Understanding National Disability Employment Awareness Month

Do you know why October is a very special month for me? Well, I guess most of you know it. In October 2025, we celebrate the 80th anniversary of 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘋𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘌𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘈𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘔𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩 (𝘕𝘋𝘌𝘈𝘔), a recognition of the impact people with disabilities have on the American workforce and economy. What began in 1945 as a weeklong observance for people with physical disabilities has grown into something much bigger. In 1988, Congress expanded it into NDEAM. In 2001, the Office of Disability Employment Policy was created and entrusted to oversee NDEAM, including choosing and promoting its annual theme. This year’s theme, “𝘊𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘝𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘵,” is a reminder of exactly that - the value and talent people with disabilities bring to workplaces. Why dedicate a whole month to celebrating the employment of people with disabilities? Let’s look at the facts👇 In 2024, only 𝟯𝟳.𝟰% 𝗼𝗳 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 aged 16 to 64 were employed, compared with 𝟲𝟱.𝟱% 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀. For people with intellectual and developmental disabilities like autism, Down syndrome, and cerebral palsy, the barriers are even greater, with bias, limited training, and a lack of employer support standing in the way. And yet, the evidence is clear. A 2023 study by Accenture, in partnership with Disability:IN and the American Association of People with Disabilities, found that companies actively hiring and supporting people with disabilities outperform their peers: 🔸 1.6x more revenue 🔸 2x more economic profit 🔸 2.6x more net income 🔸 25% more productivity (measured by revenue per employee) Despite the clear benefits, some companies are stepping away from diversity efforts. Honestly, it frustrates me to see so many companies scaling back diversity efforts. To me, treating disability hiring as a political debate misses what really matters - the people, the ideas, and the measurable results it brings to every team. Eighty years of NDEAM show massive progress. But the next 80 years depend on the choices we make today. How is your organization honoring NDEAM this year? #NDEAM2025 #NationalDisabilityEmploymentAwarenessMonth #DisabilityEmployment #DisabilityInclusion

In October, the disability community observes National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) to champion the inclusion of people with disabilities, including the Deaf and hard-of-hearing, in the workforce. While landmark legislation like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has set a global standard for accessibility and civil rights, the employment reality is still far from equitable. Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) shows the unemployment rate for people with a disability was 7.5% in 2024—more than double the 3.8% rate for those without a disability. This persistent and large gap highlights that the issue isn't a lack of talent, but a deficit of employer awareness and confidence that translates into missed opportunities and a failure to fully realize the contributions of skilled workers who are ready and able to rise. This month serves as a crucial call to action for businesses to challenge biases, invest in inclusion, and commit to equitable hiring practices year-round. #NDEAM #DisabilityInclusion #DisabilityEmployment #Accessibility #DeafTalent #InclusionMatters #TalentBeyondBarriers

In honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), I'm sharing small actions companies can take. Some think starting the interviewing process with a phone interview cuts bias because you don't see a person's face. It doesn't. Accents are a giveaway. The interviewer may assume a candidate's culture or disability based on how they speak. Phone calls lock out those who don't speak. One of the funniest comedians I've ever seen never speaks with his voice. Phone calls lock out those who depend on visual cues. It's not just lipreaders like me who rely on facial expressions. By the way, most lipreaders look at the face, not just the lips. Some say to call it "speechreading," but that doesn't work for me. The answer is simple. Offer communication options. Interviews and conversations do not have to be default phone calls and voice-to-voice conversations. A lot of companies' automated interviewing processes send an email notification about the interview. Review this email template. I got one that said they'll call me at the number I provided. We had already agreed to a captioned video call. 🔔 Tap the silent profile bell to catch the next post 👉 Follow #MerylMots to find all my content ❤️ Like this? Repost and add your thoughts in the comments 📧 Drop me a line to book my speaking, training, or consulting services #Accessibility #Communication #Hiring #NDEAM #IN4DEAM Image: X over phone. Check over chat, phone, monitor, and tablet. How to be a disability ally: offer options for interviews and conversations.

