Welcome
Creating an Inclusive Work Environment
Special thanks to:
- Chicago Community Trust for their support in creating this presentation.
- Project SEARCH at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital for developing the course that inspired this one.
Welcome
Create new opportunities
Benefit from a new talent pipeline and a more diverse and inclusive workplace
Our mission:
Prepare young people with disabilities for success in the workplace.
We understand:
Hiring and working with people with intellectual disabilities is a new experience for many managers.
Hints, Ideas, and Suggestions
Workplace Communications Basics
Language Matters
Top Ten Tips
Integrating People with Intellectual Disabilities
Empowering or Solving?
For More Information
Workplace Communications Basics
Workplace Communications Basics
Hint: Don’t be embarrassed if you use common phrases that might relate to a person’s disability, such as “See you later!” or “Did you hear about this?”
Hint: Never pretend to hear someone if they have a speech impairment and you are struggling to understand them—it is always acceptable to ask them to repeat themselves or for you to repeat what you understood them to say.
Hint: Always ask before helping. If they accept your offer, give them an opportunity to tell you specifically how you can help them.
Hint: When giving directions, consider distances and obstacles for those with mobility or vision issues.
Hint: Allow plenty of time for team members to arrive.
Hint: Be courteous, and give team members the time they need to understand and respond. Reply appropriately to questions or requests.
Language Matters
Do NOT use:
“Four-eyes”
“Cripple”
“Midget”
“Mongoloid”
Language Matters
“Four-eyes”
“I wear glasses—no big deal.”
“Cripple”
“I have a prosthetic leg. I can work, drive, and play.”
“Midget”
“Little people have the same intellectual capabilities as anyone else.”
“Mongoloid”
“People with Down syndrome successfully perform jobs in a wide variety of industries.”
Human-centered
language
language
Do NOT use:
“My co-worker Tony is a little person, so he can’t do sports.”
“Carrie’s van is handicapped accessible.”
“Harold’s cleft palate sometimes makes him hard to understand.”
“My co-worker Tony is a little person, so he can’t do sports.”
“Hey, that’s my co-worker Tony. He plays a mean game of chess.”
“Carrie’s van is handicapped accessible.”
“Carrie’s van has been modified to fit her wheelchair.”
“Harold’s cleft palate sometimes makes him hard to understand.”
“Harold has a cleft palate and sometimes I don’t know what he says. I ask him to repeat himself to make sure I understand.”
Do NOT use:
“Handicapped restroom.”
“Handicapped parking.”
“Mary is an epileptic.”
“Handicapped restroom.”
“Accessible restroom.”
“Handicapped parking.”
“Accessible parking.”
“Mary is an epileptic.”
“Mary has epilepsy.”
Do NOT use:
Loony
Cripple
Insane
Mongoloid
Vegetable
Schizo
Spastic
Crazy
Midget
Psychotic
Retarded
Mental
Abnormal
Dumb
Blind as a bat
Deaf and dumb
What about jokes or sayings?
Do NOT use:
“Isn’t she sweet.”
“Bless his heart.”
“Poor thing.”
Terms like these (which do not have acceptable replacements) should be avoided.
We're all human and our personal preferences differ.
The effects of words differ from one person to another.
Vote “thumbs up” or “thumbs down” on whether these words and phrases are appropriate.
“Crippled.”
thumb_up
thumb_down
Correct!
Incorrect.
“Crippled” is inappropriate. It describes the disability. Always highlight the person, not a vague and obsolete description.
“Uses a cane.”
thumb_up
thumb_down
Correct!
Incorrect.
“Uses a cane” is appropriate. It shows that the person is capable of using assistive equipment.
“Confined to a wheelchair.”
thumb_up
thumb_down
Correct!
Incorrect.
“Confined” is inappropriate. Wheelchairs provide mobility, not confinement.
“Utilizes a service animal.”
thumb_up
thumb_down
Correct!
Incorrect.
“Utilizes a service animal” is appropriate as it indicates that a person is capable of using a service animal.
“Suffers from…”
thumb_up
thumb_down
Correct!
Incorrect.
“Suffers from…” is inappropriate. It emphasizes an inability that may be irrelevant or non-existent.
“Able-bodied.”
thumb_up
thumb_down
Correct!
Incorrect.
“Able-bodied” is inappropriate. It implies that some people are able to use their bodies and others are not.
“Stricken with…”
thumb_up
thumb_down
Correct!
Incorrect.
“Stricken with…” is inappropriate. It implies illness.
“Uses sign language.”
thumb_up
thumb_down
Correct!
Incorrect.
“Uses sign language” is appropriate. It indicates that the person is capable of communicating.
Click the Translate button to show language that’s more people-centric.
“Our disabled co-worker.”
Translate
“Our co-worker with Down syndrome.”
“She’s developmentally delayed.”
Translate
“She has a developmental delay.”
“They have a hearing problem.”
Translate
“They use hearing aids.”
“He can’t talk.”
Translate
“He communicates through an assistive device.”
Top Ten Tips
Top Ten Tips*
#1
Speak directly.
