NDEAM: How a priceless gift brought my voice back

It’s no secret to those who follow me on LinkedIn that I have disability in my life. Not gonna lie, it’s hard sometimes to be out and open about disability. No one wants to be in this club. Most don’t want to talk about it, let alone think about it. Sometimes it feels like I’m shouting into the void. And yet, there are these moments…. these gifts that can come to you in unexpected ways, from connections made on LinkedIn. Like the universe just somehow knows that you need this gift now. This gift letting you know you’re heard. That your voice matters. That it means something.

?Yesterday was the 3rd year anniversary of my 2nd brain aneurysm surgery. It has hit me hard. According to my neurosurgeon, I had a 100% chance of rupture within 5 years. I had no symptoms, and it was an incredible accident my 4 aneurysms were discovered at all. So I’m on 3 years of gifted time by the grace of God and the universe to be here.

It’s also National Disability Employee Awareness Month (#NDEAM). I’ve been wanting to post about that to increase awareness of my community, but I have been struggling with what to say. I take my advocacy seriously. Each day without acknowledging this month has felt like a missed opportunity. That has been weighing heavy on my heart, too. This brings me back to the gift I was given today.

?I was having a business-related conversation with a new LinkedIn connection I made a few weeks ago. As we were wrapping up today, this connection thanked me for my advocacy. They shared that someone close to them had an aneurysm rupture, and they thanked me for being open about my experience.

?This connection didn’t know I was struggling. They didn’t know about my anniversary. Yet that last, little piece of the conversation that this connection was brave enough to share (and let’s please take a moment to acknowledge that, because It. Is. Hard to share) has been one of the greatest gifts I’ve received in a long time. You know who you are, and it’s important to me that you truly know how much this conversation meant to me.

Bringing it back to NDEAM, others are not aware unless I tell them that I have disabilities. All of mine are invisible. There is A. Lot. that happens behind the scenes to get me to the start-point of a day, and across the finish line. I’m not alone. 1 in 4 people in the US have some type of disability. At any company, at any given time, there’s a good chance that you have employees with disabilities on your team and you likely don’t know it.

Celebrating NDEAM helps raise that awareness and uncovers opportunities for employers to offer support. This includes things like offering training and awareness; finding easy ways for employees to get accommodations so that we can do our best work; and even creating a culture with safe spaces for people to share their experiences and increase understanding across organizations.

?I am blessed that I feel seen, secure, and supported at work. I feel empowered to stand in my truth and know that people have my back. I am beyond grateful to do purpose-driven work, which made it possible for a business connection to give an incredible gift when I needed it the most. This is priceless, and I want MORE of us in the community to have moments like mine. I will keep raising my voice, because the disability community is worth it, and so deserving of support, understanding, empathy and equity. I know we can get there, together.

?If you want more of this goodness for your company and need a place to start, DisabilityIN and the US Department of Labor/NDEAM offer actionable ideas and resources.