As we observe Disability Employment Awareness Month in the US, I want to shed light on the critical issue of employment for disabled people. My research highlights the significant challenges faced by disabled people globally in securing and maintaining employment. Many remain unemployed or are underemployed, working in roles far below their qualifications. n the UK, only about a quarter of working-age people in the visually impaired community are employed. I am humbled to be among them, but I am also frustrated and angered that so many others don’t have the opportunity to work and find meaning in their work. Many times disability employment goes wrong at the hiring stage. My journey has been fraught with obstacles and ableism within the recruitment process. Even today, many employers are reluctant or even outriht refuse to make reasonable adjustments or accommodations during hiring. This raises a crucial question: how can someone demonstrate their potential if the recruitment process itself creates barriers or makes it impossible? In this week’s video, I delve into this topic and share two of my more challenging interview experiences. These stories are just the tip of the iceberg compared to what some of my research participants have endured.  I wanted to share these to highlight how recruitment practices keep disability employment low. Moreover, these experiences can discourage disabled individuals from even attempting to seek employment, as no one wants to be regularly humiliated and dehumanized. To be clear, this is not about an unwillingness to work by anyone but an unwillingness and inability to be exposed to stigmatisation and marginalisation, or, as in my case, being deliberately set up for failure. These experiences are draining, causing stress and anxiety, and significantly impacting mental health, self-esteem, and sense of self-worth. They also increase internalised ableism. These experiences hit people at their core. Let’s continue to advocate for inclusive hiring practices and ensure that everyone has the opportunity to showcase their true potential. 💪 #DisabilityEmploymentMonth #Inclusion #Diversity #Employment #Accessibility #InclusiveRecruitment #Recruitment https://lnkd.in/edizewNu

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and it's time we talk about what true workplace resilience really means. A resilient workplace isn't just one that weathers challenges—it's one that's built to support every person who walks through the door. That includes people with disabilities, chronic illnesses, and invisible conditions that impact how they work. Real inclusion looks like: - Flexible work arrangements that accommodate different needs - Accessible technology and physical spaces - Interview processes that don't screen out qualified candidates - Managers who ask, "What do you need to do your best work?" and actually listen Here's what many organizations miss: accommodations don't weaken your team. They strengthen it. When you create systems that work for people with disabilities, you create better systems for everyone. Disability inclusion isn't a checkbox or a compliance issue. It's a competitive advantage. It's bringing in talent, perspectives, and problem-solving approaches you'd otherwise miss. Take a look at your workplace through an inclusion lens. What's one barrier you could remove? What's one process you could make more accessible? Start there. #DisabilityEmployment #WorkplaceInclusion #HRLeadership #WorkplaceResilience

Every October, the same playbook rolls out. National Disability Employment Awareness Month. NDEAM. That one time a year when agencies and companies race to post glossy graphics and say all the right things about valuing disabled talent. Here’s the thing: we don’t need a marketing campaign. We need a functioning workplace. Because while the federal government brands itself as a “model employer,” the reality for many of us doesn’t match the message. Too often, the accommodations process feels less like a conversation and more like a slow-motion extraction. When things go right, it’s simple. An employee says, “I need this,” and you work together to figure it out. That’s what a healthy workplace looks like. But when leadership wants the optics without the action, the process turns adversarial. Paperwork is requested. Then more paperwork. Then silence. Then suddenly your performance is under review. Not because anything changed, but because you disclosed. Because you asked for what you need to succeed. That’s not a problem employee. That’s a problem environment. And the delays? They do real harm. Earlier this year, a federal court ruling found that a six-month delay in approving a service dog for a public employee may have violated the ADA. The court didn’t just critique the decision. It flagged the delay itself as discriminatory. People are being worn down by design. Across the federal workforce, we’re seeing a quiet purge. According to The New Yorker more than 550 disability-related complaints were abandoned after the U.S. Department of Homeland Security dismantled its civil rights office. Agencies are walking back hybrid work and delaying accommodations that used to be routine. Even the EEOC, the agency that enforces disability rights, has seen its own disabled staff pushed to fight for access. This is not accidental. When a disabled employee asks for an accommodation, they are not asking for special treatment. They are saying, “I want to keep doing the job you hired me to do.” But too often, that disclosure is weaponized. Suddenly we’re seen as less capable. Projects are reassigned. Promotions disappear. The same systems that talk about equity on their websites make us jump through hoops to be treated with dignity. And the real kicker? Most accommodations cost under a hundred bucks to implement. What costs more is burnout. Turnover. Legal fees. And reputational damage. So let’s talk about what real access looks like. • It looks like believing people when they say what they need. • It looks like cutting the red tape that delays support. • It looks like holding toxic leadership accountable, not promoting them. • It looks like building trust, not breaking it the moment someone discloses. And it looks like this: If you're going to call yourself a model employer, act like it. #DisabilityRightsAreCivilRights #ReasonableAccommodation #AccessIsEssential #NothingAboutUsWithoutUs #ModelEmployer #NDEAM

