Realize has been undertaking targeted projects on episodic disabilities and employment for the past 18 years and for those targeted in this work, knowledge of episodic disabilities has increased significantly. However, the sheer numbers of people living with episodic disabilities requires expansion of this work.
Project Objectives
- To increase awareness of episodic disabilities amongst employers
- To increase the understand of employers about the employment challenges related to working and living with episodic disabilities
- To increase the capacity of employers to respond effectively to the challenges facing people living with episodic disabilities
- To increase access to information and professional networking opportunities for small, medium, and large employers on leading practices in accommodating employees with episodic disabilities in the workplace
- To increase the capacity of people living with episodic disabilities to communicate effectively about their lived experience
Project Overview
The EPIC project draws together diverse stakeholders to forge social innovation partnerships with new employers and other workplace leaders in an effort to create a groundswell of awareness of episodic disabilities and employment.
We have convened an Advisory Committee of people living with episodic disabilities and an Employers Network of diverse employers to facilitate connections and learning between workplaces and individuals seeking work. Strong partnerships created through the Employers’ Network on Episodic Disability (ENED) and participation in the Realize Speakers’ Bureau will increase the confidence of participants to advocate for their accommodation needs and build awareness of the issues people living with episodic disabilities are facing.
The Episodic Disabilities at Work workshop will be offered to companies, organizations, and business across Canada as a tool to strengthen awareness of and accommodation for employees with episodic disabilities. To date, the workshop has been presented to 15 places of employment to over 100 individuals. Each session includes a 15-minuted presentation by a participant from the Realize Speakers’ Bureau. These short presentations have provided opportunities for presenters to connect with workplace leaders and to practice their own self-advocacy skills. Find out how to book a workshop for your workplace.
Realize hosts the Annual, National Summit on Episodic Disability and Employment in the Spring and hosts additional events during Episodic Disability Awareness Month each August. Please watch our homepage for details about these events.
Project Feedback
“This was FANTASTIC and sooooo timely! I recently had an interviewee that asked if two things were okay (accommodations), while we were in the interview. I remember thinking that was so brave of her. She ended up being our successful candidate and now I feel empowered to open up conversation with her to ensure we are meeting her needs. Thank you for the VALUABLE work you are doing – and thank you [Speakers’ Bureau member] for your bravery in sharing today.”
“I did not have the opportunity to attend this workshop online, but I am very glad that the video was shared [internally] and I watched it. I learnt a lot of new things that I’d never even thought about. I feel that this workshop changed and shifted my perception of mental health issues. I was impressed with the examples of how we can use more kind and tactful language speaking with someone who may experience an episodic disability. Thank you for shifting my perception.”
Relevant documents
Should I Tell Them? Working Towards Barrier-Free Recruitment in the Canadian Labour Market
Work and Income Resources
IDEAL Community Consultations
Intersectionality, episodic disability and access to health services, community supports and employment in Canada
Throughout 2023, Realize worked with twelve national organizations serving people living with episodic disabilities to lead focused consultations within their respective communities. The focus was an intersectional examination into the living realities and various aspects of access barriers to health services, community-based organizations and employment for people living with episodic disabilities in the Canadian landscape. The participating organizations serve communities that provided unique intersectional considerations of gender, racial identity, faith community, health conditions, sexual identity, and age with disability.
(Partner organizations involved: Alliance for South Asian AIDS Prevention, Ase Community Foundation for Black Canadians with Disabilities, Asian Community AIDS Services, Canadian Multicultural Disability Centre Inc., CanAge, Communities, Alliances, And Networks, DisAbled Women’s Network of Canada Disability Empowerment Equity Network Support Services, Live Educate Transform Society, National Educational Association of Disabled Students, Pride at Work Canada, and YouthCO.)
The objectives of this initiative were:
- To address the deficit of research on living with episodic disabilities through a disability-justice lens, led by people living with disabilities.
- To examine the realities that diverse disability communities are navigating.
- To better understand diversity in disability culture among subgroups such as youth, Muslims, 2SLGBTQIA+ folks and others.
- To broaden perspectives on people living with episodic disabilities and work.
- To examine access to and experience of health services and/or community-based organizations by diverse community members who are living with episodic disabilities.
- To increase the capacity of employers to respond effectively to the challenges facing people living with episodic disabilities and provide appropriate accommodations.
This Executive Summary includes key findings, a summary of insights, and links to each of the 12 partner reports.
Workplaces REVAMPED Final Report
This is the final report of the Realize project titled ‘REVAMPED’, Workplaces REcognizing the VAlue of eMPloyees with Episodic Disabilities funded by the Opportunities Fund of Employment and Social Development Canada.
The REVAMPED Project Objectives were targeted:
1. To increase awareness of episodic disabilities among employers;
2. To increase the understanding of employers of the challenges related to working and
living with episodic disabilities;
3. To increase the capacity of employers to respond effectively to the challenges facing
people living with episodic disabilities;
4. To increase access to information and networking opportunities for small, medium and
large employers on leading practices in accommodating employees living with episodic
disabilities in the workplace; and
5. To increase the capacity of people living with episodic disabilities to communicate
effectively about their lived experience.
The Pandemic Pandora’s Box: Long COVID and Episodic Disability
Project Report; Realize 2021
Executive Summary
The Pandemic Pandora’s Box report analyzes the combined findings of two informal, community-driven surveys shared openly online in February 2021. The first asked adults working or seeking work in Canada about their experiences with Long COVID, while the second asked Canadian employers about their comfort level and preparedness to provide workplace accommodations to COVID-19 long-haulers. Up to 1 in 3 people who contract COVID-19 – regardless of the severity of their acute infection – risk facing Long COVID. Long COVID refers to a multitude of fluctuating, debilitating symptoms that may affect all organ systems and for many cause impairments which last for months.