Disability awareness workshop: helping businesses comply with the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990.

Occupational therapists at our rehabilitation hospital were gratified when the ADA was signed into law. In discussing the law and its broad implications during a departmental meeting, we recognized an obligation to assist the local business and professional community in complying with the ADA. We also saw an opportunity to use our clinical expertise in a community-based program that would ultimately benefit many of our patients. Under the law, persons with disabilities are ensured equal opportunity tn employment and are provided with equal access in the workplace, in places where leisure acrivities are pursued, and in places where self-care tasks are performed. In our discussions, we realized that we could use our experience working with persons with disabilities and our expenise in task analysis, environmental assessment, and adaptive technology to help businesses comply with the ADA. The concept of a community-based interdisciplinary ADA consulting program was brought to the director of occupational therapy, who assumed the role of working sponsor of the program (Pinchot, 1985). The program coordinator gathered information relating to the ADA from government agencies, disability advocacy groups, and business and leg~l professionals, and arranged a meeting with interested representatives of departments within the Baylor Health Care System who might provide either direct or supponive services. The departments initially involved were rehabilitation engineering (from Baylor Biomedical Selvices), physical therapy, aclministration, the corporate legal department, marketing, human resources, vocational services, and occupational therapy. At the meeting, the representatives generated a list of potential services for the ADA consultant program. These services included providing disability awareness training; performing environmental and workstation assessment and modification; providing instruction in writing job descriptions and formulating job-specific employment tests; conducting in-services for physicians performing emplovment screening; and proViding adaptive technology and vocational training. Development of all of these services required considerations of staffing, program priorities, and budget and time constraints. Representatives from Baylor Biomedical Services reponed that they planned to be present as exhibitors at the fonhcoming national conference in Dallas of the President'S Committee for Employment of People With