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Accessibility at Pride
Event Accessibility Information and Disability Inclusion Initiatives
This year, North Jersey Pride has partnered with Together We Bloom to take steps to prioritize and strengthen disability inclusion and accessibility at the Pride Festival. North Jersey Pride's values of equality, family, and community extend to the whole LGBTQIA+ community, including disabled and neurodivergent individuals.
A special thanks to Family Connections' Pride +, and the teens of the Pride+ Neuroqueer Youth Group for their partnership to bring these initiatives to the festival. Additional thanks to The Maplewood Foundation for helping to fund our work on this community education and inclusion initiative.
Neuroqueer Pride Celebration Area
Join us in celebrating our community at the intersection of neurodivergent and queer identities! This area, strategically placed away from the stage and crowded areas, provides a more sensory-friendly experience for all neuroqueer folks and their allies. There is both a "quiet tent" for folks looking for a quieter, reduced activity area to hang out together and a "party tent" for folks who like more stimulation or conversation. Kids and adults welcome. Whatever your style of neuroqueer- you're welcomed here!
The Neuroqueer celebration is brought to the Pride festival through a collaboration between Together We Bloom and Pride+'s Neuroqueer Youth Group.
Pride Festival Social Narrative
Social narratives are first-person narratives written to introduce a new, unexpected, or challenging situation with concrete language and pictures . They help the reader know what to expect and provide options for support.
Anyone can benefit from learning about situations ahead of time but social narratives are often particularly helpful for neurodivergent individuals including Autistic people or people with anxiety.
Social narratives should be used as a tool to empower and support inclusion and access, not to force compliance with social norms.
The downloadable PDF version includes alternative text for images for accessibility with screen readers for the Blind and individuals with low vision.
Kids Social Narrative
Adult Social Narrative
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These accessibility resources are free to download. If you're able, please consider a donation to Together We Bloom, so that they may continue their work to make our community more inclusive.
Pride Festival Communication Board
Some individuals with intellectual, communication, or developmental disabilities use or benefit from Alternative and Augmentative Communication (AAC) to support their language comprehension and expression, such as communication boards, speech-generating devices, or sign language. Communication partners can model and use this communication board by pointing to the pictures as you read the social story and make comments during the event as well. An individual should never be required to point to the board, but we can model and provide opportunity.
Downloadable PDF version includes alternative text for images for accessibility with screen readers for the Blind and individuals with low vision
These accessibility resources are free to download. If you're able, please consider a donation to Together We Bloom, so that they may continue their work to make our community more inclusive.
Sensory-Friendly Space:
Sensory Activation Vehicle
To increase the accessibility of the event for neurodivergent individuals, the sensory-friendly Sensory Activation Vehicle (SAV) will be parked in the field across Oakview Ave from the festival. The SAV has low lighting, reduced sound, and regulating tools and toys to provide a quiet space for individuals with disabilities and sensory differences.
Deaf Access Area
The festival will be accessible in American Sign Language (ASL), with onstage Sign Language Interpreters for the full duration of the event for anyone who is Deaf or uses sign language to communicate.
The Deaf Access Area is directly in front of the stage (to the right side when facing the stage) and allows unobstructed visual access to the ASL interpreter on stage.
Physical Accessibility
The Pride Festival is held in Memorial park in Maplewood which is a large, grassy park with paved walkways throughout. The paved walkways are visible here on the festival map. While paved paths do provide access to all areas of the festival grounds, individual food and vendor tents and the neuroqueer tent are positioned on grass fields. There is grass directly in front of the stage.
There is a significant incline on the path in front of the stage- from the top of the hill (across the street from the train station) down to the level of the stage. The sidewalks on Oakview and Dunnell provide a more gradual slope.
Accessible porta potties are available and indicated on the map.
For questions or feedback, please email community@togetherwebloom.org
About Together We Bloom
Together We Bloom is a Maplewood-based 501c3 nonprofit with a mission to empower young children with disabilities and their families through equitable access to connection, communication, and community. The organization progresses this mission through two vital strategies:
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Providing sliding scale, neurodiversity-affirming speech and language therapy; and
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Working to transform our community into a place that is more inclusive and equitable for disabled and neurodivergent children
To learn more or to support their work, please visit togetherwebloom.org/support