Disability Inclusion Training

The Key to a Truly Inclusive Workplace

Disability inclusion isn’t optional; it’s essential. An inclusive work environment improves collaboration, enriches company culture, and enhances productivity. Our disability inclusion training course provides practical strategies to identify and remove barriers, ensuring fair opportunities for all team members.

The Spectrum of Disability and the Disabled Experience in the Workplace

“The only thing standing between being considered ‘able’ and ‘disabled’ is luck and time.”⁴

Dawn Jimenez

When people hear the word “disability,” they might think of an older person in a wheelchair or someone with hearing loss. However, disability takes many forms and doesn’t indicate a particular condition, physical type, or age. It includes various physical, mental, and neurological conditions, with some individuals needing more support and others requiring less support or accommodations. Disability can be a short-term situation (as with someone who breaks their leg) or a long-term, chronic condition.⁵ This is why disability is sometimes described as a spectrum, with individuals requiring varied levels of assistance instead of being simply disabled or not.

Disabilities are much more common than the average person realizes. Here is a non-exhaustive list of common disabilities, or conditions that can lead to disability.

Discrimination, Microaggressions, and Ableist Language

Unfortunately, individuals with disabilities face many disadvantages in the workplace.

What is ableism?

Ableism refers to acts of discrimination against people with disabilities or the devaluation of people with disabilities. It is common in the workplace. One in three disabled workers have faced discrimination at their workplace, according to a recent Indeed survey of over 2000 workers.⁹ During the pandemic, the majority of formal workplace discrimination charges related to disability.¹⁰ Common cases of discrimination include being passed over for, or fired from, positions because of disability. Other typical issues involve individuals not receiving reasonable accommodations – for example, providing an interpreter or accessible technology – or creating a hostile work environment.

People with disabilities also deal with microaggressions, or relatively minor but still harmful words or actions that highlight their differences. Ableist language, which denigrates individuals with disabilities, are examples of common microaggressions. Employees should avoid the following widespread ableist words or phrases:

• Insane
• Lame
• Deaf and dumb
• Handicapped
• Wheelchair bound
• Use your voice
• Turn a blind eye

Employees should also avoid conflating individuals with their disability. Using “person-first language” is preferred – for instance, saying that a person has a disability or uses a wheelchair instead of saying “a disabled person” or “a wheelchair user.” This puts the focus on the individual, not their condition.

Other common hurtful situations include being asked about their condition or body, infantilization, or doubts about whether individuals with disabilities really need assistive devices. It’s crucial that employees recognize and avoid ableist language in themselves and normalize calling this out in others. Bystander intervention, in which someone intervenes when they observe harmful words or actions, is key to creating an inclusive workplace for individuals with disabilities. Throughout this class, participants will learn to identify ableist language and discuss case studies of realistic work situations involving microaggressions. They will come away with the skills and confidence to address harmful language and behavior in themselves and others, improving their organizational culture and making the environment much more welcoming to individuals with disabilities.

Disability Accommodations, Disclosure, and Making a Transformative Organization

 “It’s like you constantly have to show you aren’t too disabled for the job, but disabled enough to need that help.”¹¹

With disability being so varied, how can organizations ensure that their workers are supported and offered the full range of opportunities? While the Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability and mandates reasonable accommodations, a number of other government agencies and legislation offer protections to disabled individuals in the workplace.¹² Unfortunately, the burden is usually placed on individuals with disabilities to navigate these various resources as well as to disclose personal information to their employer in order to access support and accomodations. Disability workplace indexes offer a way to measure how employers are performing with regard to disability inclusion.

Forced Intimacy in Workplace Accessibility

in Workplace Disability Simply being in public often requires disabled individuals to make themselves vulnerable both physically and emotionally.

What is forced intimacy?
Forced intimacy is the ways in which managers and employees ignore the boundaries of employees with disabilities, results in the latter having to share personal information or rely on staff at work for assistance.

