EEX Weeks 4-7

ADA Acommodations

• Must be reasonable accommodations

• Cannot impose an undue hardship

Reasonable Accommodations

Typically remove workplace barriers w/o costing the employer a significant amount of money.

Undue Hardship

determined on a case by case basis

Exempt from ADA

• Religious organizations and schools

• Private clubs

• Your home

• Small businesses with less than 15 employees

They must adhere to ADA requirements regardless of exemption

If the small business or home conducts business in legal, health, or financial matters

Not covered by ADA

• Conditions related to sexual dysfunction, sexual disorder, sexual orientation, and gender

• Temporary Impairments

• Environmental or economic disadvantages

• age

• obesity

• pedophilia

• Voyeurism

Substance abuse may be covered if

• Addiction to alcohol is generally considered a disability, whether in the present or past

• For people with opioid and other drug addictions, the ADA protects a person in recovery who is no longer engaging in the current illegal use of drugs

Severe food allergies

This category is being considered under the ADA

No

The individual applying for a job must be qualified to hold that position

Can an off-duty policeman who caused a car accident due to alcoholism claim disability to not get fired?

Depends

Yes, if it can be shown that there are no other medications available with less severe side effects and the meds are medically necessary

No, if the meds are not required or there are other available options

Can side effects of meds make an indv. disabled under the ADA?

yes, as long as the employer already has daytime shifts performing the same work that the indv. would be doing during the nighttime shift

Is a shift change a reasonable accommodation for an employee who is unable to drive at night due to an eye disease?

Yes

Is job discrimination a function of ADA?

It depends

There are no requirements under these laws that a nondisabled family member be accommodated to help a loved one who is disabled

However, if other employees not associated with someone with a disability ask for the same thing and is granted it, a violation may have occurred because they have denied a benefit or privilege of employment available to others.

Can you deny accommodations such as schedule change or reduced hours to a woman who is the mother of a child with a disability?

Myth 1

• “Accommodations cost too much money”

• 69% of accomm./modifications are free

• majority of the rest of the accomm, approx. 28% cost less than $1000

• only 3% accomm cost more than $1000

• businesses may receive a 50% tax credit

Myth 2

• “Employees with disabilities raise insurance rates and have more accidents.”

• Safety records indicate its approximately equal

Myth 3

• “ADA forces buisnesses/government to spend lots of money hiring unqualified people”

• No applicant is required to be considered for a position if they are not qualified

Myth 4

• “Braille menus, tags for merch, and interpreters for the deaf are required”

• Businesses and public spaces are only required to provide a way for individuals to communicate with those with sensory impairments

Myth 5

• “All buildings/rooms within a building must be accessible to indv. with disabilities”

• Buisnesses/public entities only need to provide enough accessibility to allow the indv. to access the services within the building, not every single space.

Persons with disabilities are given preference, no

If the employer is covered by federal funds or federal regulations then …

If it is a private buisness..

No, unless shared by the indv.

can an employer ask about a disability prior to employment

Reasons to hire indv. with disabilities

• Higher retention rates, approx. 85%

• Above-average performance, attendance, safety, and loyalty

• Excellent customer service skills

American Sign Language ASL

• Hand shapes

• Hand Positions

• Hand movements

• Facial Expressions

• Body Language

• Use of space around the signers body

How do you make a sign

1. Location of your hand in relation to your body

2. Palm orientation

3. Hand shape

4. Direction you move your hand

5. Facial expression

No, countries have their own sign systems

Is ASL universal?

Signed English

• Makes a sign for each word in the order that it is spoken in the sentence

• signs are used exactly the way we talk, with the same syntax and order
  
  

Syntax of ASL

Object - subject - verb

Syntax of signed English

Subject - verb - object

ASL Interpreter services

• Cost about $35 an hour freelance

• Cost about $70 an hour , through an agency

• If specialized knowledge and training might earn $125-$250 an hour plus travel expenses

The service Providers

Who’s responsible for paying for an ASL interpreter

Interpreters code of ethics

interpreter = communication device

35 million

How many individuals in the US are HH

300,000

How many individuals in the US who are HH are profoundly deaf?

1 in 8

people in the us aged 12 or older has hearing loss in both ears

2%

Americans aged 45 to 54 have a disabling hearing loss

8.5%

Individuals between the ages of 55 and 64 have hearing loss

25%

individuals between 65 and 74 report hearing loss

50%

75 or older

hearing aids

A common assistive technology device for individuals who have hearing impairments

16% of ages 20-69
30% of ages 75+

who uses hearing aids

Cochlear Implant

Devices that provide a way for the brain to process sound

Many Deaf don’t see the need to be fixed and are concerned ASL and Deaf culture will die

Why is cochlear implants controversial?

118,100 adults
65,000 children

who has cochlear implants?

90%

what percentage of Deaf children are born to hearing parents?

26 million

persons between the ages of 20 and 69 have hearing loss due to exposure to noise at work or during leisure activities

10

less then … % of parents learn to sign

Florida school for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine

Gained wide notoriety for their services for students with sensory impairments

The first college for the death

Gallaudet University
Established in Washington, DC in 1864

Deaf indivudals may

• Use ASL

• signed English

• read lips

• have cochlear implants

• wear hearing aids

• speak

• not speak

minute

A child in the world goes blind every …

one and a half million

How many children are blind?

12 million

Approximately how many children are visually impaired

80%

… of global blindness is the result of preventable or treatable conditions

deficiency of Vitamin A

One of the leading causes of blindness around the globe?

Retinopathy of Prematurity

• Leading causes of blindness in children in the US

• Eye disease that can happen in babies who are born 2 months premature or weigh less than 3lbs at birth

• Happens when abnormal blood vessels grow in the retina, causing scar tissue and LOV

Cortical Visual Impairment

Part of the brain (occipital lobe) that translates signals from the optic nerve is damaged

Optic Nerve Hypoplasia

optic nerve is underdeveloped

Albinism

Lack of pigment in the eyes causes sensitivity to light and glare

3.4 million (3%)

Americans aged 40 and older are either legally blind or visually impaired

21 million

about how many Americans report functional vision loss

Diabetes

the leading cause of blindness for those aged 20 to 74

American adults with functional vision loss will double

in the next 3 decades, it is anticipated that the number of … due to the effects of diabetes

Diabetic Retinopathy

Sees an image with floating spots that covers the image

Glaucoma

Center of vision is clear while a shadow forms around the corner, limiting the range and field of vision

Cataracts

Everything looks a bit cloudy

what it means to be legally blind

• Normal Vision is considered 20/20

• Someone who is legally blind is considered to have 20/200 vision, corrected

  • A person who is legally blind sees at 20 feet what a person with normal vision would see at 200 feet

7,000-8,0000

… Americans use guide dogs

miniature horses

What is also a guide animal?

Technological Accommodations

• Magnifiers

• Text-to-speech software

• web-based braille systems

• Kurzweil readers

• assistive apps

Braille ballots upon request

states must provide …

American Council of the blind v paulson

• American Council of the Blind sued the U.S. Treasury on the grounds that they must design a way for blind and visually impaired persons to identify paper money

• The court ruled that the Treasury must adapt their paper currency

• Treasury now provides specific apps to sna money and is developing currency

to raise puppies in their dorm room as future guide dogs

there are universities that have programs to allow students …