Understanding Accommodations at Work: Individuals as a Business Asset

By: Noah Severino

I feel that these are things that everyone should know…not just individuals with disabilities, but their friends, families and employers. By arming yourself and others with this information, you can only help build a more accessible and open employment world. To paraphrase Mr. Rich Donovan — successful employment for individuals with disabilities isn’t about words, it isn’t about policy, it’s about attitudes. Feel confident in yourself, your work and your abilities and you can find success. And don’t forget that SAVTI Counsellors are available to help you along the way!

A transition to the world of employment can be an intimidating move. It isn’t something that is easy, especially when you are an individual with a disability, which can create a whole new level of intimidation and pressure. In my own experience, these feelings come from concerns about accommodation and, most importantly, whether or not you should disclose your disability to a potential employer. Before that’s a real concern, you need to find a job — whether you’re looking for full or part-time, it doesn’t matter. Prepare a cover letter that sells who you are to an employer and edit your resume for the job, too. A great resource for cover letter and resume review is a SAVTI Counsellor who can help you present yourself as best as possible. If you get selected for an interview, don’t forget to dress to impress! 

However, getting a job isn’t a simple thing. One of my biggest struggles is whether or not I should disclose the fact that I am an individual with a number of disabilities. It doesn't mean that I can’t perform the same tasks — or that I’m slower — it just means that I occasionally do things differently than others. This is the attitude that I try to have every day, and it’s the same way an employer should treat you, too. There are many different kinds of disclosure that we can come across as individuals with disabilities, whether it’s a checkbox on a job application, a discussion during an interview, at the time of a job offer, or a conversation to have while you are an active employee. In my limited experience, I wonder if disclosure is something that could hamper my ability to get a job successfully, especially when it’s an application form and people do not get the chance to meet me and see who I am and what I can do. It is undoubtedly stressful to make the decision to disclose, but it is important to know that the decision is yours. An employer cannot choose not to hire you because of a disability, nor should you be dismissed from a workplace for disclosing a disability. 

My own disclosure experiences have been relatively positive. I have been fortunate enough to have employers who are understanding and willing to provide assistance and accommodations at my workplace. Disclosures for me have been primarily at the interview level, either at the very beginning or at the very end. I am blind in my right eye, and I have been ever since my treatment. Because of this, my eye wanders sometimes, which I am very conscious of, especially in a professional setting. In the past I have said to my interviewers, “Please excuse my wandering eye and need to crane my head around…I am paying attention to you, but I am visually impaired as a result of my childhood cancer, so my field of vision isn’t the greatest. I’m thankful to be here, and appreciate your understanding.” Something along these lines is really all that the conversation needs to be. Employers don’t need a full rundown, nor do you need to list absolutely every detail, but a short statement is usually enough to inform interviewers or employers. I usually try to have a basic statement planned before I go into an interview so that I am comfortable with what I am sharing, so that I remain in control of the situation. 

It is important to recognize that as an individual with a disability, you are valuable. Your work, your ideas and your presence are able to make an impact, not just for yourself, but for your employer as well. You should walk into an interview feeling like an asset, because that’s exactly what you are. There are a number of employers globally who report increased productivity, sales and morale because of their workforce being inclusive of individuals with disabilities. The population of individuals with disabilities represents a large market that employers could be accessing by supporting individuals with disabilities and providing them with a higher quality of life. You should never feel like a burden to your potential — or current employer — because you’re worth it. 

There are a few things that an employer can do to support you and one of those things is providing accommodations. This doesn’t mean that they find somewhere for you to live — it means that they provide you with the tools to be as successful as you can be. As an employee, you are entitled to "reasonable accommodation," which means that an employer must provide you an accommodation, as long as it does not cause them "undue hardship." What this means is that an employer has to provide you with some level of accommodation — in most cases, it’s a change of attitude, and less than $500 cost to the company whether you need a special chair, screen, light, or the ability to work with headphones. And there are lots of grants that you and your employer can access to help support bigger purchases, such as special software or a special computer. It doesn’t mean that you can ask for a flying chair in your own office with a butler service (although a flying chair sounds pretty cool); it just means that your accommodations have to be reasonable in cost and reality.