years and up to now, I have worked above and beyond to break down the barriers of this disability”.

Living with an invisible disability

Her work across a range of programmes and schools has given Olivia an opportunity to closely engage with young people across disability types.

As someone who has experienced having a non-visible disability and having worked with people with disabilities, this something that is personal to me. I started Attention and Action to bring awareness worldwide about the barriers people with disabilities face all over the world and how to break down those barriers. – Olivia Karp, #EndAbleism

The social media pages of the campaign will highlight the many types of barriers that disabled people face and talk about ways to address them. Olivia will also reach out to organisations working in the space of disability rights as well as individuals with disabilities to come together in a campaign called #EndAbleism.

“The focus of this campaign is to spark discussions about ableism, bring awareness and put a stop to it”, she adds.

Campaign starts 11 January

While awareness about disability rights is higher in Canada as compared to India, Olivia has faced her share of struggles. “I had to work hard to overcome my challenges. When I was in the public school system, learning disabilities were not widely talked about. Through the years it has been discussed more and now it is more of a norm”.

Through #EndAbleism, Olivia hopes to raise awareness about how ableism affects people with disabilities. The campaign is open to all age groups. “Participants will talk about how ableism affects them, people with disabilities and what action is needed to put a stop to it”.

The campaign is from 11 to 16 January 2021. Follow the campaign on these handles:

Instagram: @attentionand_action

Tiktok: @attentionandaction

Facebook: @attentionandaction

Watch in Sign Language

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