QUOTE OF THE WEEK 📜
SPOTLIGHT 💡🔦
Photo credit, Canadian Association for Supported Employment (CASE)
Why DEAM Matters Year-Round
Each October, Disability Employment Awareness Month (DEAM) highlights the importance of inclusive hiring and celebrates the unique contributions that people with disabilities bring to the workforce. In the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and across Canada, disabled people, especially those who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), face additional barriers due to discrimination. A Statistics Canada report found that more than one in four Canadians (27%) aged 15 years and older had one or more disabilities in 2022. Yet, less than 60% of working-age Canadians with disabilities are employed.
Advocacy Voices: Community Leaders in Disability Inclusion
To explore these issues further, three leaders in disability advocacy - MissNatasha (Natasha Copeland), Karen Clarke, and Shifat Ara —were interviewed by Spinning Forward. After listening to their concerns about the need for ongoing awareness, we chose to run this story in November to continue the conversation past October. Karen Clarke, founder of ASpectrum, stresses the need for ongoing advocacy year-round since companies often overlook these issues the rest of the year.
MissNatasha and Clarke work in the Toronto area promoting inclusion and disability awareness, while Ara, through her role at the Canadian Association for Supported Employment (CASE), supports a national agenda for inclusive employment practices. Their perspectives provide a deeper understanding of the multifaceted challenges faced by disabled Canadians who are also people of color.
Photo credit, ‘Create Don't Hate’ Mental Wellness Solutions
MissNatasha: How 'Create, Don’t Hate' Inspires Inclusion and Acceptance
MissNatasha, (@natashaconnects), a Black disability advocate based in Oshawa, Ontario, is the founder of Create, Don’t Hate. She has been a mental wellness and neurodiversity advocate for more than 15 years and is the author of "Authentically Me!" for children, and "Autistically Yours" for adults. Referring to October as Disability Employment Awareness Month, she says, “it’s not just the month; it’s every day.” Describing herself as a neurodivergent creative, her mission is to urge individuals and companies to create empathy instead of hate. She promotes inclusion through her books, handmade cards, speaking engagements, and her YouTube "Create Don't Hate Show."
Throughout her adult life, MissNatasha faced underemployment, a discrepancy between her academic credentials and the job opportunities available to her. Despite her qualifications, she encountered major employment barriers, saying, “I couldn’t even get employment at the Dollar Store.” Being underemployed is a persistent issue for disabled Canadians. It’s more prominent for disabled people who deal with intersectionality challenges and bias, also being people of color and/or LGBTQIA+.
Karen Clarke: Supporting the Neurodivergent Community
Karen Clarke, founder of ASpectrum, brings her own unique perspective to workplace inclusivity. She co-founded ASpectrum with her son, Julien, to support neurodivergent individuals in the Toronto area. Through community-based programs, ASpectrum fosters workplace inclusivity, providing personalized coaching for neurodivergent people and how they navigate employment. Clarke believes that creating inclusive workplaces begins with a better understanding of neurodiversity, which she defines as “anyone who perceives, receives, or processes information in a way that’s not neurotypical.”
Since founding ASpectrum, Clarke has faced challenges in changing the mindset of businesses that delay implementing inclusive hiring practices due to perceived high accommodation costs. Her organization’s work shows that even small accommodations can boost employee retention and productivity. One program that came from listening to the community is the Root Riders Program, which equips neurodivergent youth with essential skills to help navigate public transit, a crucial factor in accessing employment. Yet, she struggles to secure consistent provincial funding, saying, “It’s been two years of conversations with no results.”
Shifat Ara: National Advocacy for Inclusion
As the Director of Communications at CASE, Shifat Ara advocates for a national commitment to DEAM, working to create inclusive workplaces for disabled Canadians. CASE partners with local organizations to provide mentorship opportunities and support services It connects job seekers with disabilities to inclusive employers. Ara emphasizes, “We work to promote innovative ways to create inclusive employment,” aiming to equip employers with the necessary resources.
CASE, with support from the federal government, conducted research. It aimed to understand the employment journeys of individuals who are from racialized backgrounds and experience disability. The results of the study, not yet published, said participants “reported facing coded forms of discrimination and subtle microaggressions in their workplaces from employers and coworkers on a daily basis.” Every October, CASE runs initiatives like Light It Up to raise awareness about disability inclusion by illuminating landmarks in purple and blue using the social media hashtag #LightItUpForNDEAM.
Common Challenges Faced by Disability Advocates
Our interviews with disability leaders revealed recurring themes of stigma, tokenism, and systemic barriers in the workplace. MissNatasha and Clarke both highlight the prevalence of tokenism in diversity initiatives, where companies are more inclusive during DEAM but fail to enact permanent change. “They take a tokenistic approach,” Clarke says, “without addressing the real changes that need to happen.”
Bias and discrimination are widespread, showing up in hiring practices, insufficient accommodations, and microaggressions. People of color with disabilities often deal with extra challenges that lead to underemployment, even when they're qualified. Ara points out how important it is to address these overlapping issues, as CASE works to educate employers about the benefits of having a diverse and inclusive team.
Advocating for Disability Employment All Year
MissNatasha, Karen Clarke, and Shifat Ara highlight the complex challenges around disability employment in Canada. Their stories show the ongoing barriers that disabled people and people of color deal with regularly. Clarke points out that talking about disability inclusion "shouldn't end with October." October’s Disability Employment Awareness Month is a reminder that advocacy needs to continue year-round. By supporting initiatives by Create Don’t Hate, ASpectrum, and CASE, individuals and organizations can contribute to building a better more inclusive workforce. This will ensure that every person, regardless of ability, has equal access to opportunities to succeed and thrive.
