A Guide to Disability Employment Awareness Month
Hint: It's all about inclusion
October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month in the United States. Anyone who has filled out a job application since 1991, when the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) was widely implemented, knows it is against the law for employers to discriminate against applicants based on disability status, during and after the hiring process. Thirty years later, we know that “not discriminating” against a person is a low bar, and in the disability world, we say that the ADA is the floor, not the ceiling. There is no roadmap for how to become truly inclusive and accessible for people with disabilities in the workplace. Employers looking for disabled talent generally want to accommodate, retain, promote, and work alongside disabled colleagues, but they don’t know enough about disability to realize those laudable goals. If you are not-currently-disabled, it’s likely that you don’t know how myriad types of disabilities affect job seekers or what job accommodations and supports might look like. And how could you know? Our systems are designed for the young, “fit,” and “able-bodied.” In listening to the lived experience of disabled workers like myself, you are taking a step toward true disability inclusion, and I invite you to share what you learn with others.
It’s All About Inclusion
Disability inclusion is not just a buzz-word or a single letter of the ever-evolving DEIJB acronym. To me, disability inclusion is a specific mindset shift that occurs among not-currently-disabled people when they are adequately educated about the barriers access that disabled people like me face. Once not currently disabled leaders are aware of barriers to access, they can become allies. This shift from no awareness to ally-ship should be the goal of disability inclusion programs, and leadership (including HR) should be actively involved in these trainings. Who am I to make this claim? Well, I am disabled due advancing Multiple Sclerosis. I have had success as a commissioner on my local Commission on Disability, as a workshop leader at colleges and universities, and as a speaker at K-12 schools. I see inclusion work as an invitation to share my knowledge and lived experience, not as a reason to scold. We live in a society built by and for not-currently disabled people, so our systems are ableist by default. When people with disabilities speak up about our barriers to access, the only truly ableist response is to ignore or brush off our concerns. If you’re curious and willing to learn, you can become an ally, even if you’ve said or done something “ableist” in the past. We simply don’t know what we don’t know.
I was a high school English teacher for twelve years before becoming disabled, so I’ve used the popular Universal Design for Learning (UDL) teaching model to guide my thinking in this piece. To plan a lesson using Universal Design for Learning is to “begin with the end in mind.” (I share this anecdote to remind employers that disabled people are often switching careers, and their skills will translate just as well as the skills of any other candidate!).
The Steps: Understand, Adopt, Act
So, beginning with the end in mind, I have devised a framework for Disability Inclusion that can work in a wide variety of organizations and systems. Inclusion is a process with specific desired outcomes. Thinking of the not-currently-disabled people who make up an organization, after completing an effective inclusion program, leaders, employees, and volunteers will be able to:
Understand Barriers to Access
Adopt an Inclusive Mindset
Act within their sphere of influence to remove barriers to access
STEP 1: Understand Barriers to Access
I often say that education must be the first step to inclusion. While corporate DEIB training might insist that “leadership,” or “hiring” are places to start, they are wrong. Because systemic ableism is so pervasive, not-currently-disabled people are often completely unaware of the barriers to access that disabled people face, 33 years after the ADA became law. I colloquially define a barrier to access as anything that prevents a person with a disability from entering or staying comfortably within a space, either in person or online. A single step is a barrier for a wheelchair user, while low contrast white text on a light blue background is a barrier to accessing a website for somebody with low vision. For me, filling out a paper form at the an office. The best way for not-currently-disabled groups to gain awareness is through hearing from disabled people about their own lived experiences.
When I explain why my pop-socket is a fine motor mobility device, groups I speak to are often shocked that they hadn’t ever considered that a “nice to have” tool that they use frequently could be an essential support for a disabled person. Same goes for cut fruit in the grocery store and captions as the norm for videos. I have found that once people begin think about the supports necessary to accomplish “easy” tasks, they see that the world is not designed for disability. And further, they begin to see why it should be.
“To me, disability inclusion is a specific mindset shift that occurs among not-currently-disabled people when they are adequately educated about the barriers access that disabled people like me face. Once not currently disabled leaders are aware of barriers to access, they can become allies.”
STEP 2: Adopt an Inclusive Mindset
Once not-currently-disabled people become aware of the many ways in which structures uphold systemic ableism, they can adopt an inclusive mindset in several ways. First, by listening to disabled writers and speakers (say, during a training or an inclusion event). Second, by considering what they have learned in a practical way. An attendee of one of my trainings emailed me the very next week, saying that now that they think about inclusion, “everything around [them] could be a barrier to access!”. Nobody should force a disabled person to teach them about inclusion, but getting curious about how we do things (and why we have to do them differently!) is a necessary step to building an inclusive mindset. And finally, we can adopt an inclusive inclusive mindset by learning the terms necessary to discuss disabilities. For not-currently-disabled people, this step can feel like learning a new language, and I encourage you to try. The entire disability community benefits from allies knowing the terminology of inclusion.
