Before coming to your training, please do the following:
Contrary to common misconceptions, stigmas, and stereotypes, individuals with disabilities are great assets not only in our communities but also to our Deseret Employment family. As a job coach trainer, development counselor, store manager, assistant store manager, mentor, administrative assistant, or Church leader, you must be able to distinguish between the myths and the facts about disabilities. You will be more effective in working with individuals with disabilities if you understand the truth about the disabilities and use proper etiquette while working with colleagues that have disabilities. In this lesson, you will learn and practice some proper etiquette techniques you can use at work.
From the following list, choose and complete one or more activities that best apply to your situation.
Read the following statement:
“Disability means, with respect to an individual, a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more of the major life activities of such individual; a record of such an impairment; or being regarded as having such an impairment” (Americans with Disabilities Act Title II Regulations [2010]).
Take a few minutes to discuss the Americans with Disabilities Act's (ADA's) definition of a disability. Discuss what should and should not be considered a disability. You may want to list ideas on the board. Make sure to include developmental (cognitive) conditions and functional limitations. Remember that other vocational barriers such as ignorance, criminal records, language barriers, and so forth should not be considered disabilities.
Note: The ADA also states that it is unlawful to discriminate against a person based on that person's association with a person with a disability.
As a group, read the following statements, then proceed to the questions below the statements.
Statement 1:
Even though some disabilities affect more than one area of functioning, never assume that a person has other disabilities. Speak to and treat individuals with disabilities as adults. Show them respect and dignity.
As a group, discuss:
Statement 2:
People with disabilities have made significant contributions throughout history. For example, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a president of the United States, was disabled by polio. The poet John Milton was blind at 43 when he wrote his most famous epic, Paradise Lost. Ludwig van Beethoven was deaf when he composed his ninth symphony. The scientist Stephen Hawking has Lou Gehrig’s disease. Albert Einstein had learning disabilities, didn’t speak until he was 3, and he had a hard time with math in school. The great inventor Thomas Edison couldn’t read until he was 12, had a hard time writing, and was hearing impaired.
Individually ponder:
Share your thoughts with the rest of the attendees.
Statement 3:
People with disabilities are simply carrying on the normal activities of living. They are not following the Spirit more than a person without a disability, nor are they being brave by simply living their lives. They don’t necessarily want to be singled out. They usually want to be treated the same as anyone else is treated.
As a group, discuss:
Read statements 4–8, then discuss the questions at the end.
Statement 4:
People with disabilities experience the same desires as others, and many can have satisfying relationships. Adults with disabilities, however, may have difficulty communicating their choices.
Statement 5:
Individuals with severe disabilities do feel pain. Even someone without feeling in all parts of his or her body will be impacted by the emotional pain of abuse, and the physical damage can be dangerous. Abuse is always abuse.
Statement 6:
Family members, friends, neighbors, and teachers commit more than half of all abuse of individuals with disabilities. Other abusers are usually care providers or service personnel.
Statement 7:
Although caregiving can be stressful, the stress of the situation does not justify abuse. Abuse is a crime. In fact, perpetrators of abuse are sometimes attracted to this field because they perceive people with disabilities as easy targets.
Statement 8:
People with disabilities can be credible witnesses. They are able to tell the truth as well as people without disabilities. Unfortunately, police officers and other authority figures sometimes believe that people with disabilities can’t be credible witnesses.
As a group, discuss:
From the following list, choose and complete one or more activities that best apply to your situation.
Divide into small groups. Assign each group to read and discuss one or two sections from “Communicating with People with Disabilities” (James Parker Doyle, Conference Calls Unlimited). The sections are:
Ask each group to list proper and improper etiquette behaviors when working with an individual who has the disability discussed in their assigned section(s). When everyone is finished, have a spokesperson from each group share his or her group's lists with the entire class.
Divide into three groups. Have each group work through one of the case studies found in the “Lesson Resources” section, Resource 1.
Ask for volunteers to share the short presentations they prepared as part of their lesson preparation.
Seek to identify a personal or business gap or need.
Spend a few minutes silently pondering what you've discussed during this lesson. Listen as the Holy Ghost helps you identify areas where you can improve. Record your impressions in your learner's journal under the question “What Lack I Yet?”
Seek ways to close the gap or develop the required talent(s) to meet the need.
With the guidance of the Spirit, create your plan of how you will improve and close the gap(s) you have identified. You may use one or more of the exercises below, your own strategy, or a combination of both. Record this plan in your learner's journal under “What Must I Do?”
After a few minutes, those who are comfortable doing so can share their impressions with the group.
