Solutions:
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Additional Training Time / Training Refreshers
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Aide/Assistant/Attendant
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Job Coaches
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Job Restructuring
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Literacy Skills Development
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Marginal Functions
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On-site Mentoring
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Social Skill Builders
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Support Person
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Training Modifications
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Uninterrupted Work Time
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Written Instructions
Additional Training Time / Training Refreshers
Some employees with various limitations may require additional, detail-oriented training to help them learn to do their job tasks or to enhance their knowledge of their duties. Due to difficulties with memory associated a condition or from medications taken, an employee might benefit from training refreshers, whether given in part of in full, extended time with a trainer, or the use of alternate materials.
Aide/Assistant/Attendant
A person who performs certain job-related tasks for a person with a disability to help overcome limitations resulting from the disability. Examples include a page turner for a person who has no hands, or a travel attendant to act as a sighted guide to assist a blind employee on work-related travel.
WPAS may include personal care-related assistance such as helping an employee to access the restroom, eat or drink at work, or travel for business purposes.
Job Coaches
Job coaches are individuals who specialize in assisting individuals with disabilities to learn and accurately carry out job duties. Job coaches provide one-on-one training tailored to the needs of the employee. They may first do a job analysis to identify the job duties, followed by developing a specific plan as to how they can best train the employee to work more and more on his/her own until completely self-sufficient and able to perform job duties accurately and effectively without assistance.
Vendors and Products
111 Staffing
ADD Coach Academy
ADD Consults
ADDed Dimension Coaching
ADHD Coaches Organization
International Coach Federation
Life Strengths
Omni Advocacy Services, Inc.
The Coach Connection, LLC
Thrive with ADD
Job Restructuring
Job restructuring is a form of reasonable accommodation which enables many qualified individuals with disabilities to perform jobs effectively. Job restructuring as a reasonable accommodation may involve reallocating or redistributing the marginal functions of a job. However, an employer is not required to reallocate essential functions of a job as a reasonable accommodation. Essential functions, by definition, are those that a qualified individual must perform, with or without an accommodation.
An employer may exchange marginal functions of a job that cannot be performed by a person with a disability for marginal job functions performed by one or more other employees.
Although an employer is not required to reallocate essential job functions, it may be a reasonable accommodation to modify the essential functions of a job by changing when or how they are done.
Literacy Skills Development
Products and services to improve literacy skills.
Vendors and Products
Marginal Functions
The modification and/or removal of marginal functions from a position is an example of a reasonable accommodation. Essential functions are those job duties that an employee must be able to perform, with or without reasonable accommodation.
From The ADA: Your Responsibilities as an Employer by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission -
Factors to consider in determining if a function is essential include:
whether the reason the position exists is to perform that function,
the number of other employees available to perform the function or among whom the performance of the function can be distributed, and
the degree of expertise or skill required to perform the function.
Your judgment as to which functions are essential, and a written job description prepared before advertising or interviewing for a job will be considered by EEOC as evidence of essential functions. Other kinds of evidence that EEOC will consider include:
the actual work experience of present or past employees in the job,
the time spent performing a function,
the consequences of not requiring that an employee perform a function, and
the terms of a collective bargaining agreement.
On-site Mentoring
A mentor is a person who not only helps an employee with a disability learn a job, but also helps the employee adjust to workplace culture. For example, a mentor might help an employee develop appropriate social skills, learn workplace rules, and improve problem-solving skills. Often times a mentor is an experienced coworker who has knowledge of the workplace and the job rather than an outside service.
Social Skill Builders
Social skill building products, software, and techniques can help a person with a disability learn the appropriate social skills to exhibit at school, at work, or at home.
Support Person
Some individuals can benefit from having a dedicated person with them to help keep them focused, assist with minor day to day tasks and help them operate in social environments that they may not feel comfortable in alone. Allowing an employee to bring a support person to important meetings such as job evaluation or disciplinary meeting to help him ask questions, remember discussion points, and explain results or the purpose of the meeting can be helpful. Support persons can be co-workers, job coaches, or close contacts outside of the place of employment. For more information on support persons as reasonable accommodations, see: "A Support Person as an Accommodation."
Vendors and Products
Training Modifications
Training modifications can include:
receiving materials in alternate formats, such as Braille, large print, audio, and text;
receiving materials in advance of training
using assistive technologies, such as CART, interpreter, and recording devices;
having trainings broken into smaller increments;
allowing additional time for training;
receiving one-on-one tutoring;
seating away from distractions; and
logging in remotely.
Uninterrupted Work Time
Some workers can benefit greatly from staying in a single focused position over a long period of time rather than having interruptions or breaks in their workflow. Employers should negotiate with employees about how their work time can be utilized to see if they could benefit from uninterrupted work time in their work place.
Written Instructions
Some individuals benefit from having directions and other instructions provided in writing. Example of this would include communicating through email when possible, providing transcripts of meetings, using agendas for trainings, and having checklists for tasks that need completed.