Interaction With a Disabled Person in the Workplace

 1- Relax. People with disabilities incorporate all the human characteristics you expect to see in an employee.

 2- See the person rather than the disability.

 3- Understand that a disabled person has a legal right to equal access to employment.

 4- Treat the person as you would any other worker - as a responsible adult completing employer-assigned tasks.

 5- Respect a disabled person's devices such as a wheelchair, cane, or text telephone.

 6- Touch a hearing-impaired person lightly on the arm or shoulder to attract his or her attention.

 7- Identify yourself and others who are present when meeting a blind person.

 8- Involve the disabled person in any effort to make the workplace more accessible.

 9- Make offers of help in the same context as an offer of help to any other worker.

 10- Allow a disabled person to make his or her own decision concerning his or her ability to do a task.

 11- Focus criticism on job performance rather than a person's disability.