Accommodating the Worker with a Disability

You have many resources available to assist in modifying, adapting, and providing accessibility to your office or plant for both the newly hired or newly disabled employee. Most of these changes could cost you nothing.

An excellent resource is the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), which offers free and confidential consultation. If you need to accommodate an applicant with a disability, a new employee, or return to work an employee who is newly disabled, and you do not know what to do, just call JAN.

In about 85 percent of cases handled, JAN has helped employers find modifications that cost less than $1,000, and often accommodations cost nothing at all. In addition to its database of more than 200,000 specific accommodations, JAN can provide you with specific resources to assist in solving difficult or unique accommodation or adaptation problems. JAN can also answer basic questions and provide referral information on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Anyone may call JAN toll-free at 800-526-7234 (voice or TTY) or 800-ADA-WORK, 800-232-9675 (voice/TTY). To learn more about JAN on the Internet, visit <www.jan.wvu.edu>.

The JAN Web site includes a Searchable Online Accommodation Resource (SOAR) which allows visitors to explore the vast database of accommodations ideas and resources online. Using the SOAR system is as easy as 1-2-3: (1) Visitors to the site choose from a list of disability types-from AIDS/HIV to back injury to muscular dystrophy to vision disorders. (2) A second menu prompts selection of a more specific functional limitation. For example, if the visitor requests information regarding hearing disabilities, the second menu will ask whether the person has difficulty communicating with customers, using a telephone, responding to emergency signals, etc. (3) The database generates a range of suggestions for accommodating individuals with a given type of functional limitation. Someone with a hearing-related disability might be alerted to emergency signals with a visual, tactile, or other non-auditory type of signal. The direct URL for this service is <www.jan.wvu.edu/soar>.

In addition to job modification, in some cases you will need to make structural changes. In most instances, though, the changes required are minimal and involve ramping, doorway widening, and providing accessible restrooms. Persons using wheelchairs may need space for their chairs entering and leaving as well as in work areas, bathrooms, cafeteria, and training sites. Often, simply raising an ordinary desk or worktable on blocks will allow the user to draw his or her chair up to the work area and work comfortably. In most cases the cost of accessibility is relatively small. However, cost should not be viewed as a barrier, and you may qualify for a tax credit for accommodations you make (see Appendix E). Remember, today's successful business recognizes that in a dwindling labor supply, success comes only to those willing to use all the resources available. That means recruiting and employing the qualified person with a disability and maintaining the employee who is newly disabled.

Consult the ADA Accessibility Guidelines published by the U.S. Access Board for guidance on correct space requirements (800-872-2253 V/TTY; 800-993-2822 TTY; .) Other excellent resources are the 10 federally funded Disability and Business Technical Assistance Centers (DBTACs). The Center in your area can be reached by calling 800-949-4232.

Accommodating individuals with hearing disabilities may be no more complicated than turning a receptionist's desk to face the door. A variety of devices are available for telephones to amplify hearing and speech. Devices that flash lights instead of ring bells can be provided for emergency alarms as well as for telephones. Some people with hearing disabilities cannot use regular telephones even if they are adapted with amplifying devices. Instead, people with significant hearing loss use TTYs. These devices make the telephone accessible and productive to people who would otherwise not be able to use them. Under Title IV of the ADA, all states must have relay services allowing people without TTYs to talk to people using TTYs; check your phone book for the relay number and learn how to use the system.

Individuals with limited or no vision can be accommodated in various ways. Examples include raised lettering or Braille symbols on signs and elevator buttons. A variety of magnification devices exist, but be sure to allow the individual who will be using the device to try it before investing. Devices which produce Braille symbols or synthesized speech can assist those with severely limited or no vision to read printed material and access computers. While such devices may be expensive initially, they often pay for themselves in increased productivity.

You might not need any special equipment to accommodate individuals with cognitive disabilities. Providing extra training and guidance to an individual and breaking a complex task down into simpler components may be all that is needed to ensure understanding and productivity. Avoid giving too many instructions at once. Also, try to limit the number of people who give instructions. Multiple instructors often can confuse a situation as much as multiple instructions. Agencies that work with people with specific disabilities and state and local rehabilitation facilities are good sources for assistance in providing successful accommodations. In many instances, these agencies also can help pay for some of the more expensive types of equipment.

A photographer lost the use of one hand and could no longer hold and manipulate a camera at the same time. His company provided a tripod, but that proved too cumbersome. JAN Solution: The photographer received a waist pod, the kind used to carry flags to support the camera on a rod, while he shot pictures with his functional hand. Cost: $50

A police officer with dyslexia committed too much time at the end of each day to filling out forms. JAN Solution: The officer was provided a tape recorder to dictate the reports. A secretary who typed the handwritten reports of other officers typed this officer's reports from dictation. Cost: $69

An employee was assigned to sort checks into appropriate stacks. However, because of bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome, the employee could not manually pick up the checks. JAN Solutions: The employee could use a vacuum pick-up pen that suctions objects which could then be dropped in bins. Or, the employee could be fitted with a cuff-type writing aid which holds a pen in place along the index finger. The employee could then slide checks to appropriate bins. Cost: $100

A radio broadcast announcer who is totally blind needed to be able to read over the airwaves Associated Press wire news received through phone lines into a standard printer. JAN Solution: The station supplied the announcer with a Braille printer which could be connected to the Associated Press wire. A switch allowed any user to quickly move between the Braille and regular printers. Cost: $1,700

A chef who has paraplegia and uses a wheelchair needed to access several different areas in the restaurant kitchen. His co-workers preferred to continue standing as they cooked, and the restaurant did not want to install adjustable height work stations. JAN Solution: The chef could use a stand-up wheelchair, allowing him to remain in his wheelchair but work at standing height when necessary. Cost: $11,000

A person with multiple sclerosis was extremely sensitive to heat. If the office thermostat were adjusted to meet her needs, her co-workers would be too cold, and the company was not able to provide her a private office. JAN Solution: The individual was provided a cool vest that kept her body temperature down without affecting her colleagues' comfort. Cost: $350 to $2,000, depending on the system chosen

A company used two-way radios to keep its fieldworkers in touch with each other and the main office. One employee, however, could not use the system because of a hearing loss. JAN Solution: The field worker with hearing loss was outfitted with a portable text telephone. This allowed the employee to contact the main office, which was equipped with a TTY. Cost: $500

[ Previous Page ]                  [ Back to Index Page ]                  [ Next Page ]