3^rd Annual Diversity & Leaderhip Conference disABILITY Track

The Disability Summit will provide a forum to discuss challenges and opportunities facing the disability community of Texas.  The year’s theme is Pathways to Inclusion: Challenges and Opportunities. We will focus on how to attract a diverse workforce, best practices, and internship programs for high school students. Unlike other traditionally underrepresented groups, this disability population is one of the most undervalued and misunderstood. The unemployment rate among people with disabilities as of Jan 2011 is 13.5% with close to 900K looking for work.

We are inspired by the work of the Texas Diversity Council and its goal to promote diversity in the workforce and the community. We invite you to join us at this year’s Texas disABILITY Summit as we engage in a constructive dialogue to continue to promote a diversity workforce and eliminate barriers to full inclusion.

Summit Sessions:

9:30 am to 10:10 am Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, ADA & the Hiring/Selection Process This presentation covers the basic purpose of the Americans with Disabilities Act ( ADA ) of 1990 as it relates to Title I, Employment, including the changes made with the Amendments Act (AA) of 2008. The presentation covers the definition of a qualified person with a disability, the definition of disability according to the ADAAA, and briefly explains potential impairments covered by ADAAA. The presentation focuses on the regulated employment practice of hiring and provides some basic principles to assist employers in complying with ADAAA. Items covered in hiring include steps and/or actions to take and not take before a job offer, after a job offer and accommodations during the selection process.   Department of Assistive and Rehabilitation Services, Isabel (Ana) Segovia confirmed       10:20 am to 11:20 am Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity Over the years the demographic profiles in today's workforce have changed. They now illustrate a nation rich in cultural and racial diversity. However, people with disabilities are now more visible in our work force and are an important component of cultural diversity. This creates a highly mobile and constantly changing environment, revealing the need for new levels of cultural awareness and sensitivity. These issues are particularly critical in our world today and our work force must understand the impact of cultural differences and barriers and how they can affect people with disabilities.   University of North Texas, Assistant Professor Dr. Chandra Donnell confirmed       Lunch Potential Keynote for Luncheon     1:00 pm to 1:55 pm Opportunities in building a quality system for disABILITY The most significant employment barrier people with disabilities face are the misconceptions and attitudes that people within the workplace may have about disabilities. However, this population is beginning to experience discrimination within their realm. People tend to rank one disability over another. In this session we will learn how to perform work within ethical framework that ensures the provision of high quality service delivery which supports the rights and interests of people with disabilities within the workplace.   Department of Rehabilitation Services, Assistant Commissioner, Jim Hanophy confirmed

These sessions have each been approved for 1 HRCI Recertification Credit hour towards PHR, SPHR AND GPHR through the Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI).