Did you know that people with disabilities are America’s largest minority group?

1 in 5 people has a disability.

It is one of the only minority groups that you don’t have to be born into to join.

People with disabilities are our biggest minority group, yet often the most overlooked and underserved. For example, the employment rate is only 35%.

According to a 2004 Harris Survey of Americans with Disabilities, of those with disabilities who are unemployed, 73% would rather be working.

In 2006, Bobby Dodd Institute (BDI) & International Communications Research surveyed 200 companies and asked if they felt that there was an employment crisis facing people with disabilities. Over two-thirds of surveyed respondents either don’t consider it a crisis or don’t know. Only one-third of respondents felt that there was a critical rate of unemployment.

In the same 2006 BDI survey, respondents were asked what they thought the biggest barriers were to the integration and hiring of people with disabilities.

1. Worried that people with disabilities cannot adequately perform required work duties
2. Lack of knowledge on people with disabilities
3. Concerns over cost of accommodating people with disabilities

In the rest of the online DisABILITY Awareness Training modules, we will help to dispel these worries by providing information and tips to help communities welcome people with disabilities into our organizations and businesses.