A pilot study on attitudes toward making reasonable accommodations for occupational therapists with disabilities

Abstract

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ensures that persons with disabilities in the United States are entitled to reasonable accommodations in five areas including employment. This pilot study (1) tested the reliability and validity of a questionnaire, which (2) explored how much training American occupational therapists had in the ADA and (3) investigated the attitudes of occupational therapist supervisors toward occupational therapist employees with disabilities. A questionnaire consisting of 20 statements was designed by the researcher. The questionnaire was mailed to 18 occupational therapy administrators. Ten participants who completed the mailed questionnaire were included in the results. Participants with ADA training had a more positive attitude towards making reasonable accommodations than those without training. Only participants working in psychosocial settings claimed to have occupational therapy employees with disabilities. Six of the administrators made reasonable accommodations for employees who had disabilities. Further study of a larger sample of occupational therapy administrators is recommended to determine the attitude towards reasonable accommodations for employees with disabilities. 1996 © Whurr Publishers Ltd.