Considerations for Customers with Disabilities in the WIA System
by Marsha Katz, Rural Institute Organizational Consultant
Since the enactment of the Workforce Investment
Act (WIA), every worker in America seeking employment has the
freedom to enter a WIA One-Stop Center and expect to be equitably
and respectfully served. One-Stops can also help workers get
connected with other services and assistance for which they may
be eligible. In order for this seamless service to become a reality,
workers with disabilities need to know:
1) that the One-Stops are there waiting to welcome and serve
them;
2) who the WIA partners are; and
3) what services are available.
At the same time, the One-Stop professionals need to know about the resources and considerations that come with workers with disabilities. Many WIA professionals have years of experience serving people with disabilities, some have served an occasional worker with a disability, and still others have virtually no experience with people with disabilities. Many may have served people with disabilities without even realizing it because those disabilities were not visible and/or people chose not to disclose their disabilities. This article provides professionals serving people with disabilities an overview of some of the considerations for customers with disabilities
Access
Serving the disability community means—first and foremost—that your building, offices, bathrooms, and communications need to be accessible. Access means being responsive to disability-related needs, whether the disability is physical, cognitive, emotional/psychiatric, sensory, or the result of a chronic health condition. Examples of access include:
- Physical consideration
- widened doorways
- grab bars in bathrooms
- enough room for wheelchairs to navigate and turn
- lowered counters or raised tables
- clear paths of travel
- Sensory considerations
- having information available in alternative formats (e.g. braille, large print, on disk, or audio tape)
- having furniture and pathways laid out to make navigation using a cane easier
- having a TDD/TTY available for deaf callers or using a state Relay system
- using sign language interpreters and real-time reporting to assure accurate and reliable communication
- Cognitive/other communication considerations
- giving information and instructions in clear, concrete, uncomplicated language
- being willing to go over things several times
- supplementing written and oral communication with pictorial representations of concepts or audio tapes
- accommodating the use of letter boards or other assistive/augmentive communication devices and tools
- Time considerations
- allowing more time for appointments to accommodate someone with difficult to understand speech, slower comprehension, slower physical movement, difficulty writing and filling out forms
- need for gradual movement toward employment rather than sudden change
- flexibility in scheduling to accommodate health and other disability related needs.
Etiquette and Language
If you have never worked with a persons who have disabilities, you may feel awkward the first time. The key to having a good relationship with that individual is simply treating that person with respect. Remember the Golden Rule we all learned as children. It taught us to treat everyone the way we want to be treated. Speak directly to the person, not his/her aide or interpreter. Ask if you aren’t sure if a person needs help, or if you aren’t sure what to do next. Courtesy counts and will earn you satisfied customers.
One of the best ways to demonstrate courtesy and respect is through your language. When working with people with disabilities, the bottom line is “Person First” language, which as it says, puts the person first, before the disability. By using “person first” language, you avoid outdated, stereotypical, and pejorative labels. Some examples are listed below.
There are several excellent resources on disability language and/or etiquette. Our favorite is a small booklet published the Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association (EPVA) called “Disability Etiquette: Tips on Interacting with People with Disabilities,” by Judy Cohen of Access Resources. It is available by calling EPVA at (800) 444-0120 (toll free) or order on line at www.unitedspinal.org.
In addition to “Disability Etiquette,” there are also:
- “Person First: A Language Guide to Help you Put the Person First when Communicating about People with Disabilities” from the Axis Center for Public Awareness of People with Disabilities (800) 231-2947 (toll free)
- “Guidelines to Reporting and Writing about People with Disabilities” from the Research and Training Center at the University of Kansas
- “Beyond the AP Stylebook” by Advocato Press © 1992, www.ragged-edge-mag.com/mediacircus/styleguide.htm.
Examples of People First Language
| Say . . . | Instead of . . . |
|---|---|
| people with disabilities | the handicapped or disabled |
| he has a cognitive disability | he’s mentally retarded or he’s slow |
| she has autism | she’s autistic |
| he has Down syndrome | he’s Downs |
| she has a learning disability | she’s learning disabled |
| he has a spinal cord injury or CP | he’s crippled or spastic |
| she’s of short stature | she’s a dwarf (or midget) |
| he has mental illness/psychiatric disability | he’s crazy |
| she uses a wheelchair | she’s wheelchair bound or she’s confined to a wheelchair |
| brain injury | brain damage |
| accessible parking | handicapped parking |
| she is deaf or hearing impaired | She is a deaf- mute |
From: Kathie Snow, People First Language, a commentary by Kathie Snow; www.disabilityisnatural.com and Beyond the AP Stylebook, The Advocado Press
What do I do if…?
Many WIA staff have asked a number of “What do I do if/when…?”questions about serving people with various disabilities.
