Work Culture

Disability Etiquette

An understanding of disability etiquette can help make employees feel more comfortable when interacting with coworkers, supervisors, and customers with disabilities. Good disability etiquette can also help prevent potentially uncomfortable situations, expand business opportunities, and help agencies serve customers more effectively.

What is Disability Etiquette?

Disability etiquette refers to respectful communication and interaction with people who have disabilities. The principles of disability etiquette are fairly simple. First and foremost, rely on common sense to guide your interactions with people with disabilities and behave in the same courteous and respectful way that you would with anyone. 

10 Simple Steps Everyone Can Take to Ensure Appropriate Disability Etiquette 

• Use People First Language which recognizes that individuals are more than their disabilities.
• If you offer assistance, wait until the offer is accepted. Then listen to or ask for instructions.
• Speak directly to the person with a disability, not the companion, aide, or sign language interpreter who may be present.
• Don't be afraid to ask questions when you are unsure of what to do.
• Don't make assumptions. People with disabilities are the best judge of what they can or cannot do. Don't make decisions for them about participating in any activity. 
• When introduced to a person with a disability, it is appropriate to offer to shake hands. People with limited hand use or who have artificial limbs can usually shake hands. (Shaking hands with the left hand is also an acceptable greeting.)
• Remember that people with disabilities are interested in the same topics of conversations as individuals without disabilities.
• Respect all assistive devices (i.e.: canes, wheelchairs, communication boards, service animals) as personal property. Unless given permission, do not move, play with, or use them.
• Do not shout or raise your voice unless asked to do so.
• Treat adults as adults. Address people with disabilities by their first name only when extending the same familiarity to all others.
  

While the general disability etiquette guidelines above are applicable for individuals with all kinds of disabilities, it can sometimes be helpful to have more detailed guidance related to specific types of disabilities.
 
Visit Ask EARN's Disability Etiquette page for specific tips for communicating with individuals with mobility impairments, visual impairments or blindness, speech impairments, learning disabilities, cognitive disabilities, deafness, and hard of hearing. 

Additional Resources 

Disability Etiquette Video 

The District of Columbia's Office of Disability Rights created a 3:40 minute video on disability etiquette. This video is highly recommended and can be used as an effective resource for managers and employees alike. 

Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program (CAP) Free Online Training Modules 

Computer/Electronic Accomodations Program (CAP) has created a series of online training modules to help you understand how to hire employees with disabilities and wounded, ill, and injured service members. Specifically, their disability etiquette series has a total of six short videos (two to seven minutes in length).

People First Language

What is People First Language? 

People First Language is an objective way of acknowledging, communicating, and reporting on disabilities. It eliminates generalizations, assumptions and stereotypes by focusing on the person rather than the disability. By placing the person first, the disability is no longer the primary, defining characteristic of an individual, but one of several aspects of the whole person. For example, when referring to a person with a disability, refer to the person first by using phrases such as: "a person who...", "a person with...", or "a person who has..." While some people may not use preferred terminology, it's important that you do not repeat negative terms that stereotype, devalue, or discriminate. Equally important, ask yourself if the disability is even relevant and needs to be mentioned when referring to an individual.

General Guidelines for Modeling People First Language 

Define all people by the multiple characteristics they possess. Refer to a person's disability only if it is relevant to the conversation. Do not use the word handicap when referring to a person. Use handicap to refer to a barrier created by people or the environment. Use disability to indicate a functional limitation that interferes with a person's mental, physical, or sensory abilities, such as walking, talking, hearing, and learning.

• Avoid negative words that imply tragedy such as afflicted with, suffers, victim, prisoner, and unfortunate.
• Avoid euphemisms such as physically challenged, inconvenienced, and differently abled.
• Use language such as a "person without a disability" if necessary to make comparisons. Words such as "normal, regular, or able-bodied" used to describe people without disabilities imply that people with disabilities are of lesser value.
• Recognize that a disability is not a challenge to be overcome and do not say people succeed in spite of a disability. Ordinary things and accomplishments do not become extraordinary just because they are done by a person with a disability. What is extraordinary are the lengths people with disabilities have to go through and the barriers they have to overcome to do the most ordinary things.
• Promote understanding, respect, dignity, and positive outlooks by using People First Language throughout all interactions.

