International Day of Persons with Disabilities
International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) lands right as many clinics and teams are planning for next year. At a Midtown clinic, a patient with progressive hearing loss kept missing key therapy details.
No one intended for access to fail—it just wasn’t designed in.
Once captions and short written summaries became standard, missed steps dropped, homework got done, and follow-ups felt less like starting over. Days like December 3 exist to check whether our systems work for the people who use them—not in theory, but on Tuesday at 9:00 a.m., when someone needs care, context, and dignity at the same time.
Why This Day Matters in Practice
International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) isn’t a once-a-year slogan; it’s a yearly checkpoint on whether our care systems and workplaces work for the people who use them.
The date exists because in 1992 the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed the observance through Resolution 47/3, calling on governments, employers, and institutions to promote dignity, rights, and full participation for persons with disabilities across social, economic, cultural, and political life (United Nations, 2024).
That mandate is practical: accessible therapy, accessible jobs, accessible communication—by default, not by exception.
Globally, about 1.3 billion people—roughly one in six—live with a significant disability. That scale means accessibility isn’t a niche feature or a feel-good perk; it’s the baseline for public health and for modern employment. When mental-health services and HR policies ignore disability, the result is predictable: delayed care, preventable crises, and needless attrition at work.
Designing for disability from the start changes the curve—people get help earlier, adherence improves, and teams retain talent (WHO, 2023).
What December 3 Represents—and Why Mental Health Access Matters
International disability day exists to mobilize support for the dignity, rights, and well-being of persons with disabilities and to increase awareness of the gains from fully integrating people with disabilities into every sphere of life.
For mental health, that means access that is reachable (teletherapy and in-person options), understandable (interpreters, captions, plain-language summaries), and usable (screen-reader-friendly portals, forms, and materials). These aren’t “extras”; they’re often the difference between getting care and giving up.
The health case is clear. Persons with disabilities face documented health inequities—from communication barriers to environments that fail basic accessibility checks—which contribute to higher risks for certain conditions and worse outcomes.
A more accessible mental-health system reduces friction where it shows up most: intake conversations, the format of sessions, how information is delivered, and how follow-up is coordinated.
Accessibility in Therapy: Practical Changes That Actually Help
Visual and hearing support
“Effective communication” is both a legal obligation and a clinical necessity. Under the ADA, covered entities must ensure communication with people with disabilities is as effective as communication with others. In practice, that can involve qualified interpreters, live captions, and brief post-session summaries or transcripts upon request—without shifting the burden to the client to “bring an interpreter.”
Clinically, transcripts and visual summaries can support recall and homework and improve continuity of care. One low-friction change is adding a short “communication access” question to intake and a visible note on your website explaining how to request interpreters or captioning. Teams that surface this early tend to spend less time backtracking later.
Mobility and chronic pain
For clients with mobility limitations, chronic pain, fatigue, or POTS, teletherapy can be the difference between engaging in care and missing it. Flexibility in session length, short stretch breaks, and camera-optional intervals can reduce symptom flares and preserve energy for the work that matters.
The employment parallel is familiar: telework can be a reasonable accommodation when essential functions are achievable without undue hardship. Health services often mirror that practicality by offering home-based care as a first-class option and by scheduling at energy-optimal times.
Neurodiversity-affirming care
Autistic, ADHD, dyslexic, and otherwise neurodivergent clients often benefit from predictable session structure and sensory-aware environments. In person, that might mean softer lighting, fewer visual distractors, and a quiet waiting area. In teletherapy, sharing a one-page agenda ahead of time, keeping on-screen aids minimal yet clear, and summarizing decisions and next steps in writing can reduce ambiguity and increase follow-through. These practices help many clients—not only neurodivergent ones—and align with the ADA’s broader effective-communication approach (DOJ, 2014).
Myth vs. Fact
Myth: Accessibility is a “nice-to-have” that slows care.
Fact: When communication is effective (captions, interpreters, clear summaries), intake moves faster and adherence improves.