Forced Intimacy resulting from ADA Requirements and the Compliance Process
Instead of being able to engage with the workplace autonomously, individuals with disabilities are asked to justify the assistance or accommodations they need in order to do their jobs. Sometimes this can lead to coworkers and management viewing them as less competent or reliable. Writer and activist Chloe Tear writes about her experience with multiple disabilities, including worries about when and how soon to disclose her conditions at work, and the feeling of needing to “prove herself” before disclosing.¹³

Psychological Safety and Workplace Disabilities

Fostering a psychologically safe workplace, in which support and collaboration are emphasized and mistakes aren’t treated punitively, is a major step towards removing the need for forced intimacy.¹⁴ In a psychologically safe organization, workers with disabilities will feel empowered to surface potential accessibility issues or to request accommodations, knowing that this won’t be used against them.

Positive Changes Employers Can Make

Every change toward inclusion matters and is meaningful to employees. Organizations can make many smaller changes to promote an inclusive culture for those with disabilities. Leaders should look out for systemic practices that exclude or marginalize vulnerable individuals. One recommendation is to remove exclusionary requirements from job listings.¹⁵ For example, remove requirements for applicants to be able to lift a certain weight or to stoop and bend if those activities aren’t central to the position. Offering multiple modes for communication (via phone or web conferencing tools) and sharing agendas before meetings are excellent ways to make organizational norms more accessible. Ensuring that communications are written in plain language is another high-impact practice. “Plain language” simply means writing in a clear and concise way so that the greatest number of people can easily understand the message. Using the active voice, avoiding jargon, and keeping sentences and paragraphs short are key ways to accomplish this.¹⁶ This training provides plentiful suggestions for removing barriers to accessibility so that participants come away with actionable strategies for improving work practices and physical spaces.

On a higher level, organizations should adopt an approach of universal design whenever possible. Universal design is designing products and spaces so that they can be used by all with minimal need for adaptation, is key to this goal. This will accommodate a wide range of employees from the outset, without the need for disclosures or for the organization to create solutions to specific needs. Here are the basic principles of universal design:

1. Equitable Use
2. Flexibility in Use
3. Simple and Intuitive Use
4. Perceptible Information
5. Tolerance for Error
6. Low Physical Effort
7. Size and Space for Approach and Use¹⁷

Prioritizing these guidelines when creating or redesigning offices and workflows will give maximum flexibility to employees and managers with a variety of abilities and backgrounds. For example, choosing software that doesn’t require precise motor control and allows for input in multiple ways – via keyboard or speech-to-text functionality – would potentially accommodate individuals with arthritis, visual impairment, paralysis, and more. After taking this course, participants will have multiple avenues for putting their knowledge into action. They will also understand the benefits for redesigning organizations with accessibility in mind (instead of addressing individual needs on a case-by-case basis). With guidance and real-world suggestions from the trainers at Diversity Builder, organizations and their employees can create truly accessible environments to empower all individuals with disabilities.

