Healthcare & Employment

This is October which means it is National Disability Employment Awareness month. At the sametime throughout the halls of Congress is a major healthcare debate. But no one seems to be making the link between healthcare and employment particularly for those with disabilities.

Healthcare while vital for all Americans is critical for the disability community because it enhances one's quality of life and creates further opportunities for millions of people with disabilities. Corporations have to see the vital role that healthcare plays for the retention of employees but the ability for them to add valuable human capital to there organizations.

National Disability Employment Awareness Month

We have reached the month of October and again we go through another National Disability Employment Awareness Month. While I think the month is vital for the disability community I often feel it doesn't have as much impact or resonance as one would like. October also is Breast Cancer Awareness Month which in my estimation has a lot more media coverage and a resounding impact in terms of funding for further research and awareness. The fundamental question that needs to be asked is why isn't the cross disability community seeing the same type of national exposure that other groups (like cancer organizations who in my mind are related to the larger disability community)One is that disability as a cross sectional community has never truly hit the mainstream - they are relegated to the world of foundations and non profits. One can argue that segments of the disability community have gone "mainstream" like the autism community but this is due in part to Autism Speaks that was founded by the former President of NBC and has tremendous reach in the media world. Also celebrity parents such as Jenny Mcarthy and Hollie Robinson Peete who have gone on talk shows to discuss raising a child with autism have provided more gravitas in the media. More recently films like Adam and television shows like Boston Legal have showcased people on the spectrum as major characters.

I feel that the larger disability community MUST show that people with disabilities are intergal to human capital issues and critical to the future of corporate strategy and ROI. Ostensibly, the disability community have to rebrand themselves & portray themselves in a different light. No longer should they be seen in the context of a hand out but rather be seen as one of the most important coggs in the wheel so that organizations can run effectivley. Without them organizations may fail to have a workforce of the future.