Solutions:
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Apps for Miscellaneous Mental Health / Control of Anger & Emotions
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Behavior Modification Techniques
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Counseling/Therapy
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Cubicle Doors, Shields, and Shades
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Disability Awareness/Etiquette Training
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Employee Assistance Program
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Environmental Sound Machines / Tinnitus Maskers / White Noise Machines
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Flexible Schedule
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Habit Monitoring
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Job Restructuring
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Noise Canceling Headsets
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On-site Mentoring
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Periodic Rest Breaks
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Reminders
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Supervisory Methods
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Support Animal
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Support Person
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Telework, Work from Home, Working Remotely
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Training Modifications
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Worksite Redesign / Modified Workspace
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Written Instructions
Apps for Miscellaneous Mental Health / Control of Anger & Emotions
Vendors and Products
- Anxiety
- Brainwaves
- Breathe & Relax
- Breathe2Relax
- BreatheWell Wear
- DBSA Wellness Tracker
- Eating D
- End Anxiety Hypnosis
- Happify
- Headspace
- iMood Journal
- In Flow - Mood and Emotion Diary
- Jourvie
- Mood Meter
- NAMI AIR
- OCD
- Operation Reach Out
- Pacifica
- PTSD Coach
- Recovery Record
- Rise Up + Recover
- Self-Help for Anxiety Management (SAM)
- Smiling Mind
- Spire
- Stop, Breathe & Think
- Stress is Gone
- Symple - Symptom Tracker & Health Diary
- T2 Mood Tracker
- Talk Space
- AnxietyCoach
- Bipolar Disorder Connect
- Brainwaves
- Breathe & Relax
- Breathe2Relax
- DBSA Wellness Tracker
- End Anxiety Hypnosis
- Equanimity-Meditation Timer & Tracker
- Happify
- Headspace
- Health Mapper
- iCounselor: Eating Disorder
- iCounselor: OCD
- iMood Journal
- In Flow - Mood and Emotion Diary
- Live OCD Free
- Mental Illness
- Mood Meter
- NAMI AIR
- Operation Reach Out
- Optimism
- Pacifica
- PTSD Coach
- PTSD Eraser
- Recovery Record
- recoveryBox Addiction Recovery Toolbox
- Rise Up + Recover
- Self-Help for Anxiety Management (SAM)
- Smiling Mind
- Spire
- Stop, Breathe & Think
- Stress is Gone
- Stress Stopper
- Symple - Symptom Tracker & Health Diary
- T2 Mood Tracker
- Talk Space
- Worry Watch
Behavior Modification Techniques
The use of basic learning techniques, such as conditioning, biofeedback, reinforcement, or aversion therapy, to alter human behavior. A form of psychotherapy that uses basic learning techniques to modify maladaptive behavior patterns by substituting new responses to given stimuli for undesirable ones. Also called behavioral therapy and/or behavior modification.
Counseling/Therapy
An employer may need to consider flexibility in work hours so that an individual can attend counseling. Examples include blocks of leave time, flexing a schedule, combining break times, or rescheduling a lunch.
Cubicle Doors, Shields, and Shades
Attachments for office cubicles to enhance privacy and reduce external noise.
Disability Awareness/Etiquette Training
Disability awareness/etiquette trainings are designed to enhance employees’ awareness on the different ways that individuals with disabilities communicate, move about, tolerate changes and interactions, and view the world around them. This can help increase employees’ sense of confidence and tolerance when interacting with their coworkers who have disabilities. For more information on disability etiquette, please see JAN's A to Z: Disability Etiquette.
Vendors and Products
Campaign for Disability Employment
Institute on Employment and Disability
Life Quest Training & Consulting, LLC
Mental Health Channel, LLC
National Organization on Disability
Rocky Mountain ADA Center
Virginia Commonwealth University WorkSupport
Virginia Department for the Blind and Vision Impaired
VisAbility
Employee Assistance Program
An employee assistance program (EAP) is a work-based intervention program designed to assist employees by way of counseling in resolving personal problems (e.g., marital, financial or emotional problems; family issues) that may be adversely affecting the employee's performance.
