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WOEMA Honors Disability Employment Awareness MonthNational Disability Employment Month (NDEAM) is celebrated each October under the direction of the Department of Labor. The month commemorates the many and varied contributions of people with disabilities to America’s workplaces and economy. The theme for NDEAM 2021, “America’s Recovery: Powered by Inclusion,” reflects the importance of ensuring that people with disabilities have full access to employment and community involvement during the national recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. The Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 was transformative in making discrimination illegal against citizens with disabilities; it also paved the way for physical accommodations such as ramps and restrooms which we now take for granted. People who are disabled are now finding themselves more and more enabled thanks to 21st century technology. Enabling devices such as smart phones, computer-assisted artificial limbs, power wheelchairs, audio and visual devices, voice to text and countless other modalities were only dreams when the ADA was enacted 31 years ago. As Occupational and Environmental Medicine professionals, let us this month renew our commitment to enhancing the lives of our patients, colleagues, and loved ones with disabilities. For ideas on how to support and promote NDEAM, visit dol.gov/ndeam.
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