EXPERTS, ALLIES & ADVOCATES 🌅
Community Leaders Speak: 6 Way to Boost Disability Inclusion at Work Every Day
We asked community disability leaders how to create more inclusive workspaces in Canada. Here's what they said.
1. Change Must Come From Within Organizations:
Karen Clarke: "The core of the problem starts with a lot of what's going on in these heavily funded organizations that claim to advocate for people with disabilities."
Miss Natasha: "Organizations and workplaces need to address their biases and understand that the people they serve deserve wellness and appropriate support."
Shifat Ara: “Organizational change is essential, and it involves moving beyond just a business case to genuinely valuing diversity and inclusion."
2. Challenging Biases And Creating Equitable Environments
Miss Natasha: "My presence shows which organizations are truly committed to inclusion and which ones are simply putting on a facade."
Karen Clarke: "Awareness needs to start with these organizations because they are the ones dismissing folks with disabilities and perpetuating biases."
Shifat Ara: Shifat Ara: "Addressing subtle microaggressions and biases is crucial for creating workplaces where everyone feels valued and included."
3. Ongoing Conversations And Action Are Crucial
Karen Clarke: "For us, people working in the trenches for inclusivity every day, every month is disability employment awareness month."
Miss Natasha: "This month [October] is important because, again, it's not just the month, it's every day."
Shifat Ara: "We encourage continuous dialogues and actions that go beyond awareness months to foster genuine inclusion."
4. Intersectionality Matters
Miss Natasha: "Assumed incompetence, denial of freedoms, blame, perfectionism, control... these are just some of the rules that exist in the workplace for those at the intersection of disability and race."
Karen Clarke: "People of color with disabilities face layered experiences and nuances that compound the barriers they encounter every day."
Shifat Ara: "Our research focuses on understanding how racialized individuals with disabilities face unique challenges in their employment journeys."
5. Community Support and Perseverance Are Key
Karen Clarke: "Having community to lean into as black entrepreneurs is so important. Natasha is part of my inner circle, and I'm so grateful for that."
Miss Natasha: "Don't give up. Be bold. Be resilient. Be creative. Be intelligent. Be fierce."
Shifat Ara: "Building strong support networks is vital for individuals with disabilities, helping them to persevere and thrive."
6. Empowerment Through Entrepreneurship
Miss Natasha: "When I couldn't find employment that valued my worth, I decided to create my own path and founded ‘Create Don't Hate’ Mental Wellness Solutions."
Karen Clarke: "My personal experiences with anxiety and depression, as well as supporting my neurodivergent children, ignited my passion to establish ASpectrum and create inclusive workplaces."
QUICK HITS
Cancel Out a Vote" Trend Sparks Family Feuds Ahead of 2024 Election: A new trend among people emerged in mid-October on social media platforms like TikTok and X. Users post videos about "canceling out" the votes of family members supporting opposing political parties. By voting for the party opposite to their family members’ preferences, these individuals aim to nullify each other's votes. The viral trends show users celebrating their actions and have sparked heated online debates, highlighting the political tensions within families during the final weeks of the election period.
Canadian Study Urges Limits on Junk Food Social Media Ads Targeting Kids 🍔📱: A Canadian study highlights the impact of social media marketing on children's eating habits. Researchers found fast-food and sugary drink ads are widespread, contributing to unhealthy eating normalization. With kids exposed to thousands of ads each year, the study urges government policies to limit this exposure, citing examples from Quebec and other countries as models for regulation. 🚫🍟🥤
TikTok Under the US Government Microscope: The Globe & Mail reports 🔍 TikTok is working to present itself as a safe and transparent platform amid scrutiny over privacy and its ties to China. Despite its global popularity, TikTok faces potential bans in the U.S. and Canada due to concerns about data security and foreign influence 🌐. This situation not only challenges TikTok but also raises broader questions about how governments should regulate social media platforms to protect user privacy while preserving free speech 🗣️. The ongoing struggle highlights the need to balance technological innovation with regulatory oversight in the digital era ⚖️.
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Spinning Forward is an award-winning, trusted, local, independent media company that informs, engages, and uplifts aspiring content creators of color aged 16 to 34 in the Toronto region. Flavian DeLima (LinkedIn), the founder and publisher, launched Spinning Forward to help level the playing field in the online economy for creators of color.
CONTRIBUTORS
Taha Mustafa, Matthew Sousa, and Srivardhan Muthyala
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COMMENT 💬
Greetings,
As voting wraps up for the 2024 U.S. Presidential Election, we focus on Disability Employment Awareness Month (DEAM), which takes place every October. We chose to cover DEAM in November because this issue needs to receive more attention year-round. In 2022, over 27% of Canadians aged 15 and older had a disability, yet less than 60% of working-age Canadians with disabilities were employed.
Spinning Forward interviewed disability advocates Natasha Copeland, Karen Clarke, and Shifat Ara about the challenges disabled individuals face in the job market. They pointed out problems like underutilized skills and workplace discrimination, especially for people of color. Each advocate shared possible solutions.
To better reach our audience, Spinning Forward will introduce more multimedia content, including shorter articles and a podcast launching in early December, with episodes on this important topic.
If you have a comment or feedback, please reply or email me at info at spinningforward.com
⌚Reading Time: 10 minutes
Flavian DeLima
Publisher & Editor, Spinning Forward