National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) 2026
During this year’s NDEAM you can choose your own adventure! We have events and highlighted resources that you can use anytime. This year we are featuring leaders with disabilities, who show us that disabled workers have always been here, using their talents to help make our world more accessible to all.
History of NDEAM
NDEAM started in 1945 as a weeklong event to honor people with physical disabilities. In 1988, Congress officially named it National Disability Employment Awareness Month and expanded it to include people with all types of disabilities, including mental health conditions and other disabilities that aren’t always easy to see. In 2001, the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) was created to lead NDEAM.
Elevate Deaf Awareness
Laurent Clerc (1875-1869) was a pioneering Deaf educator who helped establish the American School for the Deaf and shaped early American Sign Language. Trained in France, he partnered with Thomas Gallaudet to bring formal Deaf education to the U.S.
Opportunities for Elevating Deaf Culture
Accessibility On Demand!
Alice Wong (1974-2025) dedicated her life to challenging systemic ableism. She founded the Disability Visibility Project to amplify disabled voices, authored the memoir Year of the Tiger, and was recognized as a MacArthur Fellow.
Accessibility Training and Resources
Build Community
Judy Heumann (1947 – 2023) fought for equal access in education and employment, co-founded Disabled in Action, and helped lead the Section 504 sit‑ins. Her advocacy also influenced the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
Opportunities for Building Community
All Accessibility Events
Celebrate NDEAM 2026 by attending an event or by visiting our online resources, completing a training available in Workday Learning, join/attend an accessibility committee meeting, and more!
Opportunities to Elevate Deaf Awareness during NDEAM
Register for the following opportunities through CTLE. Contact Anne Grey or Rosemary DiSiervi for more information.
Free Staff & Faculty ASL Class – All skill levels, beginner friendly
Join us this Fall on the 3rd Friday of each month for a free, beginner friendly American Sign Language class, taught on Zoom. Casuals and student staff members are also welcome!
- Every 3rd Friday on Zoom from 2:00 PM to 3:00 PM: October 16, November 20, December 11
- Join on Zoom : https://portlandcc.zoom.us/j/93128870589 Meeting ID: 931 2887 0589
- Taught by Rosemary DiSiervi
October 9 — Seeing the World Through a Deaf Lens: Deaf Space and Visual Learning Environments
This session invites faculty to explore how learning environments look and function through a Deaf lens. We will examine how lighting, seating arrangements, visual attention, eye gaze, classroom design, and virtual spaces can affect communication and learning for Deaf students. Through discussion and interactive activities, participants will consider how environments designed around hearing norms can create unintended barriers and how Deaf-centered visual practices can benefit everyone. Faculty will leave with practical ideas for creating more visually accessible and inclusive learning environments.
October 30 — Seeing the World Through a Deaf Lens: The Hidden Curriculum in Higher Education
Not everything students are expected to know appears in a syllabus. This session explores the ‘hidden curriculum’, the unwritten rules, assumptions, and expectations embedded in higher education and considers how Deaf students may experience these expectations differently. Through a Deaf lens, participants will examine areas such as classroom participation, office hours, group discussions, informal conversations, networking, and expectations that are often treated as ‘common sense’. Faculty will identify ways to make the invisible more visible and create learning environments where expectations are clearer and more equitable.
Attend the PCC Disabled Employee Affinity Group October Events
- 10/13 from 12:30 – 2 PM: Join via Google Meet
- 10/26, 10:30 AM – 12 PM: Join via Google Meet
Learn more about PCC’s Disabled Employee Affinity Group: All employees welcome!
Whether you identify as disabled, relate to the experience of disability, or simply have some sort of functional impairment, you are welcome here. Come join us for community support and discussion in a safer space.
If you want to join the group and get updates on our meetings, please send an email to ira.mckinzie@pcc.edu
Please feel free to invite others to join, but maintain confidentiality around the membership and topics of the group.
Accessibility On Demand!
There are trainings and resources to help you learn about accessibility, a glossary to explain important terms, and you can even request custom presentations. Learn about the Accessibility Council and committees, accessibility events, and our student-led Disability Cultural Alliance.