When did this begin and more important, how did it happen? One can choose to do a search on the Internet to learn a few interesting facts, but it was by Public Law 176, enacted by Congress in 1945 and designated as a week long advocacy program during the first week in October: "National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week". Then in 1962, the word "physically" was removed to encourage employment for all Americans with disabilities. More changes came when Congress decided to rename this to "National Disability Employment Awareness Month" in 1988 and since then the month of October is actually the "kick-off" for year round programs geared to employing persons with disabilities throughout the year. These initiatives bring out the abilities, skills and strengths of persons with disabilities and many businesses caught on after a lifetime of advocacy - over 60-years!

Thinking back, who was the President involved with signing Acts in 1945, 1962 and in 1988? Seems to me they were great leaders and all supported persons with disabilities. There is a little fallacy though because the plight to bring forth insight actually began in 1817 when the American School for the Deaf was founded in Hartford, Connecticut as the first school anywhere in the USA (or Western Hemisphere) for disabled children. In 1848 a barricade came to persons with developmental disabilities, when hundreds of thousands of developmentally disabled children and adults were institutionalized. It goes on, much too lengthy for a "newsletter", but there is a lot of good news in the years that followed, putting aside inhibitions, stupidity (not a disability), and lack of education for persons without disabilities. The importance of making mention of these years are the number in which it took to establish what we, as persons with or without disabilities, have today. If arithmetic adds up correctly, the on-going struggle of one hundred ninety-one years; (why, that is almost 200-years), brought more unity in the workforce, but we still have a long way to go. The important fact is there is help for employment and there are additional Federal laws set in place to avoid discrimination.

The Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, produced an important film telecast to highlight the importance of hiring people with disabilities in 2000. During the film, it shows yours truly carrying the Martin Luther King Jr torch, (during the kick-off for the "Spirit of the ADA" and lighting of the ADA torch), lit in Atlanta, Georgia. The emphasis of the film was for the need to hire persons with disabilities, proving strong abilities in persons with disabilities and telecast for National Disability Employment Awareness Month 2000. While playing no major role in the "workforce" or in this film, it was an honor to be included, advocating for the hiring of persons with a disability. Since then, many opportunities to speak in behalf of hiring persons with disabilities unfolded in a variety of environments, cities and states, but three personal favorites include Chattanooga State Technical Community College, the International Association of Administrative Professionals (Nashville, TN), and the graduating class (2003) of the Tennessee Rehabilitation Center (Smyrna, Tennessee). Many persons and businesses are benefiting from National Disability Employment Awareness Month, but advocacy and education must continue. Advocating for businesses to hire persons with disabilities and encouraging persons with disabilities to seek employment are a small part of the entire scenario; the next step is employment, and trained individuals with disabilities, often exceed the expectation of work performance.

National Disability Employment Awareness Month supports a new theme every year. This year the official theme is "America´s People, America's Talent... America's Strength!´ The theme speaks for millions of persons with disabilities and highlights the 2007 progress report on our nation's "New Freedom Initiative" for people with disabilities. The USA Congress designated the month of October as National Disability Employment Awareness Month, and the benefit is for both employers and persons with disabilities. The benefit of having an employee with a disability is seen when entering a store, city or state facility and other businesses that have opened their door and hired someone with a disability; the theme this year says it all.

Wheeling...

Julia Hollenbeck
President/CEO

Did you know the eagle knows when a storm is approaching, long before it breaks? The eagle will fly to a high spot, and wait for the winds to come. When the storm hits, the eagle sets its wings so that the wind will pick it up, lifting it above the storm. While the storm rages below, the eagle is soaring above it. The eagle does not escape the storm. It simply uses the storm to lift it higher, and rises on the winds that bring the storm. When the storms of life come upon us, we can also rise above them, and ride the winds of the storm that bring sickness, tragedy, failure, and disappointment in our lives. The storms do not have to overcome us. Remember, it is not the burdens of life that weigh us down; it is how we handle those burdens, to soar above the storm.

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