Disability Inclusion Vocabulary List
Work your way through this list and figure out how many you know. Investigate the terms you don’t know. If you are not currently disabled, it’s likely that many of these terms are new. Send this to the hiring manager at your organization!
Ableism, including:
1. Ableist Language
2. Internalized ableism
3. Systemic ableism
Access / Accessibility
Accommodations
Activities of Daily Living (ADLs)
Alternative Text (Alt Text)
Americans With Disabilities Act, including:
1. ADA titles i through iv
2. Enforcement
3. Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
American Sign Language (ASL)
ASL Interpreter
Barrier to Access
Captions
CART Services
Chronic Illness
Content Notes (CN)
Content warnings (CW)
Disability, including:
1. Acquired Disability
2. Disability present from birth
3. Dynamic Disability
4. Invisible Disability
5. Learning Disability
6. Permanent Disability
7. Temporary Disability
Disclosure
Impairments, including
1. Cognitive
2. Fine Motor
3. Gross motor
4. Sensory
Identity First Language vs. Person first Language
Infographics
Internalized ableism
Inclusion
Lived Experience
Mental Health
Mobility Aid
Neurodivergent (and Neurospicy)
Neurotypical
Reasonable Accommodations
Social Model of Disability
Screens Policies (for meetings)
Screen Reader
Sensory Needs
Spoon Theory
Supports
Trauma informed language
Universal Design
This is a long list, I know, and not comprehensive. I’ve included this list in order to highlight the fact that disability inclusion training cannot just happened once. If we are going to have a mindset shift among an organization, a community, or any group of people, there must be sustained engagement with the idea of inclusion. Organizations must be willing to pay disabled people for their time and sharing of lived experience.
STEP 3: Act Within Spheres of Influence
Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) trainings often start here, at step three, because businesses and organizations are action-focused. Leaders will ask, what can we do to solve this problem? But that’s the wrong question when the vast majority of not-currently-disabled people are unaware there is a problem at all. If a leader calls for a training, they must attend that training, ready to learn. True inclusion can only happen when enough people have a shift in worldview that extends to how disabled people operate in a world that isn’t built for us. Robust and generous work from home policies are essential for disabled talent, and job descriptions that encourage disabled folks to apply are all real ways that organizational culture can support disabled talent.
Ally-ship happens when a person’s worldview shifts to the understanding that Disability can happen to anyone at anytime, and that person takes action to ensure equitable treatment within their sphere of influence. When a child becomes an ally, they might invite a disabled student to play with them on the playground. When a faith leader becomes an ally, they might put inclusive language in their programming and plan ahead — eliminating barriers to access (for example, holding services online or having chairs and water handy at all events). When a CEO becomes an ally, they might see the value in paying disabled speakers and trainers to engage, over time, with their organization (over hiring a single consultant role). Then, they might prioritize having disabled employees at all levels of their business, including their closest colleagues.
I’ve heard it said that diversity is a fact, inclusion is an act. This Disability Employment Awareness Month, if you are discussing hiring disabled talent, make sure there are disabled voices in the room. Know the three pillars of disability inclusion (understand, adopt, act) and be sure to get specific. Make space to allow for the major mindset shift that comes from understanding, and pay disabled people to lead and teach.
Recommended Reading:
Disability Visibility, edited by alice wong is my go-to recommendation for any not-currently-disabled person who wants to understand disability from a range of perspectives. The updated text features first person essays guaranteed to shift your worldview. I’m also sharing a well-curated list from Charis Books, an independent queer feminist bookstore: Disability / Anti-ableist Booklist
My Resumé and Professional Speaking Portfolio: It’s National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and I’m seeking paid positions in the Disability Inclusion Space. You (or your boss) can hire me for speaking engagements, panel discussions, workshops, trainings, storytelling workshops, or something we work out together! I’m not opposed to full time gigs at the right organization. Reach out at erinryanhey {at} gmail {dot} com. My writing is mostly unpaid, but I do have a tip jar.
Erin Ryan Heyneman (she/her) is a disabled educator, creator, and speaker. She is a Commissioner on her city’s Commission on Disability. Find the rest of her work here. erinryanhey at gmail dot com.
This post originally appeared on Medium.com on October 2, 2023.
What are your thoughts about job applications asking if the candidate considers themselves disabled? Usually that question is accompanied with a whole list of disability examples that range from the physical, mental, visible, and invisible disabilities.
I always question if that question is coming from a genuine place or “checking off the box” type of place? Mostly I think it’s the latter as I have never seen an organization outwardly show how they support disabilities outside of having a handicap accessible bathroom. So then it puts responsibility on the disabled to ask for accommodations. Which has to be exhausting and maybe uncomfortable.