Supporters gear up for Feb. 15 awareness day for Angelman
Foundation offers calendar, resources to raise awareness of rare condition
Supporters are gearing up for International Angelman Day (IAD), a community-driven event held every February that aims to raise awareness for Angelman syndrome and honor those living with or lost to the rare neurodevelopmental disorder.
The celebration also aims to promote Angelman research and education and mobilize fundraising efforts to improve the lives of the estimated 500,000 people living with the disease worldwide.
IAD falls on Feb.15 each year, a nod to the fact that the genetic abnormality underlying Angelman is found on the 15th chromosome. The date is also significant because February is Rare Disease Month.
The event was launched in 2013 by two parents of children with Angelman. At its start, it involved 31 organizations. It now includes more than 50 organizations across over 40 countries. While each organization operates independently, they come together each February as the International Angelman Day Collective.
The Angelman Syndrome Foundation (ASF) offers a downloadable calendar, 15 Days of Angelman Syndrome Awareness, that suggests 15 ways to get involved leading up to IAD.
Awareness resources
The organization encourages individuals to educate others about Angelman on social media, in schools, and in their communities. It offers resources for raising awareness including downloadable graphics and templates for social media, customizable yard signs, printable informational fliers and posters, and worksheets for children. Supporters can also connect via the IAD Facebook page and Facebook group.
Also returning this year is the Light Up Blue initiative, in which landmarks around the world are illuminated in blue, the color for Angelman awareness, as a public display of support.
“The more people who get to know about AS, the more opportunities to raise funds for your national AS organisation – so they can fund further research and resources,” ASF writes on its Light Up Blue webpage, which offers a toolkit for individuals who want to light their homes blue or ask that a local landmark be lit.
Some of the landmarks that will be lit this year are Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia, the Kentucky capitol building in Frankfort, and Hoan Bridge in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
ASF suggests supporters get involved in ways including:
- Adding a tribute for an Angelman patient who has died on ASF’s In Memoriam webpage.
- Finding a local Angelman organization to learn about nearby events.
- Signing up for the Angelman Strong walk, a fundraising event for Angelman research to be held across the U.S. on May 17. There’s a $5 discount on registration fees through Feb. 15, and those registered by that date will be entered into a raffle to win a custom cut-out head of the person with Angelman they’re supporting.
- Shopping for IAD merchandise to support fundraising efforts.
The Foundation for Angelman Syndrome Therapeutics is also offering awareness resources including social media templates, educational ideas for children, sample press releases, and ideas for activities such as painting one’s nails or baking blue cookies.
Supporters can also create their own fundraising pages to help support the effort.
Those who promote IAD on social media are encouraged to tag the foundation (@cureangelman) and use the hashtags #InternationalAngelmanDay, #AngelmanDay2025, and #cureangelman.
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