Every year, as National Disability Employment Awareness Month approaches, emails and DMs start rolling in to my inboxes with invitations to be part of panels and events. I don’t take lightly the fact that people consider me someone whose insights are worth hearing. But I have to admit that I can’t help but wonder: am I a symbolic checkbox on the path to meeting diversity, equity, and inclusion goals? Or is there a deeper intent to learn and do better by the disability community year-round? Amid government and workplace fanfare to recognize NDEAM, systemic employment discrimination abounds. Many workplace policies and practices have a long way to go to be truly accessible and inclusive. The laws in place aren’t nearly enough to actually ensure equal employment opportunities. It’s legal to pay disabled people below minimum wage. It’s legal to deny disabled people the right to earn a living wage if they need government-funded services and supports. So, while I’m genuinely honored to have a full calendar of events ahead of me this month, I don’t want to be just a token, or a way to meet DEI metrics. I don’t just want you to be “aware” of the importance of employing disabled people. And I certainly don’t want my words to be where the learning process begins and ends, because I’m just one disabled person, and there are more than a billion of us in this world. NDEAM isn’t the only month that we have valuable perspectives to share, or the only month that our contributions to workplaces should be recognized. Disabled people are just as worthy on a random day in April or August as in October, whether we do or don’t work, exactly as we are. So, let’s move beyond “awareness,” because what we really need is action year-round. #NationalDisabilityEmploymentAwarenessMonth #NDEAM #NDEAM2022 #DemystifyingDisability [Image description: Dark purple background. Text reads: “Celebrating National Disability Employment Awareness Month? Start by recognizing that disability isn’t just a once-a-year topic on a diversity checklist.” Below is a logo of a wheel encircled by text that reads “Words I Wheel By” and my handle, @EmilyLadau.]