Lauren Lee | November 1, 2024 - Atlanta, GA

About 41.5 million American adults have a physical disability, and yet they are half as likely to be employed compared to people without disabilities. 

In previous studies, ACCESS-PD PI Karen Milchus and colleagues found that 75% of respondents with disabilities could not perform all job duties without accommodation, and 15% said that they had been fired or laid off in the past because they could not get the accommodations that they needed. 

Accommodations, such as specialized keyboards for typing or mobility aids to get around the office, can truly make an impact in a person with disability’s ability to receive and maintain employment. 

That summarizes the importance of the research conducted by the Rehabilitation Research and Training Center (RRTC) on Accommodations, Employment Supports and Success for People with Physical Disabilities (ACCESS-PD) project (ACCESS-PD RRTC). Their findings could help millions of Americans support themselves through simple work accommodations. 

The ACCESS-PD project, which recently completed its first year, is both a research project and a resource center. Both parts of the project have already compiled promising results in such a short time. 

The Omnibus Survey

Salimah Laforce, the project director for one of the largest portions of the study, is hard at work collecting data for an omnibus survey on work technologies for people with disabilities. The goal of this longitudinal study is to understand how assistive technology and workplace accommodations affect the employment outcomes of people with physical disabilities. 

Importantly, she is also studying traditional and contingent employment work arrangements. Contingent employment, where someone works on a temporary or as-needed basis (think seasonal employees for the holidays or rideshare apps like Uber), might have additional advantages for people with disabilities. The benefits can include working when physically able to work or working remotely.

With new waves of apps like Lyft and DoorDash, more and more people with disabilities turn to that kind of work. 

“That’s what excites me—the applied nature of our research,” said Laforce when talking about studying contingent employment. “We’re always looking for new ways to solve old problems.” 

The Experiences of Racial and Ethnic Minorities with Disabilities in Non-traditional Employment

Fran Harris is taking this research into contingent employment one step further by exploring the experiences of racial & ethnic minorities with disabilities in non-traditional employment. 

“Policies are made on the basis of research, so we need to make sure research is representative of America,” said Harris. 

Researchers can often run into a deep mistrust of research and institutions, especially in minoritized populations. The infamous Tuskegee syphilis study is often pointed to as an example of why African Americans might mistrust researchers.  

“The history of Black Americans and other minority populations are all vastly different. This has repercussions about how we reach out to them. You have to build relationships and trust within these communities to do effective research,” said Harris.  

Laforce agrees wholeheartedly. “I want people to know that we are very invested in improving representation of minoritized populations in research. We can’t know if our findings apply across the board unless we have diversity.”

“It’s hard to do,” she continued. “The research management pressures are there. But it takes time, it takes relationship-building. It takes connections and it includes sustaining those relationships in a reciprocal way.”

Durable Medical Equipment Policies and Employment Outcomes

A potential future benefit for people with disabilities can be found in another portion of the research, also headed by Harris. 

Medicare and Medicaid, the government payer programs that often cover people with disabilities, also often pay for Durable Medical Equipment (DME)—things like wheelchairs and other mobility aids.  

The problem? Their policies only provide DME that is medically necessary in the home, which ignores people who need it for work. 

This is especially relevant for people who may not qualify for DME for home use but may be able to work and achieve more independence if DME was provided for vocational purposes. This portion of the project will explore that potential connection between employment outcomes and access to DME. 

Accommodation Decision Tools

Two interventions are also being investigated as part of the ACCESS-PD project; Work ACCESS and Continuum of AT Mastery (CATM). 

Work ACCESS, spearheaded by ACCESS-PD PI Karen Milchus, is an easy-to-use, online tool designed for either employees or employers to assess what kinds of accommodations a person with disabilities might need to succeed at work. 

The tool works by asking questions about a person’s functional limitations, such as their ability to walk, hear, or speak. 

The tool then uses decision trees to offer suggestions for appropriate accommodations, which could mean work policy changes, assistive technology, or facility modifications. 

The system then recommends certain types of products rather than specific products. This is to future-proof the tool in case certain products are no longer available. 

Future steps include fine-tuning the tool, completing usability and field testing, and evaluating how the tool can be used within the context of the vocational rehabilitation system. 

People with disabilities can often benefit greatly from assistive technology. It can help them move, communicate, read, and participate in society. 

The learning curve for some assistive technologies can be steep, which can dissuade or dishearten people from becoming masters of their assistive technologies. 

Defining what mastery of assistive technology is and learning how to measure it is the purpose of Ben Satterfield’s research in ACCESS-PD. He first became interested in the topic when working with post-secondary students with disabilities. The students who were most likely to succeed academically were “better” students; they were more skilled users of their assistive technology. 

The CATM tool will help people with disabilities learn where they are along the stages of mastery of their assistive technology and can help them identify their progress along the way. 

A National Resource Center

Dissemination of research findings is one of the most important and yet overlooked parts of research. That’s why ACCESS-PD also contains a National Resource Center, directed by Norah Sinclair. 

This Center provides training and technical assistance and will host an online state-of-the-science symposium during year 5. Webinars are ongoing—click the link below to sign up for the latest webinar, or for the upcoming ACCESS-PD RRTC newsletter that will highlight the future findings of the project. 

Tracy Rackensperger, public service faculty at UGA and a person living with disabilities, heads some of the training portions of the national resource center. With this work, she wants to motivate other people with disabilities to become employed and reassure them that working can lead to more freedom to do whatever they want to do. 

She also wants employers to be more supportive of hiring people with disabilities. She says it doesn’t cost much to accommodate people, and fears about hiring people with disabilities are either unfounded or exaggerated.  

This work will help alleviate those fears and unlock a more independent future for people with disabilities.