Reasonable Accommodation for Employees with Mental Disabilities: A Mandate for Effective Supervision?

✍ Scribed by Donald A. Hantula; Noreen A. Reilly

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 914 KB
• Volume: 14
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0735-3936
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-0798(199624)14:1<107::aid-bsl221>3.0.co;2-6

✦ Synopsis

Reasonable accommodation under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for employees with mental disabilities is explored f3om a behavior analytic perspective. Although much of the attention in issues of reasonable accommodation is concentrated on persons with physical disabilities, it is argued that the needs of individuals with mental disabilities are in greater need of further study. The criteria for successfid accommodation in the workplace for employees with mental disabilities is seen to be structurally different, but finctionally similar to successful accommodations for employees with physical disabilities, and is based on the development of enabling environments. Behavior analysis offers a theoretical basis and performance management presents a methodological basis for analyzing, developing, implementing, and evaluating reasonable accommodation for persons with mental disabilities, largely in terms of effective supervision. It is concluded that Title I of the ADA may be seen as providing a mandate for effective supervision, which may also be extended to all employees.

Just as Title W of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 established the right to employment and its attendant benefits and privileges for all without regard to race, creed, color, sex or country of national origin, Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (referred to as ADA hereafter) extends t h i s right to individuals with disabilities. A disability is defined under the ADA as a phrsical or "mental" impairment which substantially limits one or more major life activities (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission [EEOC], 1992). Thus, the ADA recognizes both physiologic disorders such as paraplegias and palsies, as well as behavioral