Register to attend the next Disability Connect meeting!
These meetings provide a dedicated time for people with disabilities to share their experiences and engage directly with DODD leadership.
Family members and professionals are welcome to attend in a listening role. Attendees are encouraged to invite people with disabilities so their voices can be heard.
Agenda
Topic: Planning for Transition Across the Lifespan
1:00 — Welcome and Housekeeping
1:05 — National Disability Employment
1:15 — Transition Across Lifespan: Key Concepts and Practical Tools
1:45 — Open Questions on Employment and Transitional Supports
In honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) is highlighting a landmark moment in a landmark year. Join Secretary of Labor Keith Sonderling and other featured guests for a special virtual event celebrating record-high employment among working-age disabled Americans and 25 years of impact from the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP). Conversations will explore financial independence, recovery-ready workplaces, and the future of work.
The program will cover the record-high number of working-age disabled Americans with jobs. ODEP’s 25 years of impact, the road to financial independence, recovery-ready workplaces, and the future of work. Featured guests include Secretary Keith Sonderling, ODEP Assistant Secretary Julie Hocker, former ODEP Assistant Secretary Neil Romano, OSHA Assistant Secretary David Keeling, EBSA Assistant Secretary Daniel Aronowitz, and Co-Chair of the Great American Recovery Initiative Kathryn Burgum.
In October 2026, we celebrate National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), an annual recognition of the positive impact of people with disabilities in the American workforce. This yearly event began in 1945 as a weeklong national observance of the contributions of people with physical disabilities. In 1988, Congress designated the commemoration as NDEAM, which then evolved to acknowledge the importance of increasing employment opportunities for people with disabilities, including those with mental health conditions and other nonobvious disabilities. In 2001, ODEP was created and entrusted to administer NDEAM, including the selection and promotion of its annual theme.
This year’s NDEAM theme will be “Celebrating Value and Talent,” carrying the spirit of last year’s celebration forward through 2026 in honor of America’s 250th birthday. We will recognize the skills and contributions Americans with disabilities add to the nation’s workplaces, communities, and economy. This year’s observance will play an important role in the department’s year-long celebration of the American worker in support of the nationwide Freedom 250 initiative.
Date: Tuesday, October 13, 2026 Time: 2:00 p.m. ET/11:00 a.m. PT Duration: 1 hour Audience: Disabled job seekers and employees
Receiving a new medical diagnosis or acquiring a disability can bring significant changes to your personal and professional life. This webinar is designed to empower employees with the knowledge, tools, and confidence to successfully navigate the workplace, advocate for their needs, and maintain a productive career.
Speakers
Simone Till, Disability Access & Talent Success Specialist at Galt
Natascha Grant, Vocational Manager at Brain Injury Services
Rebecca L., Manager, Leadership Development
Moderator: Kevin M., Senior Director, Leadership Development
Date: Wednesday, October 21, 2026 Time: 2:00 p.m. ET/11:00 a.m. PT Duration: 1 hour Audience: Employers; entertainment, advertising, sports, and news industry professionals; and disabled creatives
Authentic disability representation is a critical catalyst for creative innovation. Despite more than 1-in-4 adults in the U.S. having a disability, the market for authentic stories is largely untapped. Learn how audiences are demanding and rewarding authentic, accurate disability representation, both on the creative and business sides of the entertainment, advertising, sports, and news industries.
Speakers
Drew English, Content & Strategic Insights, Global Marketing at Nielsen
Jordan Rutner, Director, Analytics at Sports Innovation Lab, part of Genius Sports
Moderator: Lauren A., Senior Vice President, Advocacy
Date: Wednesday, October 28, 2026 Time: 2:00 p.m. ET/11:00 a.m. PT Duration: 1 hour Audience: Employers, allies, and organizations with entry-level and leadership programs
This webinar highlights how employers can learn from Disability Belongs®’ Leadership Program and disability-inclusive leaders. Learn about how universal design principles, one-to-one mentorship, skill-based learning, community building, and advocacy training can set up young professionals with the experience and transferrable skills to be change-makers in the workplace.
Speakers
Ron Pettit, Director, Accessibility and ADA Compliance at MSC Cruises and Explora Journeys
Sena Pottackal, Founder and Principal Consultant at Pottackal Consulting
Moderator: Rebecca L., Manager, Leadership Development
Join us for a public discussion exploring how health data collected through wearable technologies may support timely and accurate diagnosis. The webinar will be held on October 26, 2026 from 1:00 – 2:30 PM (ET).
The Role of Data from Wearable Technologies in Improving Timely Diagnosis: A Webinar
Wearable technologies increasingly allow patients and consumers to collect physiological, behavioral, and other health data outside traditional clinical settings. The Forum on Advancing Diagnostic Excellence will host a public webinar exploring how data from wearables may support timely and accurate diagnosis. Participants will discuss the potential role of wearables in earlier detection, clinical assessment, and symptom monitoring; opportunities to strengthen patient-clinician communication and shared diagnostic decision making; and challenges related to data quality, interpretation, appropriate use, and integration into clinical workflows. The webinar will consider how wearable-generated information can complement clinical evaluation as part of the diagnostic process.
