Enabling Participation and Contribution.
DESSA is about promoting disability rights in Ireland. The purpose of DESSA is to create a society where everyone with lived experience of disability and their families can participate equally as full citizens. We do this by to eliminating barriers to enable disabled people to reach their potential and participate fully in their community.
Background
DESSA’s mission is to pursue the active involvement and full participation of disabled people in Irish society. At the heart of this is the belief that people who experience disability are citizens with rights, not objects of charity.
DESSA’s work is based on the Social Model of Disability. This recognises that it is attitudes, practices and structures that are disabling, preventing people from enjoying economic participation, social inclusion and equality and not an individual’s impairment.