Pillar 3 — ACCOMMODATION

Key idea:

Accommodation is not “extra.” It is the platform that lets the disabled person stand in the process at all.

A person with disabilities may provide written accomodation requirements in every situation. I supply them every time, but they are routinely ignored. In every report, there is docuemntation the Accomodation Requirements submitted were received. They provide a 10-day window for the recipient to respond if they do not accept them. They also state that information shared between us is public record, and will be treated as such. Again they can choose to change this within the first ten days, otherwise they have agreed.

Note to Readers who may not know the details of how to legally submit accomodations requirements: they must be associated with a medical disability need to be legally defensable. Specific details of a medical issue are not required, but a reference needs to be written. It has to relate to the requests, and serves as a basis for the recipients need to accomodate.

Meaningful accommodations must be:

  • Timely – provided early enough to actually help

  • Documented – written down in the record, not just verbal

  • Confirmed – both sides understand what has been granted

  • Followed – consistently honored in practice

  • Linked with Specific Disabilities – specified in the accomodations requirements. Legally this is VERY IMPORTANT

Accommodations are not favors. They are legal obligations under (for example):

  • ADA Title II

  • Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act

  • Minnesota Human Rights Act

  • DHS Policy

  • Fair Housing Act (HUD and Dept of Justice)

  • County Disability Access Plans

To be meaningful, accommodations must be:

  • Timely – provided early enough to actually help

  • Documented – written down in the record, not just verbal

  • Confirmed – both sides understand what has been granted

  • Followed – consistently honored in practice

Examples of accommodation failures:

  • Denying extra time that is medically needed to process materials

  • Refusing to provide written follow‑up when memory or cognition are affected

  • Ignoring known cognitive limits or processing problems

  • Expecting real‑time responses from someone with TBI or similar disability

  • Misidentifying, minimizing, or omitting the person’s disability in the case file

  • Refusing to adjust hearing or meeting procedures

  • Failing to address communication barriers (e.g., no interpreter, no plain language)