Environmental Sound Machines / Tinnitus Maskers / White Noise Machines
Environmental sound machines, also known as sound conditioners, help block out extraneous noises that are often found to be distracting. They can also be used to reduce stress in the work environment. Devices can include those that create persistent masking sound to relieve stress from tinnitus and otherwise drown out unwanted sounds.
Vendors and Products
Flexible Schedule
Employees who experience limitations in concentration may need a flexible schedule in order to work optimally during hours of increased attentiveness. Flexible schedules can also be used to have a period of mental rest in order to refocus and reorient into his/her work. Examples of a flexible schedule would be adjusting starting and ending times of the workday, combining regularly scheduled breaks to create one extended break or dividing large breaks into smaller segments, and allowing work to be completed during hours when the employee is most mentally alert.
Habit Monitoring
Monitoring habits may help individuals gain awareness and control of unwanted behaviors. Tracking habits can also help employees to establish desired patterns of behavior.
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.
Noise Canceling Headsets
Noise canceling headsets and headphones designed for listening tasks use a combination of passive soundproofing and type of technology called active noise control to reduce exposure to unwanted background noise and improve the signal to noise ration when listening to music or another sound source through the headset. Headphones and headsets of this type usually have a small battery door built into one of the ear cups.
When purchasing a noise canceling headset, be sure that you are purchasing the correct type for the task at hand. Some headsets that are advertised as having noise canceling microphones are intended for speaking rather than listening tasks. These only have noise cancellation in the microphone portion of the headset and do not have a battery on the ear cup.
Vendors and Products
- Beats Studio3 Wireless Headphones
- Bose® - QuietComfort® 25 Acoustic Noise Cancelling® Headphones (SMSG)
- Sennheiser - HD 4.50 BTNC Wireless Over-the-Ear Noise Canceling Headphones
- Sony - Noise-Canceling Over-the-Ear Headphones
- Sony - WH-1000XM3 Wireless Noise Canceling Over-the-Ear Headphones with Google Assistant
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.
Periodic Rest Breaks
Periodic rest breaks can allow an individual to move about, stretch, adjust their seating position, or modify how a task is completed. Breaks can be short in duration, depending on the individual’s needs. Time used for breaks can be taken from already provided break time, lunch, or made up so there is not an impact on productivity.
Reminders
Individuals with memory deficits may benefit from cueing and reminder devices to help them remember important tasks, daily chores, taking medication, etc.
Vendors and Products
Supervisory Methods
The modification of supervisory methods can be a reasonable accommodation. Examples include meeting with employees more or less frequently to discuss daily/weekly job tasks, encouraging employee to let supervisor know when something is unclear, providing instructions auditory or in writing, using remote communication options when appropriate, and using a goal-oriented management method.
Vendors and Products
Support Animal
An emotional support animal (ESA) is a companion animal that provides therapeutic benefit, such as alleviating or mitigating some symptoms of the disability, to an individual with a mental or psychiatric disability. Emotional support animals are typically dogs and cats, but may include other animals. In order to be prescribed an emotional support animal by a physician or other medical professional, the person seeking such an animal must have a verifiable disability. To be afforded protection under United States federal law, a person must meet the federal definition of disability and must have a note from a physician or other medical professional stating that the person has that disability and that the emotional support animal provides a benefit for the individual with the disability. An animal does not need specific training to become an emotional support animal.
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
Telework, Work from Home, Working Remotely
Telework, within certain fields, can be an excellent alternative for employees who have conditions that make it difficult for them to leave their home or reliably travel to a place of work. Employers should consider if a job can be made compatible with telework for their employees and communicate their expectations and requirement for the job to be performed out of home. Allowing work from home during worksite or office construction; extremely hot, cold, or inclement weather; or parking renovations could be a reasonable 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.
Worksite Redesign / Modified Workspace
Redesigning a worksite as an accommodation can include moving a workstation closer to a break room, restroom, office equipment, or employee parking lot; duplicating work materials in a workspace; teleconferencing into meetings; having others report to the employee physically; or communicating in an alternative way (instant messaging, pager, texting, or telephone).
Modifying a workspace for an employee who experiences limitations in concentration can help limit or even eliminate both auditory and visual distractions. These modifications can include relocating employees to private area away from high traffic areas, reducing clutter in the employee’s work environment, redesigning an employee’s workspace to minimize visual distractions, and providing higher cubicle walls and/or cubicle doors.
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.