Additional Resources

Communicate Commitment

There are a variety of ways that agency leadership, supervisors, managers, HR professionals, and employees can communicate their commitment to creating an environment that is welcoming and inclusive of people with disabilities. 

Best Practices for Communicating Your Agency's Commitment to Diversity 

• Include individuals with disabilities as part of your agency's diversity statement. 
• Ensure access to goods and services for employees, customers, or clients with disabilities. 
• Ensure information technology (i.e.: software programs, online tools, websites, etc.) and physical work spaces are accessible. 
• Offer written materials in alternative formats. 
• Include an Equal Employment Opportunity statement and reasonable accommodation information in all job advertisements and notices. 

• Advertise open job positions on job boards and media known to be utilized by persons with disabilities. 
• Train all agency employees on reasonable accommodations, diversity in the workplace, policies and procedures related to harassment and discrimination, and disability disclosure for people with disabilities. 
• Train managers and supervisors to focus on job performance of individuals, not their disabilities. 
• Include diversity and inclusion effectiveness in employee job descriptions and performance management expectations. 
• Use disability focused employee resource groups (ERGs) to recruit applicants with disabilities, facilitate the development of accessible products and services, and gain information on emerging assistive technologies and accommodations. 
• Provide professional development and advancement opportunities for all employees, including employees with disabilities. 

Encouraging Disability Disclosure

While the choice to disclose a disability belongs to the employee or applicant, it is important that all agency employees create a culture of inclusion that encourages disclosure in order to:

• Increase the hiring, promotion, and retention of qualified individuals with disabilities and capitalize on their unique skills, talents, experiences, and perspectives. 
• Ensure agencies are creating and maintaining diverse and inclusive workplace. 
• Provide appropriate accommodations to employees and applicants as needed. 
• Achieve compliance with federal and state regulations, including Executive Order 14-14.
  

Strategies for agencies

• Go to Self Service
• Log into Self Service
• Select My Personal Information
• Select Disability Status

Additional Resources

Accommodations

All employees need the right tools and work environment to effectively perform their jobs. Reasonable accommodations provide individuals with disabilities the opportunity to have equal access to workplace benefits and help to build a productive and dedicated workforce.

What is a Reasonable Accommodation?

Reasonable accommodations are modifications or adjustments to jobs, work environments, or workplace policies that enable qualified employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions of their jobs and have equal opportunity to receive the benefits available to employees without disabilities.

Accommodations can help agencies hire new workers with disabilities, ensure productivity in the workplace, and retain workers who may acquire a disability or become ill.

Examples of accommodations include:

• Providing interpreters, readers, or other personal assistance.
• Providing flexible work schedules or work sites (i.e. telework). Providing accessible technology or other workplace adaptive equipment.
• Restructuring work sites.
• Modifying job duties.

Getting Started

Include an Equal Employment Opportunity statement and reasonable accommodation information in all job advertisements and notices. 

Sample statement: "The [State of Minnesota or agency name] is an equal opportunity, affirmative action, and veteran-friendly employer, and encourages all qualified candidates to apply for job opportunities. If you are an individual with a disability who needs assistance or cannot access the online job application and search tools, please contact the [ADA Coordinator or designee's name] at [list phone number and/or email address]. Please indicate what assistance is needed. Provide all employees with your agency's ADA Coordinator name and contact information during their new hire orientation. Provide employees, supervisors, managers, and HR professionals with access to the statewide reasonable accommodation forms.

• Employee/Applicant Request for Accommodation Form (word version)
• Authorization for Release of Medical Information Form (word version)
• Letter Requesting Documentation for Determining ADA Eligibility from a Medical Provider (word version)
• Reasonable Accommodation Agreement (word version)

• Minnesota System of Technology to Achieve Results (STAR) Program
• Minnesota Department of Human Services' Deaf and Hard of Hearing Services (DHHS)
• State Services for the Blind (SSB)

Additional Resources