ADA Accommodation of Therapists with Disabilities in Clinical Training

Teaching About Disability in Psychology

“…Those courses that are offered typically focus on psychiatric and cognitive disabilities, with little focus on physical, chronic health, sensory, or intellectual disabilities. These proportions are similar to those shown in previous analyses of graduate programs (Dunn et al, 2013;Kemp et al, 2003;Weiss et al, 2010) and are not representative of the distribution of disabilities within society (Brault, 2012). Recall that chronic health and physical disabilities were the most common and that psychiatric disabilities were the least common disabilities reported in the 2010 U.S. Census (Brault, 2012), indicating that psychology is focusing the most coursework on some of the least common disabilities.…”

“…According to the 2010 U.S. Census, 71% of those identifying as disabled indicated they had a chronic health disability, 37% reported having a physical disability, 10% reported a cognitive disability, 11% had sensory disabilities, and almost 8% reported a psychiatric disability (Brault, 2012). While psychiatric disabilities are most clearly linked to the field of psychology, based on this breakdown of prevalence among the various types of disability, it is somewhat surprising to find that psychiatric disabilities are the only type of disability covered as a standard part of undergraduate or graduate training (Dunn, Fisher, & Beard, 2013; Kemp, Chen, Erickson, & Friesen, 2003; Weiss, Lunsky, & Morin, 2010). Although there has been little research on disability coverage in undergraduate psychology curricula, at the graduate level it appears as though the number of available courses related to disabilities has actually decreased.…”

Providing culturally competent supervision to trainees with disabilities in rehabilitation settings.

“…When the ADA took effect, universities and training programs became obligated to provide accommodations for trainees with disabilities. A comprehensive overview of the application of the ADA across clinical training settings is beyond the scope of this article, therefore we direct the reader to other references that do justice to the topic (Crewe, 1994;Klimoski, & Palmer, 1994;Vande Kemp, Chen, Erickson, & Friesen, 2003) and only iterate the most salient aspects here. Pope (2005) summarized barriers to accessibility and has developed a comprehensive website (http://kpope.com/) specifically dedicated to information and resources around issues of disability accessibility in psychology training and practice (Pope, n.d.).…”

“…Even if the trainee was not specifically assigned to a particular client because of disability, some rehabilitation patients may have difficulty accepting a therapist with a disability. This can be influenced by a negative perception of disability, a negative self-view, or simply a normal reaction of denial during early adjustment to acquired disability (Vash & Crewe, 2003). Supervisors should be aware of this and able to process and problem solve with the trainee in supervision.…”

Women with Disabilities: Cultural competence in rehabilitation psychology

“…Women with Disabilities struggle with lack of accommodation in education and employment in ways that are often different from men [15]. In addition, Women with Disabilities are confronted with a variety of sexuality issues [16 -18].…”