#2
Maintain appropriate eye contact.
#3
Offer an appropriate greeting.
#4
Introduce everyone.
#5
Offer help, then listen.
#6
Treat adults as adults.
#7
Respect assistive equipment and service animals.
#8
Listen well and allow additional processing time as needed.
#9
Tap or wave to gain attention.
#10
Use common expressions.
Integrating People with Intellectual Disabilities
Welcoming a Project SEARCH intern or graduate
Integrating People with Intellectual Disabilities
Fostering Inclusion
Same tools
Same opportunities
|
Same benefits
|
Appropriate Accommodations
Appropriate Accommodations
Service animals
|
Assistive technologies
|
Fragrance-free policies
|
Sign language interpreters
|
Inappropriate Accommodations
Free food
|
Rule exemptions
|
Lack of feedback
|
Inappropriately solving problems
|
Praise:
- Be encouraging.
- Respond as quickly as possible.
- Focus on success.
- Be a leader and mentor.
Team members with disabilities are not mascots. As interns, they are there to learn skills. Once hired, they have a job to do and must be responsible for completing it.
Constructive feedback:
- Provide instruction for improved performance.
- Direct responses at actions, not personality.
Empowering or Solving?
Empowering or Solving?
The scene: A manager notices an intern standing in front of a shelf, seemingly confused about where to put something. The manager approaches the intern, smiles, puts the item where it belongs, and moves on.
Was the manager empowering or solving?
Empowering
Solving
Correct!
Incorrect.
The manager was solving, not empowering.
Let’s look more closely at that last scene, where a manager sees that an intern is confused about where something belongs. The manager approaches the intern, smiles, puts the item where it belongs, then continues walking.
What could the manager have done to empower the intern?
Verbally tell the intern where the item belongs on the shelf.
Approach the intern and ask if they need help.
Contact the intern’s supervisors to let them know of the intern’s struggles.
Correct!
Incorrect.
Asking if the intern needs help gives them a chance to respond, learn, and succeed.
The scene: A newly hired Project SEARCH graduate approaches their manager to ask for help with a task they’ve been assigned. The manager asks what specific steps are causing problems, then walks through a method for completing the task.
Was the manager empowering or solving?
Empowering
Solving
Correct!
Incorrect.
The manager empowered the employee by working through a method that the employee can use in the future.
The scene: An intern who has been working in your department is required to take online training but has not completed it yet. To help her, you log into her training account and complete the missing lessons for her.
Is this empowering or solving?
Empowering
Solving
Correct!
Incorrect.
This action was solving. Well-meaning but inadvisable “assistance” can be unproductive and unhelpful (and in this case dishonest).
Let’s look more closely at the last scene, where a manager finished uncompleted training for an intern.
What could the manager have done instead to empower the intern?
Contact Project SEARCH staff to schedule a time to assist the intern with the lessons.
Email the intern with a reminder that the lessons are due soon.
Waive the training requirements for this individual.
Correct!
Incorrect.
The best action is to connect the intern with a Project SEARCH mentor who can coach her one-on-one.
The scene: You notice that a Project SEARCH graduate who has been working in your department for three months has been clocking in too early. You log in and update his timecards to reflect the appropriate start time.
Were you empowering or solving?
Empowering
Solving
Correct!
Incorrect.
Fixing his records without demonstrating how to correctly clock in is an example of inappropriate solving, not empowering.
Let’s look more closely at the last scene, where you surreptitiously adjust an employee’s inaccurate timecards.
What could you have done instead to empower the employee?
Ignore the clock-in inaccuracies.
Tell the employee he will be given a formal warning if he doesn’t fix the issue immediately.
Schedule a meeting with the employee to discuss expectations about clocking in, then follow up with him the next day.
Correct!
Incorrect.
Your first step should be a conversation, followed by a confirmation of changed behavior the next day.
The scene: You notice a Project SEARCH intern looks lost, so you ask if she needs help. After determining her destination, you walk her there, pointing out landmarks and signs along the way.
Was this empowering or solving?
Empowering
Solving
Correct!
Incorrect.
Your action was empowering. You helped the intern learn to use wayfinding.
The scene: A Project SEARCH graduate has forgotten to complete an assigned task for the last three days. You create a checklist showing each of his tasks that he can keep in his pocket as he works.
Was this action empowering or solving?
Empowering
Solving
Correct!
Incorrect.
Your action was empowering. You gave the employee a tool to help track the tasks on his own.
For More Information
Working with a Project SEARCH graduate or intern:
- Accentuate their abilities.
- Have high expectations.
- Share your work expertise.
- Enjoy!
For More Information
Thanks for watching!
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*Top Ten Tips adapted from the Ten Commandments of Communicating with People with Disabilities, originally developed by the National Center for Access Unlimited/Chicago and United Cerebral Palsy Associations/Washington, D.C.; and a video and script developed by Irene M. Ward & Associates/Columbus, Ohio, partially supported through Ohio Development Disabilities Planning Council Grant #92-13 (1993).
Copyright © Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. All rights reserved.
