October Named Disability Awareness Month In Tennessee
Governor Phil Bredesen is designating October as Disability Employment Awareness Month to generate awareness about the talennts and abilities of Tennessee's citizens with disabilities.
"Expectation + Opportunities = Full Participation" is the theme of the 2009 National Disability Employment Awareness Month. Disability Employment Awareness Month will recognize the vital role that expectations play in our successes as individuals and as a society.
"We must ensure that people with disabilities and their employers expect that they will fully participate in our workforce," said Bredesen. "Such an expectation alone, however, is not enough. Individuals with disabilities must have opportunities. They need access to a complete range of employment choices to contribute their often untapped talents and abilities. With both the expectation and opportunity, persons with disabilities will become
full participants in our economy."
The Division of Rehabilitation Services (DRS) within the Department of Human Services provides vocational rehabilitation services to Tennesseans with disabilities to help them maximize their contribution to the workforce. Approximately 1,700 individuals with the most significant disabilities were employed after completing rehabilitation programs last year. Some of the challenges faced by these individuals include: traumatic brain injury, blindness and
mental retardation.
"Disability Employment Awareness month is an opportune time to recognize the incredible efforts and contributions that persons with disabilities bring to our economy," said Human Services Commissioner Gina Lodge. "It is also a helpful reminder that we need to raise the employment opportunity bar even higher."
Vocational rehabilitation offices across the state, as well as seventeen Tennessee Rehabilitation Centers located in rural communities and the residential comprehensive Tennessee Rehabilitation Center at Smyrna, provide numerous services to clients, including vocational training, physical or occupational therapy and transitional living skills. For more information on the centers, visit http://state.tn.us/humanserv/rehab/vrs.html
DRS staff are working with businesses and agencies across Tennessee on activities recognizing Disability Employment Awareness Month.
