CADRE Resources
Mediators have recently become aware of the need to make these mediation sessions accessible to people with disabilities. This development is largely due to disputes that have arisen as a result of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). However, all mediation sessions involving people with disabilities need to be accessible, not only ADA mediation sessions. (Although this article addresses mediation, in fact, most of the same points apply to other dispute resolution forms such as arbitration, fact-finding, and ombuds functions.)
People with disabilities are just like everyone else, except for their disability. They are just as likely as anyone to find themselves caught up in a commercial, labor, family or other dispute. All mediators - regardless of their area of specialization - need to know how to set up and run an accessible mediation session.
Under Title III of the ADA, mediators are required to make their facilities and services (as those of a "public accommodation") accessible to clients. In actuality, that responsibility may be a shared one. For example, an employer who uses mediation for an employment disputes has an obligation to ensure that the session is accessible to the employee with a disability. But that does not remove the obligation from the mediator's shoulders.
Mediators set the tone for their sessions. The mediator's ability to use appropriate disability etiquette and language and to handle access arrangements has an impact on the parties' future interactions, as well as on the interpersonal dynamic of the session.
When the mediator learns that one of the parties in an upcoming mediation has a disability, she should arrange to discuss access needs directly with that person. The mediator should not assume that she knows what will be most effective for the person who has a disability, nor should she take someone else's word for what his needs are. The person with a disability needs to know exactly what will happen in the session, in order to describe how to make the session accessible.
In the planning discussion, each aspect of the session that may impact on the person's ability to participate should be raised: length of session (people with certain physical disabilities may fatigue easily; people with certain cognitive or psychiatric disabilities may not be able to concentrate for great lengths of time), need for breaks, best time of day (medication, among other factors, may influence this), limitations in processing verbal or written information, physical access, ability to deal with stress, need for water, etc.