Seek understanding, and then share what you learned.
During the week, focus on implementing the plan you created. Record your impressions or lessons learned in your learner's journal under “Therefore, What?” You will be given time at the beginning of next week's lesson to share your experience with the group.
Fred, a new job coach trainer, walked through the store during the middle of the day and spotted James, one of the associates he works with. James was trying to pick up some stuffed toys that had fallen off the shelf. Fred watched as James struggled to reach the toys from his wheelchair. James was only able to place the toys on the bottom two shelves, as the top shelf was out of reach. Fred also watched as James was pushed and bumped by other associates and customers. One customer even remarked rudely that James was not able to do the job. Additionally, Fred noticed that the aisle was very narrow and crowded, which made it hard for James to maneuver along the aisle.
As a group, discuss different disability etiquette techniques Fred should use when approaching James. Once you have discussed a few options, continue reading to see how Fred handled the situation.
Fred approached James and pushed his wheelchair forward without announcing himself. Fred said that he could see that James was struggling with reaching the toys and that he just wanted to help James. Fred picked up all of the toys. When he had finished, Fred pushed James to the break room to have their break together, not once asking James if it was all right. During their entire break, Fred stood in front of James and talked about the ball game he and his friends had attended the day before.
Once the break was over, Fred pushed James back to his area and told him to let him know if he needed anything else. As Fred walked away, James felt frustrated because he still could not easily reach the toys but could have done some of the things that Fred had done for him.
As a group, discuss what disability etiquette techniques Fred used during this situation. What could Fred have done better?
Jill is a job coach trainer working with Eric. Eric is a good associate who has learned a lot of good skills and has now been moved to cashiering. He mentioned to Jill that he is concerned with cashiering, but she told him that she was confident he could do the job well. On the day that he was assigned to work at the cash register, he was late to work for the first time since beginning the training program. Jill was frustrated with this behavior and reprimanded Eric, telling him to make sure it does not happen again.
Jill watched throughout the morning as the lead associate trained Eric, and she noticed that Eric seemed distracted. When Eric was about to check out his first customer, he took a deep breath and ran out of the store. Jill followed him and found him around the corner, crying and breathing heavily.
As a group, discuss different disability etiquette techniques Jill should use when approaching Eric. Once you have discussed a few options, continue reading to see how Jill handled the situation.
Jill encouraged Eric to come inside and took him to a quiet room in the Development Counseling area. Jill offered to sit with Eric or to leave him alone for a few minutes. Eric asked her to sit for a while. After Eric felt calmer, Jill asked if he would like to talk to the development counselor about what happened, and Eric said yes.
While speaking to the development counselor alone, Eric disclosed some anxiety issues that make it difficult to work with the general public. The development counselor assessed the situation and later explained to Jill that Eric is interested in being a cashier, but may need additional mentoring before he's ready to cashier on his own.
Jill and the development counselor called the mentor and made a plan to work with Eric to make the transition to cashier easier. They also discussed with Eric coping methods that he can use when he is feeling overwhelmed. Eric felt good about how the whole team helped him learn how to handle the situation.
As a group, discuss what disability etiquette techniques Jill used during this situation. What could Jill have done better?
Alice, a job coach trainer, walked through the store and overheard a few associates making fun of Stephanie, an associate with some learning disabilities. The associates were talking about how often Stephanie messes up and how she must be really stupid. Alice noticed Stephanie arranging clothes on the sales floor, crying. Alice approached Stephanie and asked her how she was doing. Stephanie expressed frustration because even though she has been taught how to arrange the clothes, it is difficult for her and she moves slower than some of the other associates. She said that she was ready to give up and that she must not be smart enough to work.
Alice offered to work with Stephanie right then and asked her what has helped her remember tasks in the past. Stephanie described how she and her mother had kept on the fridge a checklist of things that needed to be done right after school. It was clear to Alice that Stephanie was proud of being able to do all the things that were expected of her at home.
As a group, discuss different disability etiquette techniques Alice should use when approaching Stephanie. Once you have discussed a few options, continue reading to see how Alice handled the situation.
Alice asked Stephanie if she would like to make a similar checklist for her work duties. Stephanie said she would but was not sure how. Alice asked her to bring in the one from home so they could work together to design something similar.
The next day, Stephanie brought in the checklist. Alice and Stephanie discussed how they could adapt the list to Stephanie's work responsibilities. The new checklist gave Stephanie more confidence, though she was still scared of the coworkers who made fun of her.
As a group, discuss what disability etiquette techniques Alice used during this situation. What could Alice have done better?
Use this material if you would like to learn more about disability awareness.