WASHINGTON –The National Council on Disability (NCD) released its annual progress report, focusing on a review of governmentwide disability policy developments over the last year.
SCOPE AND PURPOSE: NCD’s 2026 progress report evaluates major developments in disability policy across key sectors including healthcare, transportation, education, employment, and technology, while laying out recommendations to address ongoing challenges to the rights of individuals with disabilities. This report points to historic gains in employment and strategic shifts in health research but also cautions policymakers about the detrimental impact of regulatory delays, ongoing transportation barriers, and legal reinterpretations that threaten to erode protections that Congress intended when it enacted the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). In this report, NCD also examines its prior findings and makes current recommendations to the President, Congress, and federal agencies based on disability policy developments highlighted in this year’s progress report.
Savannah Bradley, Community Outreach and Programs Manager
Description
Join the Pacific ADA Center for our third 2026 Lunch and Learn Webinar of the year! Find out how to stay safe in an emergency. This webinar will show simple steps for making a personal emergency plan, including helpful tools and resources you can use. You’ll learn how to be ready for different situation.
Learning objectives
Participants will:
Learn strategies for creating a support network to assist in an emergency and how this assistance may differ by the type of disaster.
Explore what items they may need by their bedside in an emergency.
Understand what items are critical for a go bag for themselves and a service animal they may use.
Learn about how to locate accessible emergency shelters in their area and the transportation options to travel to the shelter.
Proposed Changes to the National Health Interview Survey
The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) is proposing a redesign of the National Health Interview Survey for 2028.
The proposed redesign includes removing some disability-related questions and changes the way that households are asked to respond to the survey. Currently, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention are asking for public comment and input.
During this briefing, we will discuss the proposed changes, why this data matters and how you can provide input and public comment.
ASL & CART will be provided. If you need other accommodations, please email NCIL Director of Advocacy and Public Policy Jessica Podesva at jessica@ncil.org.
This event is supported by The Grassroots Project: Supporting Disability Advocacy Nationally which is funded by the Administration for Community Living (acl.gov) and will be administered by the Human Services Research Institute (hsri.org). HSRI will work in partnership with national disability organizations through a National Advocacy and Action Coalition comprised of national organizations for the ACL funded DD, IL, TBI, and PRC programs. Together we will position the next generation of cross-disability, cross-generational and culturally diverse grassroots advocates as leaders and catalysts of systems change that hold states and/or providers accountable and responsive to input. The project will support state and local advocacy and action coalitions in leveraging the ACL disability networks in each state and territory to advance quality community living.
The first Friday of every month, corresponding with the Bureau of Labor Statistics jobs report, National Trends in Disability Employment (or nTIDE) Lunch & Learn series offers a live Zoom Webinar to share the latest nTIDE findings, plus news and updates from the field of Disability Employment and an invited panelist who will discuss current disability-related findings & events.
12:00 pm: Introduction & Welcome Andrew Houtenville, University of New Hampshire
12:10 pm: Overview of National Trends in Disability Employment (nTIDE) Jobs Report
Release John O’Neill, Kessler Foundation
The Numbers Andrew Houtenville, University of New Hampshire
12:40 pm: Announcements from the field of Disability Employment Lillie Heigl, Director of Policy, AUCD
12:55 pm: Guest Presenter: TBD
1:15 pm: Open Question & Answer period for attendees
Note. All webinars will be recorded and closed captioned and will be added to our website archives along with full transcripts following the live broadcast.
Creating an accessible event takes more than meeting minimum ADA requirements.
Join Meridith Silcox, ADA and Accessibility Administrator for Legends Global NRG Park, as we explore how to incorporate accessibility into every stage of event planning—from design and communications to ticketing, accommodations, and on-site support.
Learn best practices for collaborating with organizers, vendors, presenters, and partners to anticipate accessibility needs and create a positive guest experience.
Gain practical tools to make accessibility intentional from the start.
Location: Virtual event
Date and time: Wed, Sep 30, 2026 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET
Organizer: The Mid-Atlantic ADA Center, adatraining@transcen.org
Juliet Shoultz, PE Director, Office of Technical and Information Services, United States Access Board
In This ADA Talk
This presentation will explore accessible parking and accessible electric vehicle (EV) charging in the public right-of-way by highlighting the legal framework, standards, guidelines, and best practices for ensuring equitable access to parking and EV charging in the public right-of-way.
Certificate of Participation
For this webinar to receive credit:
You must attend the entire webinar (live or archive). Attendance will be verified.
You must register and complete the Post Test Eval with Confirmation of Attendance.
Materials and Archive
Presentation Handout
The handout will be provided before the webinar.
Archive
This webinar will be recorded with captioning and sign language (ASL).
Sponsors
Region 4 – Southeast ADA Center
University of Kentucky Human Development Institute