This week, I'm excited to be chatting with companies planning to celebrate Employee Disability Awareness Month this October. It's got me thinking about the many ways companies can celebrate Employee Disability Awareness Month and support disabled employees, beyond a designated month. Here are a few ideas: - Hire a disabled speaker with lived experience & pay them (if you are looking for someone, I can make recommendations from my network. Let’s chat!) - Share more information about your accommodations request process so that employees with disabilities feel welcome to make a request and communicate that you want to support them, rather than feeling stuck in their environment that's not set up for their success. By the way, most accommodations are free or very low-cost. - Share more info about your Accessibility-related Employee Resource Group. Don’t have one? Consider starting one. - Leadership trainings on anti-ableism. Most people don't even know what ableism is. - View all your employees as unique humans with various needs that change over their lifetime. Not just “Able-bodied” vs “Disabled”. - Remind employees about the health and well-being benefits you offer. - Improve your work environment and support systems for employees. Flexible policies that reflect that human bodies have various needs and those needs change over time. - It’s best to ask employees what are the barriers that hinder them (pssst, it’s not their disability, it's the working environment/situation) and work with them to try out a reasonable accommodation. Be flexible and willing to try out something new that will not only make things easier for your disabled employees but everyone on your team. Accessible design can benefit everyone. - Avoid using euphemisms and ableist slurs to describe someone’s capabilities: less-abled, differently-abled, handicapped, crippled, impaired, special needs. Disability is the legal term and it’s not a bad word. - Recognize that accessibility progress is better than perfection. Get input from marginalized voices, take one action, get feedback, adjust, repeat. Image is a selfie of Lauren wearing a pink graphic t-shirt with blue words that read "I wanna see feisty disabled people change the world. - Judy Heumann" #employeedisabilityawareness #disability #workplaceaccessibility

It’s National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and it’s time to talk honestly about what’s really stopping so many disabled people from working. Because it’s not a skills shortage we have, it’s a support shortage. The government keeps talking about “getting more disabled people back into work”, while quietly cutting or delaying the very schemes designed to make that possible. Access to Work, which funds essential support like job coaches, support workers, travel and specialist equipment, is now so backlogged that many applicants wait six months to a year just for an assessment. Imagine being offered a job but told you won’t get the tools you need until next spring. You’d have to turn it down. And for those already receiving support, many are seeing their Access to Work packages suddenly reduced or removed without explanation. These delays & changes don’t just cause frustration, they cost people their jobs, independence, and mental health. Add to that inaccessible workplaces, rigid job requirements, and a benefits system that penalises people for trying to work even a few hours, and it’s clear that motivation isn’t the problem. Disabled people aren’t sitting at home because we want to. Many of us have the skills, qualifications, and drive. The system just isn’t built to let us use them. It’s time to stop blaming individuals and start fixing the barriers because real inclusion means giving people the support and flexibility they need to thrive. If you agree that disabled people deserve proper support to work, please share this post and help keep the conversation going this Disability Employment Awareness Month. #NationalDisabilityEmploymentAwarenessMonth #DisabilityEmployment #AccessToWork #Inclusion #Accessibility #DisabilityRights #DisabledAndProud #Equity #ChronicIllness #InclusiveWorkplaces

I was told my daughter Sophia would never be employable. Too “different.” Too “distracting.” Too much work. Funny thing? Sophia never got that memo. She landed a job at a café and came in with her signature can-do attitude. She memorized every step, learned how to adapt, and built real connections with customers who now look for her smile every morning. She didn’t just do the work. She made the workplace better. October is Disability Employment Awareness Month. But let’s be clear: this isn’t about tokenism. It’s about results. Disability employment isn’t a side project. It’s a talent strategy and a mission lever. Here’s what works: Structured flexibility: predictable schedules and choice of communication channel. Outcome: higher retention and fewer missed shifts. Universal design on the job: clear written steps, visual cues, quiet space. Outcome: fewer errors and faster onboarding. Inclusive recruiting: plain-language job posts, skills-based interviews, paid working interviews. Outcome: larger qualified candidate pool. They said she’d never be employable. She proved she’s indispensable. And she’s been promoted. Meet the newest barista at the Friends Cafe.