A job can mean more than a paycheck. It can build confidence, teach new skills, help you make friends, join a team, and shape your future.
National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), celebrated each October, recognizes the contributions people with disabilities bring to the workplace. It also reminds us that inclusive, accessible hiring; supportive coworkers; and employers that value people’s strengths can help more people find meaningful work.
At Opengate, that happens year-round. Through its CAREERS program, staff have helped people with learning, developmental, psychiatric, and physical disabilities pursue their interests, build job skills, connect with employers, and grow in the workplace for almost 40 years.
For People with Disabilities: Know Your Rights
A person’s disability does not define the work they can pursue. Their skills, interests, experience, and ambitions are what matter most.
The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects qualified people with disabilities from employment discrimination and harassment based on their disability. This protection covers job applications, hiring, training, pay, promotion, dismissal, and all other terms and conditions of employment. The ADA includes confidentiality rules that protect medical information.
CAREERS staff work alongside each person to identify what kind of work they want to do and what support they need to help them attain employment. This includes exploring different careers, writing a résumé, practicing interview skills, and building confidence before starting a new role.
For Families and Caregivers: Just Be Supportive
Families and caregivers of people with disabilities can help them explore employment opportunities simply by listening to what they want and supporting them as they make choices.
Try asking:
What kind of work sounds interesting to you?
What skills would you like to use or learn?
What kind of workplace would feel right?
What support would help you reach your goals?
Families and caregivers can also encourage independence by helping the person understand their options, practice a skill, or navigate a job search. Most importantly, it means keeping the person at the center of decisions about their own future.
For Employers: Make Room for Talent
Employers play an important role in creating opportunities for people with disabilities.
Inclusive employment starts with a simple question: What qualifications and skills does this person have, and can they perform the job's essential duties? Employers must avoid judging a person's abilities, communication style, productivity, or need for support based on their disability.
To create a culture of inclusive employment, employers can:
Make job postings and application processes as accessible as possible.
Keep interviews focused on the role and the candidate’s qualifications.
Discuss accommodations when requested.
Ask what support or workplace changes would help an employee succeed.
Set clear expectations, provide appropriate training, and offer learning opportunities.
Include employees with disabilities in team activities, professional development, and advancement opportunities.
Create a culture where everyone is treated as an appreciated member of the team.
CAREERS staff partners with employers at every stage of the employment process, from finding a role that fits a person's skills and interests, supporting them during the interview process, helping with onboarding, and providing job coaching once the person starts work. This partnership lets employers focus on what matters most: helping a qualified candidate contribute and succeed.
For Coworkers: Your Small Actions Can Help Shape a Person’s Career
Coworkers can help create a welcoming workplace in everyday moments: start a direct conversation, include them in conversations with other colleagues, invite them to join team activities, or give them a meaningful responsibility. Show the same respect, professionalism, and regard you would extend to any colleague.
Don't assume someone needs help because they have a disability. If you think assistance may be helpful, ask first and respect the person's response.
Privacy is very important; details about a person's disability, medical information, or why they need accommodation are personal. Coworkers must not ask for or pass on any information that a person has not willingly disclosed.
Inclusion isn’t only about ramps and doorways. Technology, communication, training, schedules, social activities, and workplace culture can all affect whether someone can participate fully in their employment. Being open to learning and making thoughtful changes can help everyone feel that they belong. An empathetic coworker can make an enormous difference.
Be an Employment Ally
You don’t need to be an expert to help create a more accepting work environment. You can:
Hire: Consider qualified candidates with disabilities in your recruitment and hiring.
Listen: Ask what someone needs instead of making assumptions.
Include: Make opportunities to participate, learn, and advance available to everyone.
Learn: Explore disability employment rights, accessibility, and reasonable accommodations.
Encourage: Help people explore work that fits their goals and interests.
Connect: Point job seekers toward employment-support organizations or vocational rehabilitation services.
Reconsider assumptions: Give people the opportunity to show you what they can do.
Looking for Employment Support?
Inclusive employment continues beyond this month of recognition.
CAREERS Support Solutions empowers people with intellectual, developmental, psychiatric, and/or physical disabilities to achieve dignity, financial independence, and a true feeling of community. Services include workforce-readiness classes, vocational training, internships and job placements, long-term support, social-skills development, and more—at no cost to participants, their families, or employers.
CAREERS' High School Transition Program helps students develop life and job skills, explore internships, and prepare for the transition from school to employment. It gives students and families a chance to start preparing for what work after high school can look like.
Learn more at careerssupportsolutions.org or email CareersforPeople@aol.com