October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. It is annual observance to shine light on disability employment.

It celebrates the many contributions of workers with disabilities and serves to raise awareness about the importance of disability inclusion in the workplace.

This began initially in 1945 to celebrate those with physical disabilities in the workplace . In 1988 Congress made it to include more people with disabilities. To read more about the history check out U.S. Department of Labor website about it.

Each year people hold celebrations and discussions on disability employment around the United States. This year’s theme is Celebrating Value and Talent to highlight the achievements of Americans with Disabilities Past and Present.

According to The Arc of the United States only 37% of people with disabilities are employed. The Arc of the United States shares about barriers to employment and how many people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are excluded in the hiring process and encourage companies to prioritize inclusive workplaces and hiring practices .

Some of the challenges and barriers to employment are due to a lack of employment supports, lack of access to social determinants of health, and finding employers that will hire people with disabilities.

• Lack of Employment Supports
  • Many people need job coaches for employment these services can be costly and often hard to get. Job coaches assist many people on the job helping them to learn skills, focus and also how to be the best in their jobs.
  • Many people need assisted technology to work this also is a barrier to some types of employment. Tools like Dragon, Jaws and Speech Generating Tools often cost a lot of money and this cost is often placed on the person with a disability creating access barriers for employment.
• Social Determinants of Health
  • Lack of access to transportation is a barrier for employment. For a person in a wheelchair lack of access to wheelchair accessible transportation limits employement opportunities.

Anyone who enters the workplace has their own unique needs to help them obtain employment and to maintain that employment.

Companies should have policies that align with the Americans with Disabilities Act including anti bias trainings and have recruiting and training practices that promote inclusion in the workplace.

While disability discrimination is illegal in the United States employment is still difficult for people with disabilities applying for jobs and requesting job accommodations in the workplace .

We must help by sharing opportunities for employment including sharing and promoting companies have the best inclusive hiring practices.

Ohio has tools for employers to learn more about being inclusive including a whole kit set up to learn the best practices for recruiting, hiring and long term retention of employees with disabilities across our state.

Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities has a wide variety of information as well to help both people with disabilities to know their rights in employment to information for employers to understand what job accommodations are and how to make sure people with disabilities have full access to employment.

Each year in Ohio we celebrate our Inclusive Employers to highlight the work they do to make employment inclusive for all people with disabilities.

Ohio is an Employment First State. Ohio believes that people with disabilities should have opportunities to work in their communities.

We also need to be a more inclusive state when it comes to promoting diversity in the type of jobs people with disabilities can work. We need to include practices around Employment First that include opportunities for entrepreneurship and disabled owned businesses. I don’t feel as though Ohio does enough to support small business owners with disabilities.

I also believe Ohio should end sub minimum wage. If a person can put pieces and parts together in a workshop why can’t they create something on their own as a business with the help and support of others. I understand workshops provide community for some people but at the same time paying people Pennies for employment is wrong. All people with disabilities deserve to be paid at least minimum wage like any other American.

My experiences with employment in Ohio have been difficult. With the amount of supports I need for daily life; I cannot work traditional employment. I know I am not alone. Between medical appointments and managing my disabilities and the care I need to live my life the same opportunities to work at job site 4-8 hours a day isn’t realistic for many people life myself or others.

I have found self employment opportunities for myself. The challenge for me is all the administrative challenges that come with being self employed. There are zero supports for people who are self employed if you cannot get thru the grueling self employment paperwork that Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities makes a person go through.

I have found that the lack of supports in self employment have challenged my ability to keep consistent and long term employment opportunities.

I have skills and abilities but I need support to work. Self employment is a model that has worked for me even then a Representative Payee manages my employment related income. This is because there are zero supports to help a person with whose employment activities involve self employment under money management services though the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities.

Money Management Services don’t include supports for employment opportunities they only seek to restrict your ability to be independent. For so long I was asking for what didn’t exist. It’s like Ohio is saying you can work as a disabled person but we won’t support you in a long term endeavor to make something of yourself. It is both insulting and disrespectful. It also still segregates and gate keeps on the type of employment that a person with a disability can do.

I commend Ohio for the hard work of promoting Employment First Initiatives. I also like to see more support for people with developmental disabilities who want to have their own businesses or want to remain self employed as Artists, Authors and Musicians in Ohio. I believe that the investment in the arts should be access for all including disability employment opportunities in the arts for everyone.

National Disability Employment Awareness Month to me is highlighting the gifts and talents people with disabilities have that help them have meaningful opportunities in employment and recognizing that employment looks different for everyone and in Ohio we should support and create opportunities for all disabled people to be employed both thru traditional employment and self employment opportunities.