U.S. President Barack Obama has proclaimed October 2011 as National Disability Employment Awareness Month. The proclamation declares that "During National Disability Employment Awareness Month, we recognize the skills that people with disabilities bring to our workforce, and we rededicate ourselves to improving employment opportunities in both the public and private sectors for those living with disabilities. "

Read the complete Press Release dated October 3, 2011.

The U.S. Labor Department announced "Profit by Investing in Workers with Disabilities" as the official theme for October 2011's National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

Read the complete Press Release dated April 28, 2011.

The Library of Congress, through its National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS), compiled an extensive bibliography which explores myths and misconceptions that continue to exist and ways to interact with and write about people with disabilities to foster greater sensitivity and understanding.

View the complete bibliography listing.

DMD is a large-scale, broad-based effort to promote career development for students and job seekers with disabilities through hands-on career exploration, job shadowing, and internship or employment opportunities throughout the United States and also abroad. Hosted nationally by the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), and made possible by many generous national corporate and public sponsors, DMD has participants in all 50 states and many international locations. DMD is observed every year on the third Wednesday of October, in conjunction with NDEAM.

Participate in Disability Mentoring Day (DMD).

 Download the Disability Mentoring Day (DMD) brochure.

Note: This download requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

JAN's mission is to facilitate the employment and retention of workers with disabilities by providing employers, employment providers, people with disabilities, their family members and other interested parties with information on job accommodations, self-employment and small business opportunities and related subjects. JAN's efforts are in support of the employment, including self-employment and small business ownership, of people with disabilities.

Visit the Job Accommodation Network.

The Institute for a Competitive Workforce (formerly the Center for Workforce Preparation), a nonprofit affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services of the U.S. Department of Education collaborated to produce the guide Disability Employment 101. The Department of Education most recently revised it in August 2007. This guide provides information for business, industry and service providers about how to hire people with disabilities and access available programs and resources to better meet the growing need of business for a skilled workforce. (Note: File size is approximately 3.1 MB.)

 Download Guide from the U.S. Department of Education.

Note: This download requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

The Campaign for Disability Employment (CDE) is a collaborative effort among leading disability and business organizations that seek to promote positive employment outcomes for people with disabilities, and it produced this flagship PSA for the What Can YOU Do? Campaign. The "I Can" PSA features seven people with disabilities sharing what they can do on the job when given the opportunity and reminds everyone that at work, it’s what people CAN do that matters.

 See the PSA.

Note: This download requires Windows Media Player.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has issued fact sheets on the application of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to people with specific disabilities in the workplace and specific industries. There are a series of fact sheets addressing particular disabilities in the workplace and the ADA in a question and answer format. Select a specific topic to learn more:

The theme for the 2011 National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), "Profit by Investing in Workers with Disabilities" promotes the valuable contributions people with disabilities make to America's workplaces and economy. According to Kathleen Martinez, Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy of the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), "Return on investment means hiring the right talent. Workers with disabilities represent all skill sets and are ready to get the job done." On a green background (implying the color of money) in the upper left-hand corner are four words National Disability Employment Awareness. These words convey the purpose of creating the poster: to heighten public awareness about the skills and talents of workers with disabilities. Running left to right in the upper half of the poster is a bar graph with four bars running up into the theme PROFIT BY INVESTING IN WORKERS WITH DISABILITIES. A deep green bar separates the bar graph and 5 images of workers with disabilities below. Across the bar are white letters with the words: Return on investment means hiring the right talent. (Note: File size is approximately 308 KB.)

 Download the 2011 NDEAM poster in printable PDF format.

Note: This download requires Adobe Acrobat Reader.

WorkWORLD^TM is software designed to help people with disabilities find employment-based solutions to higher net income through best use of federal and state work incentives and benefits. It takes into account the complex interaction of income, benefit programs, and work incentives while providing individualized alerts and recommendations that help a person discover solutions to low income.

 Learn how to get WorkWORLD software now.

 Use the WorkWORLD Help/Information System on the Internet.