It’s National Disabilty Employment Awareness Month…and the month before the presidential election. Barack Obama has issued a statement on his attitudes towards this very important subject.

The Federal Government’s Office of Disablity Employment Policy has this to say about this “Awareness Month”

Congress designated each October as National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). The Office of Disability Employment Policy has the lead in planning NDEAM activities and materials to increase the public’s awareness of the contributions and skills of American workers with disabilities. Various programs carried out throughout the month also highlight the specific employment barriers that still need to be addressed and removed.

This effort to educate the American public about issues related to disability and employment actually began in 1945, when Congress enacted a law declaring the first week in October each year “National Employ the Physically Handicapped Week.” In 1962, the word “physically” was removed to acknowledge the employment needs and contributions of individuals with all types of disabilities. In 1988, Congress expanded the week to a month and changed the name to “National Disability Employment Awareness Month.”

Senator, and presidential hopeful, Obama’s statement is:

Dear Americans with Disabilities,

It’s a pleasure for me to join you in celebrating National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
Americans with disabilities are an essential and underutilized part of our workforce. As President, I will work hard to help you achieve full equality – in the workplace, in education, and in all aspects of life.
I don’t have to tell you the dismal statistics – an employment rate 40 points below that of working-age individuals without disabilities and a federal failure to meet the disability employment targets of Executive Order 13173.

This must change – and I know that it can. Because I know that we can change it. One of the most
important measures of any society is how well it enables each person to live up to his or her potential. Fairness is important, but providing you with the supports and services so you can succeed goes beyond that – it goes to the heart of our nation’s future. Because in an era of intense global competition, we can’t afford not to put everyone to work. You shouldn’t be locked out of the workplace. Children with disabilities shouldn’t be languishing in failing schools that doom them to a life of second class citizenship. Your talents and energies must not go to waste.

America faces great challenges right now and we won’t meet them without the help of everyone who can work. It’s that simple. That’s why it is long past time for us to break down the barriers that still exclude people with disabilities in this country and deprive you of true equality of opportunity and independence.

One of the first places we need change is in the workplace, and the federal government should take the lead. That’s why my administration will be a model for other employers in hiring and accommodating employees with disabilities. Before leaving office, President Clinton issued Executive Order No. 13173, which mandated hiring an additional 100,000 federal employees with disabilities within five years. Eight years later, this goal still hasn’t been reached. I will reinstate this executive order early in my term as President and designate a senior White House official to assure that all federal departments and agencies do their part to help meet this goal. I will also vigorously enforce the Rehabilitation Act, including Section 503 requiring the federal government and employers who are federal contractors to “take affirmative action to employ and advance in employment qualified
individuals with disabilities.”

In addition, I will launch an aggressive effort to educate employers about tax benefits designed to encourage them to hire employees with disabilities, such as the Disabled Access Tax Credit, the Tax Deduction for Architectural and Transportation Barrier Removal, and the Work Opportunity Tax Credit. They are underused and our employers can’t afford to miss out on these benefits any longer.
These actions will help many adults with disabilities increase their contributions to our society, and I
believe we must do even more for the next generation. That’s why I will fully fund the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act and ensure that it is effectively implemented and enforced.

This is a pivotal election, and it’s our time for change. I hope you’ll get involved, because I can’t do this alone. I need everyone to contact their friends and family to make sure they know about the issues and where the candidates stand. I need everyone who can to make phone calls and knock on doors to get the word out.

Together, we can win this election. Together, we can achieve full equality for Americans with disabilities. Together, we can create the changes we seek.

abfh on Whose Planet is it Anyway has already blogged this statement.

I’ve seen a few elections come and go. I’ve noticed that promises made and promises kept are not always the same thing. For example, I think that President Reagan made a lot of promises to the religious right that he never really kept. I really like what I see in Senator Obama’s statement above, much more so than what I’ve seen by Senator McCain. But, if he get’s elected, I’ll be watching, emailing, faxing, calling to make sure that these promises are kept.

Fully funding IDEA. It is wonderful to hear someone say that. How can we as a nation promise to pay for the education of our children with greatest need and fail to deliver? This has been a national disgrace for decades. I am very hopeful that we could have a president who would push so that these children are not “left behind”.

But, wow–a presidential candidate who recognizes that adults have unmet needs as well. That is a wonderful thing. We need to help the children, but we–especially the autism community–need to help the adults. We in particular have been very bad about packaging autism as a “childhood disorder”, with some organizations going so far as to openly state that there are few adults with autism. Not everyone with autism is diagnosed, that much is plain. It is highly likely that there is a huge group of adults unidentified or misidentified. I would love to see more support and research targeting adults with autism.

Senator Obama, these are not promises to be made lightly. I like what I see, and I hope you will have the opportunity to follow through.