October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month

The Arc Otsego is proud to celebrate NDEAM

This effort to educate the American public about issues related to disability and employment actually began in 1945, when Congress enacted a law declaring the first week in October each year "National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week." In 1962, the word "physically" was removed to acknowledge the employment needs and contributions of individuals with all types of disabilities. In 1988, Congress expanded the week to a month and changed the name to "National Disability Employment Awareness Month.Congress designated each October as National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM).

Today, The Office of Disability Employment Policy has the lead in planning NDEAM activities and materials to increase the public's awareness of the contributions and skills of American workers with disabilities. Various programs carried out throughout the month also highlight the specific employment barriers that still need to be addressed and removed.

According to Kathy Martinez, Assistant Secretary, Office of Disability Employment Policy, “People with disabilities must be woven into our work culture. Already, we benefit from the incredible array of talent they bring to our workplaces. But we must raise the bar, we must create the inexorable expectation that people with disabilities will contribute in every way to our economic successes. Only by nurturing this expectation and providing people with disabilities with unlimited employment opportunities, can we all benefit from their talents."

( US Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy website http://www.dol.gov/odep/)

download a pdf of the 2009 NDEAM Poster