Realize is hosting the 5th National Summit on Episodic Disabilities and Employment – Disclosure in Dialogue on March 19 and 20, 2025 from 12pm to 3:30pm (Eastern Time) on both days.
This free, virtual Summit is an opportunity for business leaders, managers, human resources professionals people living with episodic disabilities and others to create links between valuable research and actionable workplace solutions focused on workplace disclosure and accommodation.
Join us! The Summit will catalyze workplace change through sharing best practices and highlighting key research. What you learn may support the creation of a more inclusive and accommodating work environment that supports people living with episodic disabilities and benefits employers too.
Jump to Registration form below the Agenda
Disclosure in Dialogue Agenda ______________________________________________________________________________
|
Time |
SUMMIT DAY 1 – Employer Day |
| 12:00 – 12:15pm | Opening Ceremony, Land Acknowledgement and Welcome Indigenous Elder and Melissa Egan and Roger Musselman |
| 12:15 – 12:45pm | Keynote Speaker Caitlin Alder – Senior Policy Analyst |
| 12:45 – 1:30pm | Panel Discussion Hiring – Episodic Disability Disclosure Within the Process Panelists: Sarah Birch – Ontario Disability Employment Network (ODEN) |
| 1:30 – 1:45pm | Break |
| 1:45 – 2:00pm | Realize Resources Addison Brash |
| 2:00 – 2:30pm | Recommendations for Employers – Hiring Youth with Episodic Disabilities (Realize) Tess Kern |
| 2:30 – 3:15pm | Panel Discussion Safe Workplace Disclosure for Episodic Disability Panelists: Staicha Kidd – Hearty Hooligan |
| 3:15 – 3:30pm | Closing Melissa Egan |
|
TIME |
SUMMIT DAY 2 – Employee Day |
| 12:00 – 12:15pm | Opening Ceremony, Land Acknowledgement and Welcome Indigenous Elder and Melissa Egan |
| 12:15 – 12:45pm | Keynote Speaker Creating an Accessible and Accommodating Workplace Alissa Assu – Owner of West Coast Wildflowers |
| 12:45 – 1:15pm | Disclosure Decision Making and the DCIDE Tool Monique Gignac – Scientific Director & Senior Scientist, Institute for Work and Health; Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto; Project Director, Accommodating and Communicating about Episodic Disabilities (ACED) |
| 1:15 – 1:30pm | BREAK |
| 1:30 – 2:00pm | Indigenous Understanding of Episodic Disability at Work Julia McEathron– IDC |
| 2:00 – 2:30pm | Injured Workers Steve Mantis – Ontario Network of Injured Workers Groups; Chair of the Research Action Committee |
| 2:30 – 3:15pm | Panel Discussion Experience of Episodic Disability Disclosure in the Workplace Panelists: Ingrid Palmer Principle IDEAL Advocate, Rome Lim Community Expert Storyteller |
| 3:15 – 3:30pm | Closing Ceremony Indigenous Elder |
Learning Objectives
Participants will learn to
- Recognize the current statistics of Episodic Disability amongst people in Canada.
- Understand the legal obligations regarding disclosure and accommodation for episodic disability in the workplace.
- Address concerns about equity and fairness in accommodation with employees.
- Demonstrate comprehension of disability justice and its role in creating cultures of accessibility and inclusivity.
- Recognize the resources available to increase understanding and awareness of episodic disability at work.
- Understand the effects of episodic disability on employment through conversation amongst panelists with lived experience.
Agenda is subject to change.
We hope you’ll join us!
___________________________________________________________________________________________