Canadian Association of Muslims with Disabilities (CAM-D) Ottawa Chapter

The Ottawa Chapter for the Canadian Muslims with Disabilities was created in July 2011. The Chapter currently consists of six Committee Board Members, including the President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary and two Members at large. The Chapter has hosted several information sharing and networking events for its community focusing on various types of disabilities such as Autism, Learning Disability, Visual Impairment and Deaf/Hard of Hearing. Speakers were invited from mainstream organizations and the event provided an opportunity for attendees to provide feedback to the Chapter on how to help address gaps in existing services and the needs of people in the Muslim community (for example, the need for social support activities for Muslim families with children who have autism; the need for ASL Halaqa session for individuals who are Deaf or hard of hearing, etc…). Other events that the Chapter has hosted include the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, and Eid Al Adha events. In addition, in December 2012, the Khutba Campaign was launched for all Masajids in the Ottawa area, consistent with the CAMD Annual Khutba campaign in December in Toronto, in order to promote awareness about accessibility and inclusiveness in the Muslim community. The Chapter is currently moving forward with specific projects through the help of additional volunteers in order to address the feedback obtained from its information and networking sessions. Some examples of the projects include: ASL Halaqa, Drop In Nights activities and Social Outings for community members with disabilities.