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ADAPTABLE: A creative, practical, and inclusive
approach to accommodating
people in the workplace

Copyright © Alan Cantor 2001. All rights reserved.

Inclusion by Design / Une société inclusive
Montréal Québec

3 June 2001 1:45 - 3:15 p.m.
Alan Cantor, B.Ed, M.A.
Cantor Access Inc.

Overview

1. Aim

To describe an approach to accommodation planning that enhances the productivity, comfort and safety of employees (and students) with disabilities, while respecting their privacy, autonomy and dignity.

2. Accommodation defined

Employment accommodation is the process of tailoring work to meet the needs of an individual. It is an ongoing process of identifying and removing — or minimizing — the adverse effects of barriers in the work environment and in the method of doing work. These barriers prevent an otherwise qualified person with a disability from achieving the expected outcomes of the job.

3. Why accommodation fails

What contributes to the failure of workplace accommodations?

1. An organization's accommodation policies are wrongheaded.
2. The practitioner fails to conduct a proper assessment: He or she does not...
   
   • involve the employee.
   • observe the employee long enough or in sufficient depth.
   • observe the employee engaged in all work-related tasks.
   • observe the employee engaged in critical tasks.
   • observe the employee at all!
   • consider the larger physical, social and cultural environments.
3. The practitioner has commercial ties to particular products.
4. The employee does not receive sufficient training.
5. The employee does not receive follow-up support.
6. The accommodation plan concentrates on high-tech strategies.

4. Fourteen strategies

5. A seven-stage planning model

1. Disclosure.
2. Assessment/Needs identification.
3. Equipment trials/Research.
4. Recommendations.
5. Test of undue hardship (or reasonableness).
6. Implementation.
7. Follow-up, review and adjustment.

Follow-up and review may necessitate returning to an earlier stage, usually 2 (Assessment/Needs Assessment) or 3 (Equipment Trials/Research).

6. Wrap-up: keys to success

1. Involve the individual. The employee must be centrally involved in the accommodation process.
2. Individualize the accommodation. Every person has unique needs.
3. Accommodate during all stages of the employment system, including recruitment, testing, interviewing, hiring, training, professional development, performance evaluation and promotion.
4. Accommodate functional abilities and limitations, not medical conditions.
5. Accommodate to enable the employee to (a) perform essential job duties and (b) participate in the culture of the workplace.
6. Focus on the person's needs and abilities in the present, not in the future.
7. Review the individual's accommodations regularly.
8. Act quickly to accommodate.
9. Consider as many accommodation options as possible.

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