Strategies for Assisting People with Psychiatric Disabilities to Assert Their ADA Rights and Arrange Job Accommodations

Abstract Psychiatric rehabilitation programs that continue to ‘make job placements” need to assess the impact that such a caretaker approach has on the long term abilities of people with psychiatric disabilities to find their own jobs and then communicate independently with employers. Following a national survey of job coaches and job developers, the authors suggest a teaching approach to providing employment support services: job developers and job coaches should teach the ADA and workplace communication skills, so that individuals can develop the ability to negotiate with employers on their own behalf. Practitioners can also enhance this teaching approach to provision of employment support services through the development of employment peer support groups.