October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month

By: Andrew Marx
Submitted: 2007-01-17 16:25:24
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The campaign stretches back fifty years, bringing awareness to the public about the role that individuals with disabilities can play in the workplace and within society. The origins of the initiative were to encourage employers to not make decisions based on stereotypes, and to give them equal consideration in job searches.

In 1945, Congress set aside the first week of October as "National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week," and later in 1962, they removed the word "physically" to include other disabilities. The week was expanded to a month-long awareness campaign in 1988. The campaign was designed not only to address stereotypes, but promote the laws that discourage discriminatory practices in hiring and other areas.

Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 was the first law to directly address discrimination against individuals with disabilities. It was designed to prevent discriminatory practices by any programs or activities that received federal funds to support their program. That included employment within the federal government, and colleges and universities receiving federal funding (financial aid.)

Out of Section 504 came the "reasonable accommodation" standard that is common practice for educational institutions, and now also workplace environments, in determining appropriate accommodations for persons with disabilities. Essentially, students with disabilities must be provided the same opportunity to participate in campus programming, both academic and social. There is a whole range of best practices that apply this standard, dealing with circumstances including testing accommodations, transportation and classroom accessibility. Section 504 also prohibited discrimination in the admissions process based on a student's disability.

The scope of protections was vastly expanded by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. The ADA addressed workplace discrimination, preventing employers from discriminating against individuals with disabilities in hiring practices when the applicant was otherwise qualified for the job. It also required businesses to take steps to make their facilities accessible to any person, within a reasonable cost and effort. The Act installed financial penalties for bad faith non-compliance, but encouraged voluntary compliance first.

National Disability Employment Awareness Month is a campaign that is applicable to all areas of society, beyond employment and higher education and into businesses and social interactions. One of the most important concepts that comes out of this awareness is that not all disabilities are physical, and not all disabilities are readily detectable when you first meet a person. It is important, therefore, to separate the person from their disability, to not make assumptions about someone based solely upon what you might have heard, or see at a glance. One month of heightened awareness can lead to a year-around support for full inclusion and acceptance.

Article source: Expert Articles