NORWAY — In 1987 President Ronald Reagan declared March to be Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month, urging “all Americans to join me in according to our fellow citizens with such disabilities both encouragement and the opportunities they need to lead productive lives and to achieve their full potential.”

“Ability at Work” is the theme for Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month 2014. The Progress Center of Norway, as well as other related organizations, celebrate Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month each March and invite the public to consider the true meaning of this year’s theme, “Ability at Work!”

Statewide, and across the nation, organizations devoted to serving individuals with developmental disabilities are raising public awareness of the many abilities people have, regardless of disability. “Ability at Work” encourages people to understand that when people with disabilities are welcomed into local neighborhoods, workplaces, houses of worship and schools, everyone wins. The center would like people to join in focusing on ability instead of DISability.

Individuals and families with intellectual and developmental disabilities in 46 towns and cities within Oxford, Androscoggin, Franklin and Cumberland counties receive support through services provided by The Progress Center. For more information on The Progress Center, contact Priscilla Burnette at 207-743-8049 or by email at priscillaburnette@progresscentermaine.org.