October: National Disability Employment Month
National Disability Employment Month started in 1945 when Congress declared the first week in October "National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week." Today, it's a nationwide campaign celebrating the skills and talents workers with disabilities bring to our workplaces, including amputees.
This year, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy has announced a new theme designed to encourage conversations about inclusion in the workplace and create awareness of workers with disabilities. The theme, #InclusionWorks, was created with input from a wide variety of its partner organizations, including those representing employers, people with disabilities and their families, and federal, state and local agencies.
So what can you do to help? The simplest thing you can do is use the theme in social media. Post pictures of you or your loved ones with disabilities at work and include the theme #InclusionWorks. You can also search that theme on the many social media platforms and like or reshare the stories and pictures that others share. The more people we can get into the conversation, the wider the awareness of workers with disabilities becomes.
But that's not all you can do. You can encourage your company to review its policies regarding workers with disabilities. You can hold a discussion at your school, church or workplace. You can ask your employer to post a link to the NDEAM site. You can share the Campaign for Disability Employment's "Because" public service announcement. For more ideas on what you can do, visit the NDEAM site.