Career Equity Resources

The Career and Experiential Learning department uses the terms medical condition, injury and disability to describe a diagnosable condition that impacts permanently or temporarily impacts a person’s functioning. The World Health Organization uses the overarching term “disability” to describe most of these conditions. Here are just some examples of medical conditions that are considered a disability in Canada.

 Conditions defined as a disability by the government of Canada

A functional impact describes how a person’s medical condition or disability affects the way they work and learn. For example, a person may have difficulty interacting socially or experience on-going migraines. A person’s medical diagnosis is considered confidential; therefore, employers should accommodate based on how a person’s functioning is impacted, rather than on their diagnosis.

An accommodation is an adaptation to the way a person works and learns that allows them to meet the expectations of a job. For example, a person who has chronic back pain may require a supportive chair or, a person with difficulty with focus and concentration may need a distraction reduced environment.

At the beginning of the semester, remind students who may need accommodations for a practical or clinical placement to meet with an advisor in Accessibility Services to discuss their needs, even if the student is not sure what they need yet.

Accommodations can take time to implement, so the earlier the student can notify Accessibility Services that there is a practical component to their program, the better. Accessibility Services will also work closely with faculty members and the Accessibility Experiential Learning Coordinator to determine reasonable accommodations, as needed.

It is recommended that faculty supervisors still try to accommodate students who have disclosed a disability or ongoing health condition even the student does not want to access services through Accessibility Services.

Set aside some time to speak with the student privately about how to best support them in the field/practical setting (unless otherwise specified in their accommodation letter).

If you are still unsure of how to implement the recommended accommodations, contact Accessibility Services for assistance.

The Accessibility Experiential Learning Coordinator from the Career and Experiential Learning Department works closely with Accessibility Services Advisors and is also available to faculty and staff for consultation related to career accessibility for students not registered with Accessibility Services.

• Set aside some time to speak privately with the student to discuss their academic progress in their clinical/practicum placement.
• Ask if they are accessing any student services to help support them with their learning this semester.
• Refer the student to the student services desk to assess what services (if any) would be best suited to support them.
• Avoid asking if the student has a health condition or disability.
• If the student does not disclose a disability and does not register with Accessibility Services, the Accessibility Experiential Learning Coordinator is available to faculty and staff for consultation.

• Set aside some time to speak with the student privately about how to best support them in the field/practical setting.
• Refer student to Accessibility Services for assistance with determining practical/clinical accommodations.

If you believe an accommodation may compromise an academic requirement of your degree program, here are some options to consider:

• Contact Accessibility Services for assistance with determining whether the student would be otherwise qualified to participate in a field placement if reasonably accommodated
• Consult your chair, dean, other post-secondary institutions and/or other related resources for possible accommodation solutions
• Review your clinical/practicum standards and requirements to ensure that they are in line with minimum learning/performance qualifications.
• Make sure students have been clearly informed of all behavioral and clinical performance standards.
• Work with your field/practicum host to come up with possible accommodation solutions

If a field placement accommodation compromises an essential requirement and/or causes an unresolvable safety issue, a decision to deny the accommodation may be necessary.

Here are some ways to prepare for this decision:

• Be prepared to illustrate that the requirement is an essential part of the degree program
• Explain how accommodating a student with a disability would lower the academic requirements
• If applicable, explain how the accommodation “would create a significant risk of substantial harm to the health or safety of others [direct threat] and no reasonable accommodation is available that would allow the student to perform the essential requirements/and or functions without creating such a risk” (Sorley, 1994, P. 531).
• Be confident that you have thoroughly investigated all possible accommodations and/or removal of environmental barriers and include the student in the program of study in the discussion.