There are a startling number of myths and misconceptions out there about accommodations for people with disabilities. Many mistakenly think accommodations are unfair privileges, optional advantages, or create preferential work environments.
Because spreading awareness and being good advocates is essential, we will dispel some of those myths today. Keep reading to learn why accommodations are not “special treatment” and how you can work to make your workplace more inclusive for everybody.
What Accommodations Are
So first, let’s talk about what accommodations are. Accommodations are specific programs, policies, enhancements, and technologies that assist those with physical and mental disabilities to easily participate in the workplace and society.
Examples of accommodations include:
- Ramps
- Modified schedules
- Accessible work equipment
- Service dog policies
- Wheelchair-accessible bathrooms
- Braille work materials
These are just a small sampling of the myriad accommodations available for people with disabilities. In fact, many types of accommodations are actually just seen as everyday items but carry a significant function for disabled individuals. Wheelchair-accessible bathroom stalls, for example, used to be a rarity but are now seen as commonplace inclusions in most businesses. They help not only those with wheelchairs but also others with walkers, mobility issues, young children, and so much more.
While accommodations can and often do largely benefit those with disabilities, employers are often expected to provide reasonable accommodations to any employees who request them. Additionally, accommodations meant to help employees with disabilities can almost always be used by all staff, regardless of limitations or disability status.
Accommodations Are Opportunities for Equal Treatment
According to the Americans with Disabilities Act, businesses should make reasonable accommodations and adjustments to support employees, tenants, customers, and business patrons as much as possible.
This doesn’t mean accommodations are unfair or unequal benefits only intended for certain people. According to the Department of Labor, these accommodations are not considered preferential treatment because they are available for all staff. Ergonomic workstations, for example, might be a physical necessity for some, but they can benefit all employees.
Accommodations Are Tools
Like any other operational expense, accommodations should be treated as a necessary part of operating a company. An inclusive workplace is critical to creating a robust and diverse business. Part of helping this happen is creating an environment where everybody can be comfortable and productive.
Accessibility modifications should be treated as important tools for your workforce and normalized within the office or business culture. Extra care should be taken to avoid isolating or highlighting any staff with disabilities. This is one of the reasons it’s vital to make accessibility technologies available for everybody so that nobody feels singled out.
What Accommodations Are Not
Now that we know what accommodations are, let’s discuss the myths and misconceptions that often tend to accompany the dialogue of accessibility and accommodations.
Accommodations Are Not “Shortcuts” or “Lifehacks”
Unfortunately, while accommodations are intended to help everybody (including those with disabilities), there have been instances of people misusing the system and otherwise employing it to their advantage. An increasingly common example of this is service animals.
Service animals are specifically trained to assist their owners with things like blood sugar monitoring, vision, and other activities of daily living. Unfortunately, people have started to buy service animal vests and put them on their pets or find ways to game the system to allow their pets to live with them in apartments that otherwise would not approve of personal animals.
This misuse of the system can have a detrimental impact on those who have legitimate disabilities and who depend on professionally trained service animals. If, for example, a business gets tired of unruly or poorly trained “service animals,” they may unfairly target or deny actual service animals who perform lifesaving or life-enhancing support. The businesses may attempt to limit or put barriers to people using the service animal accommodation, which unfairly restricts those with disabilities from participating in society. Again, this is just one of many examples.
Accommodations Are Not Optional
While it’s important to note that accommodations do not provide special treatment for those with disabilities, it’s also necessary to clarify that accommodations are not optional for U.S. businesses. This means that in the United States, a company cannot simply “opt out” of creating a healthy and safe environment for its employees. According to the Americans with Disabilities Act:
(7) the Nation’s proper goals regarding individuals with disabilities are to assure equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency for such individuals; and
(8) the continuing existence of unfair and unnecessary discrimination and prejudice denies people with disabilities the opportunity to compete on an equal basis and to pursue those opportunities for which our free society is justifiably famous, and costs the United States billions of dollars in unnecessary expenses resulting from dependency and nonproductivity.
Businesses that fail to create an accessible environment can be reported and fined. This can be an exceptionally complicated and expensive process, not to mention highly unpleasant for the person with a disability who simply wants to have the tools necessary to do their job.
Accommodations Are Not Special Treatment
Critics of accommodations for people with disabilities often claim that people with a protected legal status are given unfair opportunities for career advancement. Legally speaking, however, this is not true. Those with disabilities should have equal treatment, not preferential treatment.
Accessibility policies and technologies should help people do their jobs and function in society, not elevate them above the status of anybody else. The goal should be to make everybody feel welcome, valued, and respected in the work environment with all the tools they need to excel at their job.
By Ric Burd
About the Author
Ric Burd is a Certified Disability Manger Specialist at Strategic Consulting Services, a group of disability and accommodation experts in Seattle and throughout the Pacific Northwest. Ric has been working in this field since 2002. Ric is a Certified Ergonomics Evaluation Specialist and is currently a Registered Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor for the Department of Labor and Industries.
To get in touch with Ric or the team of disability and accommodations experts at Strategic Consulting Services, visit their website: https://strategicconsultinginc.com/.