For instance, “What do I do when I don’t understand what someone is saying? Should I just smile and nod like I do understand?” The answer is no, don’t pretend to understand. How you respond may vary, based on the person and the disability. If the person has had a stroke or has cerebral palsy, for example, don’t hesitate to say, “I’m sorry, but I didn’t understand what you were saying. Can you please repeat that for me?” On occasion, you may need to ask the person to repeat several times before you understand. That’s okay, because if you don’t understand, you can’t respond appropriately. And, you’ll be glad to know that as you have continuing contact with the person and get to know her/him better, you will grow accustomed to the sounds and rhythms of her/his speech and find yourself understanding nearly everything the first time.
“What do I do if I get a call through a Relay system?” If you’ve never been on the receiving end of a Relay call before, don’t hesitate to let the operator know, and feel free to ask for help. The operator will be happy to talk you through the call and help you learn the shorthand words to indicate when you are done with your question or response (“go ahead”), or when you’re done with the call altogether (“S-K”).
“What do I do when someone comes in with a service/guide dog?” The first thing to know is that you shouldn’t pet the dog; it’s working and needs to focus on its owner’s needs. The dog and owner have been through intensive training together and know how to work as a team to get the owner’s needs met. Beyond that, don’t be shy about asking the person if there is anything you should or should not do.
“What do I do if I’m not sure someone can fill out the paperwork I need?” It’s always okay to say to someone, “I need these papers filled out, will you need any help?” Some people have cognitive disabilities and can’t read and write, while others with typical IQs might have severe learning disabilities. Still others use English as a second language and feel unsure about their ability to communicate in a foreign language. The bottom line is, if a person accepts your offer of help, or asks you for help, provide the assistance and assume it’s really needed.
A safe rule when you’re not sure what to do, or how to do it, is simply to ask the person.
- “ How can I help?”
- “ Do you need any help with the door?”
- “Can you find your way to Ray’s office or would you like me to walk down with you?”
- “ Do you need a clipboard to write on, or will the desk work?”
- "Do you need any assistance getting out to the bus?”
- “ Here are your copies of the papers we filled out. Would you like me to put them in the back pack on your wheelchair? Which pocket?”
- “Does this room layout work for you, or should we move/raise/lower anything?”
- “ Do you want paper copies of these brochures, or do want me to put them on disk for you, or email them to you?”
Legal Considerations and Resources
Under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other laws, persons with disabilities are a “protected class” when it comes to discrimination on the basis of their disability. In other words, employers can’t choose to NOT hire or promote an otherwise qualified worker, just because he or she has a disability. Employers also are required by the ADA to make “reasonable accommodations” that will assist a worker with a disability to perform the essential functions of the job.
For instance, if a qualified candidate for a front office accounting job uses a wheelchair, the employer can’t say “I’m sorry, you are very qualified, but I can’t hire you because a wheelchair in my front office might offend my customers.” That’s discrimination, and it’s illegal. If the accountant needs her desk raised a bit to accommodate her wheelchair so she can do her job, the employer needs to raise the desk, and can’t fire her to avoid raising the desk
The above example is simple and clear. But what if the worker has seizures and needs to work in an environment with natural or full spectrum lighting, not flickering artificial lighting that triggers seizures? Theoretically, the protections are the same. The lighting accommodation should be made, if it is doable. However, it is not uncommon for persons with epilepsy (and psychiatric disabilities, too) to hide their disability because they fear discrimination. Therefore, they may have been hired under the assumption they didn’t have any disability because they didn’t “disclose” that disability at hiring, or at any time after that. If a worker hasn’t disclosed his or her disability to the employer, he/she can’t insist on an accommodation and is not afforded protection under the ADA.
In the case of the accountant with a seizure disorder, if she stays home too often because she fears that she will have seizures from the flickering artificial lights, she will likely jeopardize her job because of missed work. She can’t ask for, and expect to be provided with, a reasonable accommodation unless she discloses her disability to her employer. If her poor attendance causes her employer to give her a two week notice, she can’t use the ADA to help keep her job unless she discloses the epilepsy to her employer and asks for the reasonable accommodation of an office with full spectrum or natural lighting.
On the other hand, if her employer hired her knowing about her seizure disorder, and then tried to fire her rather than give her the office with full spectrum lighting, she is protected by the ADA and can file a complaint or take other legal action.
When Workforce Investment partners serve persons with disabilities, they need to know that no one is required to disclose a disability in order to receive services or get hired. But it makes sense to advise all persons seeking Workforce Investment assistance that if they have a disability, they will only have protection under the ADA if they disclose their disability.
For workers who do disclose, they, their WIA partners, and their employers have free resources available to assist with appropriate job accommodations. One of these resources is the Job Accommodation Network (JAN), which can be reached at (800) 526-7234 (toll free), or jan@jan.icdi.wvu.edu, or www.jan.wvu.edu.
Summary
In the beginning of any new relationship, things can be awkward and tentative. And having Congress as your matchmaker in an arranged marriage can cause foot dragging all by itself. Progress may be halting as the parties learn about one another and get used to each other. But with a little time and effort, and a common goal, there’s every reason to expect a full, rich, fruitful life together.