March is Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month

OKLAHOMA CAPITOL -- The national and state celebration to raise awareness of developmental disabilities, "Nothing About Us Without Us," will take place during the month of March.
Hundreds of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, their families, advocates and service providers will gather Wednesday, March 18 at 10:30 a.m. on the south steps of the state capitol in Oklahoma City to mark the occasion.

Approximately 50,000 people with developmental disabilities live in Oklahoma. The Oklahoma Department of Human Services Developmental Disabilities Services Division helps nearly 9,000 individuals live and work in their communities, rather than live in nursing homes and institutional settings. 

For the past 3 years, OKDHS DDSD has led the nation in helping people with developmental disabilities work in competitive jobs. Today, 60 percent of individuals with disabilities served by DDSD participate in supported employment--a higher percentage than any other state in the nation. Another 30 percent of the individuals served are working in sheltered workshops, many of which are agencies that produce goods for state contracts. This success is largely due to the collaborative efforts with contract community provider agencies.

These employment programs are particularly successful considering the U.S. Department of Labor estimates the unemployment rate for people with developmental disabilities to be almost twice that of the average population. For state comparative information on employment, visit http://www.statedata.info/.

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