The Four PrinciplesIndependence
Ensuring people are able to do things on their own without unnecessary help, or interference from others.
Example
A student who uses a wheelchair and has no arms or legs approaches a front-line employee who works at a busy student loan office. The student indicates that she is here to pick up her student loan. The employee pulls out a form on which he requires the student’s signature and tells the student that he can sign for her as long as there is a witness to the signing. The student informs him that she is able to sign her own form with her mouthstick and simply needs either access to a table or assistance from him to hold the form in front of her at the appropriate level.
People sometimes react to a person’s disability and may try to resolve an access issue based on their own assumptions about the person’s abilities. In this case, the best response would have been for the employee to say, “I’m going to need your signature on this form. Do you require my assistance in any way?”
    |
Resources | Map | Back | Next |