^[1] McLaren, Christopher. (2024, October). Trends in Disability Employment. https://www.dol.gov/sites/dolgov/files/ETA/opder/DASP/Trendlines/posts/2024_10/Trendlines_October_2024.html#:~:text=accessed%20via%20IPUMS-,Changes%20in%20Employment%20by%20Occupation,6.22%20million%20in%202024%20Q1.
^[2] CDC Newsroom. (2024, July 16). CDC Data Shows Over 70 Million U.S. Adults Reported Having a Disability. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/s0716-Adult-disability.html
^[3] Sinclair, Scott. (2023, July 26). Disability is Underreported in the Workplace. https://www.cancerandcareers.org/blog/disability-is-underreported-in
^[4] Jimenez, Dawn. (2023, October 18). Disability in the Workplace: An Insider’s Perspective. https://evincocampaigns.medium.com/navigating-disability-in-the-workplace-an-insiders-perspective-part-1-74fae626eec7
^[5] Jimenez, Dawn. (2023, October 18). Disability in the Workplace: An Insider’s Perspective. https://evincocampaigns.medium.com/navigating-disability-in-the-workplace-an-insiders-perspective-part-1-74fae626eec7
^[6] Álvarez, Brenda. (2021). What to know about invisible disabilities. https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/what-know-about-invisible-disabilities
^[7] CDC Newsroom. (2024, July 16). CDC Data Shows Over 70 Million U.S. Adults Reported Having a Disability. https://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2024/s0716-Adult-disability.html
^[8] Tear, Chloe. (2021, July 12). The pressure of being a disabled employee. https://chloetear.co.uk/2021/07/the-pressure-of-being-a-disabled-employee/
^[9] Parisi, Kristen. (2024, March 5). Exclusive: 25% of disabled workers have experienced discrimination during the job interview process, new survey finds. https://www.hr-brew.com/stories/2024/03/05/exclusive-25-of-disabled-workers-have-experienced-discrimination-during-the-job-interview-process-new-survey-finds
^[10] Ruhalter, Kana. (2022, December 18). ‘It’s really across the board’: People with disabilities face employment discrimination. https://www.heraldnews.com/story/business/2022/12/18/people-with-disabilities-continue-to-face-employment-discrimination/69733814007/
^[11] Tear, Chloe. (2021, July 12). The pressure of being a disabled employee. https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/what_is_black_fatigue_and_how_can_we_protect_employees_from_it
^[12] Jimenez, Dawn. (2023, October 18). Disability in the Workplace: An Insider’s Perspective. https://evincocampaigns.medium.com/navigating-disability-in-the-workplace-an-insiders-perspective-part-1-74fae626eec7
^[13] Tear, Chloe. (2021, July 12). The pressure of being a disabled employee. https://chloetear.co.uk/2021/07/the-pressure-of-being-a-disabled-employee/
^[14] American Psychological Association. (2023, December 4). What is psychological safety at work? Here’s how to start creating it. https://www.apa.org/topics/healthy-workplaces/psychological-safety
^[15] Parisi, Kristen. (2024, March 5). Exclusive: 25% of disabled workers have experienced discrimination during the job interview process, new survey finds. https://www.hr-brew.com/stories/2024/03/05/exclusive-25-of-disabled-workers-have-experienced-discrimination-during-the-job-interview-process-new-survey-finds
^[16] University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture. (n.d.) Plain language and accessibility. https://www.uada.edu/employees/division-accessibility/documents/plain-language.aspx
^[17] Northwest ADA Center. (n.d.). Universal Design in the Workplace. https://nwadacenter.org/factsheet/universal-design-workplace

Why Invest in Disability Inclusion Training?

• Bridge the Gap: Mitigate employment disparities for people with disabilities.
• Better Business Outcomes: Inclusive workplaces foster creativity, improve decision-making, and drive innovation.
• Stay Compliant & Respectful: Avoid difficulties surrounding discrimination and disability inclusion in the workplace by being educated on policies and best practices.

Why Choose Our Disability Inclusion Training?

1. Comprehensive Curriculum

• • • Covers the legal basics around disability discrimination in the workplace.
    • Guidance on fostering disability inclusion in the workplace and reducing bias.

2. Practical Skills

• • • Learn how to implement inclusive hiring practices.
    • Gain confidence in managing accommodations for individuals with disabilities.

3. Tailored for Teams

• • • Adaptable training for all business sizes and industries to address training on disability inclusion specific to your workplace needs.

4. Impact-Driven Results

• • • Build a company culture that values diversity.
    • Ensure compliance while boosting team morale and trust.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is this training for?

Our disability inclusion training course is ideal for HR teams, managers, and employees who want to foster a more diverse and inclusive workplace.

How long is the course?

Most sessions can be completed in one to two days, depending on your team’s needs.

Can this training help with legal compliance?

Yes. Our training covers key laws and guidelines, helping organizations stay compliant while reducing disability discrimination in the workplace.

What is the format of the training?

Training sessions are available both online and in-person. Choose the option that works best for your team.

Your Trusted Partner in Inclusion

When you invest in disability inclusion training, you’re creating opportunities—not just for employees with disabilities, but for your entire team to grow together. A welcoming workplace strengthens collaboration, fosters innovation, and builds trust with employees and customers alike.