O is for October which is now National Disability Employment Awareness Month. In 1945, it was established as National Disability Employment Awareness Week and later expanded to the whole month of October. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy funded a campaign surrounding the value and skills that PWD bring to the workforce.
What do people with disabilities bring to the workforce that no one else can? A LOT.
Employees with disabilities:
- Have a higher retention rate
- Expand the talent pool significantly. Many of us are highly skilled but often don’t even make it to the interview phase
- Are more efficient than other employees because of their experiences with disability barriers
- Boost market reach—20% of the world’s population has a disability of some kind but very few products and services are designed with PWD in mind
- Are already adept at change, persistence, and other ‘soft skills’ that often contribute to making a great employee.
An Instagram account I really love to follow that talks about this topic is @NotYourGrandmasUK. Hannah is a disability educator who creates wonderful comics about the disability experience.
The campaign spotlighted a public service campaign around the tagline “I Can;” which gained a lot of traction in the media in 2009.
O is for On the Threshold of Independence. This 1988 report from the National Council on Disability with data collected from Toward Independence, an assessment of federal laws and programs that affect people with disabilities. To read more about On the Threshold of Independence and Toward Independence, check out the original assessments here.