National Disabled Employment Awareness Month 2015 Published Oct. 15, 2015 By David Pelino 97th Comptroller Squadron ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- October is National Disabled Employment Awareness Month. This year’s theme is “My Disability is One Part of Who I am.” This is a time to applaud the many and varied contributions of America’s workers with disabilities. This year also marks the 25th anniversary since the American Disabilities Act was passed by Congress and signed by President George H.W. Bush, July 26, 1990. Prior to the enactment of the ADA, individuals with disabilities were often denied the opportunity to fully participate in society due to intolerance, misunderstanding, ignorance or unfair stereotypes. This law is aimed at eliminating discrimination towards people with disabilities in the workplace, public areas and by government entities. It afforded individuals with disabilities to fulfill the goals of opportunity, independent living, integration and economic self-sufficiency. There are more than 55 million individuals in the United States who have disabilities. Discrimination by public accommodations against people with disabilities remains far too prevalent. Inaccessible facilities, discriminatory policies and prejudicial attitudes can prevent a person with a disability from taking a bus, shopping for groceries or clothing, getting medical care, exercising, seeing a movie or exhibit, having dinner at a restaurant or getting a hotel room. Individuals with disabilities have long faced great barriers to full participation in civic life. Since the enforcement of the historic law, we have seen changes in more than seven million places of public accommodation nationwide including hotels, restaurants, retail stores, theaters, health care facilities and parks and places of recreation as well as in all operations of state and local governments. It created opportunities for the tens of thousands of working-age veterans who have been wounded in action or have suffered injuries or illnesses related to their service in the Global War on Terror. The 114th Congress passed a concurrent resolution this year which encourages everyone to celebrate the advancement of freedom and the expansion of opportunity for the disabled. The ADA has improved the lives of individuals with disabilities and their families and will continue to do so in a wide variety of different ways.