Disability Employment Awareness Month Blog Series - Part 1: Dear Employees with Disabilities…

Lauren smiling, taking a selfie over her shoulder, in front of her laptop, with a presentation cover slide on the screen that reads "National Disability Employment Awareness Month - October 2025"

This letter is part 1 of a 3-part series, adapted from a talk I gave to a client organization in October 2025 in celebration of Disability Employment Awareness Month.

Dear Employees with Disabilities,

Thank you for being here. I want to know I am proud of you. Really, I am.

As a fellow person with disabilities who has navigated life and job market and workplaces, I can imagine the obstacle courses you’ve had to endure to get to where you are now. The medical and healthcare hoops to jump through, the assumptions made by others, the questioning of whether to be public or private about what you need- it can feel heavy. 

I hope you realize how incredibly badass you are, not despite your disabilities, but because you are whole person who is making life work for you.

It has taken me years to internalize this: my disabilities do not make me less than. Our disabilities do not make us less than.

Our disabilities are part of what’s shaped us and our powerful perspectives on the world. As we have adapted to a world not designed with us in mind, we have found not just ways to not survive, but thrive. We innovate, we adapt, we create because we have to. 

Our experiences may also help us to connect with others who experience disability or chronic conditions as well. Some of you may not even self-identify as disabled. Just know that you are always welcome here in the disability community. Community is everything, right? Community is what makes us as humans more resilient. In a culture that teaches us to be hyperindividualistic that’s burning us out and leaving us isolated, we need more of that community.

What being a part of the disability community has shown me is that there is not one way to thrive, but rather many multitudes of ways to thrive in this world.

I like to describe humans as plants. We are all different flora. Some of us thrive in conditions like the dry desert, where we bloom at night because the sun is too harsh for us during the day. Some of us thrive in marshy wetlands, where we need all the moisture we can get.

At the end of the day we have some needs that are the same and some needs that are different. We are all striving to find the environments in which we thrive. Where we can contribute to a healthy, flourishing ecosystem.

I hope you’ve found what you need to live well (in whatever way that looks like for you), to contribute meaningfully, and feel valued.

Because you are, as you are.

In solidarity,

Lauren

Continued reading Dear Colleagues of Disabled Employees (Part 2) and Dear Company Leadership (Part 3) coming soon.