October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month. It is so important to ensure people with disabilities have access to jobs, so they make a living and succeed in life like everyone else in the world. Here are ways employers can hire more people with disabilities and ways to create more inclusive work environments:
Provide job roles geared towards an individual's strengths. When supervisors and managers provide jobs matching an individual's strengths, an individual will make more of a contribution to your company.
Think about what an individual can do instead of what they cannot do. Focus on the skills people with disabilities are able to perform in the workplace because people have a lot to bring to the table for a company.
Keep in mind of accommodations and modifications. Everyone has the right to work for a company because of the skills they bring, so make sure to provide accommodations and modifications, based on an individual's needs. For example, change the lighting in a work environment or creating a schedule that allows an employee with a disability to work during morning hours instead of evening hours. The goal is to keep employees working for a company as long as possible, so accommodate and modify when necessary.
Provide access for all. As mentioned earlier, people with disabilities need to make a living like everyone else. Put the employee with a disability first because companies will make their work culture more diverse. By making the work culture more diverse, it helps companies stand out from others.
These tips can help employers make their work culture more diverse and help people with disabilities make a living and succeed in life. Personally, my career journey has been full of ups and downs. I have filled out millions of job applications and have been in many job experiences. It all started at the age of 18, when I worked as a teacher assistant for a before-and-after care program for Marlboro School District, the school district I attended as a student. Today, I'm 23, and I work multiple jobs while attending college online. I work full time as a paraprofessional for elementary school students with disabilities in a public school district in Florida, and I work with Full Spectrum ABA in various roles: autistic blogger and member of their virtual ABA high needs support team. I do need to give a big thanks to Full Spectrum ABA.
Full Spectrum ABA hired me because they knew about my blog, and they knew my dream career is to work in the ABA field. I became their autistic blogger, and a member of their virtual ABA high needs support team. Not only that, we have been collaborating on my supervision while working towards certification. I am so excited to grow in the field of ABA with Full Spectrum ABA because I want to make an impact on lives of individuals with ASD. Full Spectrum ABA is an example of an company who has been hiring people with disabilities because they want people to succeed in life. Learn more of the autistic advocates like myself who were hired to work with Full Spectrum ABA:
Has your organization or company have been hiring people with disabilities? What would you do to make your workplace more inclusive? Share your thoughts in the comments section!