After hiring an individual with a disability, it is important to achieve workplace success. There are many resources to help employers ensure workplace productivity, health, and safety. Effective communication and making reasonable accommodations are two areas of focus.
 

Effective Communication

Employers and co-workers may be concerned about saying the wrong thing, asking an inappropriate question, or unintentionally offending an applicant or colleague with a disability. The following resources offer excellent tips on communication:

• Effective Interaction: Communicating With and About People with Disabilities in the Workplace 
• Disability Awareness Information Kit (an Australian publication) 

Accommodations

All employees need the right tools and work environment to effectively perform their jobs. “Reasonable accommodations” are modifications or adjustments to jobs, work environments, or workplace policies that enable qualified employees with disabilities to perform the fundamental duties of their jobs and have equal access to benefits available to employees without disabilities. The following resources can help you understand reasonable accommodations, which are often easier and less expensive to implement than commonly believed:

• Job Accommodation Network (JAN’s List of Publications) 
• Searchable Online Accommodation Resource (SOAR) 
• Employer’s Practical Guide to Reasonable Accommodation