Disability Employment Awareness Month (DEAM) October 2024

In celebration of "Disability Employment Awareness Month" (DEAM), Members of the Disability Action Hall wanted to share successful employment strategies to help employers and entrepreneurs thrive in Alberta. Alex created this comic titled "Employment through a Lived-Experience Pan-Disability Lens" joined by the voices of the Hall. 

To enjoy the stories and strategies on a large scale, visit this link.  

Happy DEAM!

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Plain text of the comic

Frame 1 - Six Hall members with diverse disabilities present in front of an audience. Titled "Successful Employment Strategies for a Diverse Workforce..." 
Brad: "Hello, we are members of the Disability Action Hall."
Hilary: "And we are here to talk about employment through a lived-experience pan-disability lens."

Frame 2  - Two people in an office. Titled "Flexible Work Hours"- 
Colleen: "When you live with disabilities, it can often be difficult to work a traditional 9-5 office job." 
Mike: "That's right. Flexible work hours, places and job duties that utilize a person's skills are essential. Everyone is capable of working with the right accommodations."

Frame 3 - Two people talk together with handheld technology. Titled "All communications is valid. Employees communicate in many ways."
Amber: "My disability makes it difficult to leave the house sometimes. I'm also non-verbal, and I sign and type to talk." 
Kavin: "All communication is valid. It's great that your employer recognizes that you are just as capable of doing your job even if you aren't always in the office." 

Frame 4: Two people in a commercial kitchen, one wearing a chef's hat and coat. Titled "Encourage adaptions to help employees thrive."
Lloyd: "My disability makes reading difficult, but my employer is understanding. I don't have to read for this job, and I love it! My support worker is even able to join me!"

Frame 5: Two people in an industrial scene. Titled "Learn practical ways to adapt sensory stimuli of workspaces for greater productivity..." 
Angie: "Many people have sensory issues, which make working difficult. There are easy fixes, though. 
Brad: "Bright lights bother me, but this office's lights are nice and dim."

Frame 6: Two people talk together in an office space. Titled "Many workspace adaptions cost little money to make it sensory friendly." 
Bruce: "You gotta tone it down with the cologne. My stomach is doing flip-flops!" 
Alex: "Sorry, my bad. I didn't realize it was making people need to leave the office!" 

Frame 7: Two people talk outside at a construction site, a construction worker and a person with the adaptive device. Titled "Workplace safety, include accessible ways to gain access to construction sites for all." 
Denise: "I've heard that transportation to and from work can be a struggle for many disabled folks."
Hilary: "Yes, my workplace is on the other side of this construction site, and it's pretty much impossible for me to walk there." 

Frame 8: Three people wait outside an accessible transit bus, one looking at their watch. Titled "Para-transit does not always arrive on time, flexible work hours set employees up for success."
Kirsten: "Looks like your accessible transit is here."
Mike: "And they are late... again. My boss is going to be upset with me."
Jennifer: "You don't have control over when your bus comes. Your employer needs to be more understanding."

Frame 9: Three people stand at a bus stop near a park. Titled "Wheelchair ramps are just the beginning of accessible workplace design."

Mary: "When people say a place is accessible, they need to check it out in person. Often it isn't accessible for everyone."

Jane: "Yes. Everyone has different access needs, even if they have the same disabilities."

Reggie: "People with disabilities designed this community garden. The signs are in plain language and have braille."

Frame 10: Two people talk in front of an artist's easel in a studio. Titled "We all need a living wage to thrive..."

Colleen: "I make and sell art but still need a part-time job, which I struggle with. My disability can be a real inconvenience."

Kathleen: "You did have great ideas, though. Tell us about it."

Frame 11: Two figures continue to talk about art in art studio. Titled "Entrepreneurs needs to be paid for their lifelong knowledge, skills and time."

Colleen: "If we had a gallery for artists with disabilities but priced it at the market prices instead of $5-$10, that would be a dream come true. then, I could share my art with the world and be compensated appropriately."

Frame 12: Six Hall Members before an audience, with the words 'The End" in the upper corner. Titled "American sign language and closed captioning should be automatically considerations for training, meetings, events and gatherings." 

Brad: "We want to thank our lovely ASL interpreters..."

Frame 13: Disability Pride Flag with the Disability Action Hall logo titled Tell Stories! Take Action! Change Lives! with two figures holding signs that read Rights  Now. 

Fix the Canada Disability Benefit Rules for in three steps!

Many groups created tools across Canada to help improve feedback on the draft laws governing the Canada Disability Benefit. We want to ensure the benefit reaches all who need it.  We suggest three steps: learn about the draft rules, talk with the province about no clawbacks and provide ideas to better the Canada Disability Benefit rules before they become law. 

1. Step one: Learn about the Canada Disability Benefit and the draft rules.

• The Disability Action Hall created an easy-to-understand one-pager of the draft rules and "Eight ideas on how to improve the benefit."   
• Vibrant Communities Calgary "Everything you need to know about the Canada Disability Benefit." in this blog post posted August 28th, 2024.
• Common questions asked about the benefit draft legislation by Momentum. You are now ready to go onto step 2, send to your MLA!  

2. Step 2: Talk to your Alberta MLA (Minister of the Legislative Assembly) immediately to ensure the benefit is not clawed back (Do before September 23rd). 

• Use this Alberta template letter to help write your letter to your Alberta Minister of Legislative Assembly MLA (Created by Momentum). Try using your postal code to find your MLA's address. You can also send your letter to all Alberta MLAS by downloading the MLA contact list. 
• Maytree Foundation also created a no-clawbacks toolkit that you can download depending on where you live. The toolkit provides letters, Contacts, and much more. If you have any problems, you can contact Maytree at info@maytree.com. 

3. Step 3: Send a letter to the Canada Gazette and your MP (Minister of Parliament) by September 23rd about the changes you would like to see to improve the benefit.

Sending a letter to the Canadian government and the Canada Gazette

Need help? Disability Without Poverty and March of Dimes created a letter to "Better the Benefit," and you can also personalize the letter.  

Inclusion Canada design recommendations with links a template letter and "Why Canada's measurement of poverty falls short" (August 28th)

Post directly to the Canada Gazette website by September 23rd, 2024, as your comments will also become public. The Gazette website is the most common way to help make the CDB rules better. But it is also easier to send an email, video or by mail to edsc.pcph-cdb.esdc@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca

By video: Use the email above to send a link to a recorded video of your comments.

By mail:

Canada Gazette, Part I, Canada Disability Benefit Regulations c/o Office for Disability Issues, Employment and Social Development Canada, 105 rue de l'Hôtel-de-Ville, 1st floor Gatineau, QC J8X 4H7