Change Society and Change Laws

Learn how to change society and change laws. This can help improve the situation of Deaf people, or other people with disabilities. 

Disability Awareness in Action wrote these three resource kits for people with disabilities and their organizations. This includes Deaf people and organizations too. They published the kits in 1993, but people can still use some of their advice today. 

Three Resource Kits

• “Consultation and Influence” explains what is influence, who we should influence, and how to influence them. We can influence people to change their attitudes about people with disabilities or Deaf people. This resource kit also shares examples of laws at the international, regional, and national levels and how to change them.
• “Campaigns” explains how to organize a campaign. A campaign can promote the independence, equality of opportunity and full participation of people with disabilities or people who are Deaf. The kit shares some ideas for campaigns. A few examples mention deaf people or sign language.
• “Civil Rights Laws for Disabled People” explains why some people want to change laws in their country. It shares advice on what the new laws can include, and how to decide if it is time to advocate to change laws. Laws can help protect the rights of people with disabilities, including Deaf people.

Accessibility 

People can download each guide in either PDF, RTF, or Word format. The PDF files are partly accessible for people using screen reading software with some difficulty with navigation. We were unable to assess whether the Word or RTF files are accessible.

More Resource Kits

DAA published these three resource kits as part of a series of seven resource kits for disability rights advocacy organizations. Their other resource kits cover topics such as developing a better organization, raising funds, and advocating with the media.