Myth: Telework or teletherapy are “special treatment.”
Fact: If essential functions are met, remote options can be reasonable accommodations and often improve continuity.
Myth: Employees must share diagnoses to request help.
Fact: Describing the functional limitation related to the job is often sufficient to start the interactive process.
Your Rights & Reasonable Accommodations at Work
Under Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act, employers with 15+ employees must provide reasonable accommodations to qualified employees with disabilities unless doing so would cause undue hardship (significant difficulty or expense).
You don’t need legal jargon—or a specific diagnosis—to start the process; plain language about a job-related barrier tied to a health condition is enough to trigger the interactive process. Employers may request limited, job-relevant documentation. The aim is collaborative problem-solving: identify barriers, try solutions, and iterate (EEOC, 2002).
Examples that actually help
“Reasonable” depends on a role’s essential functions and context, but effective accommodations often include:
- Flexible scheduling (e.g., slightly later winter start times for individuals affected by SAD; split shifts for fatigue).
- Hybrid/telework when duties permit (EEOC, 2003).
- Quiet rooms / low-stimulus spaces for brief decompression.
- Meeting norms that lower cognitive load: agendas in advance, captions on by default, turn-taking tools, camera-optional participation.
- Written instructions and post-meeting summaries to support memory and processing.
- Assistive tech such as screen readers, speech-to-text, or noise-reduction headsets.
Mini-cases (what change looked like):
- Hearing + session recall: Enabling live captions and delivering a 5-bullet summary cut “repeat-the-same-topic” time by roughly one third across three months.
- Fatigue + shift work: Switching to split shifts reduced late-day errors for a warehouse role without changing output targets.
- Open office + focus: A quiet room plus written handoffs reduced rework and shortened onboarding by about a week.
How to request accommodations
- State the need: explain that a health condition/disability affects specific job tasks and that you’re requesting reasonable accommodations.
- Link to essential functions: identify where the barrier shows up (e.g., early winter commutes, audio-only meetings, noisy open floor plans).
- Propose options: offer 1–3 workable ideas (hybrid schedule; captions and written summaries; a quieter workspace).
- Provide documentation if asked: keep it job-relevant and focused on functional limits.
- Iterate together: pilot, measure, adjust—this ongoing interactive process is what the ADA envisions.
If a specific option is denied, employers should still explore effective alternatives and explain any undue hardship rationale. EEOC and JAN resources outline rights, timelines, and complaint pathways if needed (EEOC, 2002; JAN, n.d.).
Manager Playbook: Building an Inclusive Team (Checklist)
Inclusive job design
- Separate essential from nice-to-have functions in postings; list physical/cognitive demands and schedule expectations up front so candidates can request accommodations during hiring (EEOC, 2002).
- Offer accessible application paths (screen-reader-friendly portals; a clear point of contact for accommodation requests).
Communication that works for more people
- Share agendas 24 hours ahead, open with objectives, close with action items.
- Default to captions on; normalize camera-optional participation; use hand-raise/chat tools for turn-taking.
- Provide written summaries after meetings; this helps everyone, not only disabled staff (DOJ, 2014).
Performance reviews without bias
- Evaluate outputs and outcomes, not communication “style.”
- Provide written criteria in advance; allow alternative demonstrations of competence (e.g., a written memo instead of a live slide talk).
- Distinguish between use of accommodations and performance. Using an accommodation is not a performance issue (EEOC, 2002).
Accommodation process hygiene
- Train managers on the interactive process, timelines, and limits on medical inquiries.
- Use JAN sample forms and policy examples to increase consistency and reduce risk.
- Track requests and follow-through—long lags can function as de facto denials.
Ready for Support?
If you’re thinking about making your care or workplace more accessible this season, a short conversation with a licensed clinician can help you clarify needs, explore practical options, and plan next steps.
Connect with Sessions Health to discuss your situation and determine approaches that align with your goals, documentation requirements, and provider policies. This article is informational and does not guarantee any particular service or outcome.