Q & A | Help for Accommodation Requests?

Question from a Blog Reader

"I have found medical professionals reluctant to fill out reasonable accommodation requests. Do you have any suggestions?"

Answer

When faced with verification for disability-related accommodations, sometimes medical professionals are reluctant to provide the requested information. They are often concerned with more detailed definitions of "disabled" used for other programs, such as for Social Security - and the liability involved with making precise diagnoses for these programs. Educating them can be helpful. For instance, they may realize that the requirements for accommodations are not as detailed as the definitions for other programs. Below is some useful information from a HUD Notice that may help provide text to help educate verifiers. It may be helpful to review the entire FHEO Notice listed below. For instance, the guidance makes it clear that medical professionals should not be asked to provide the information under the penalty of purgery. Understanding the limit of their liability can minimize their concerns and encourage them to provide correct information. 

 As an appendix to Notice 2020-01, HUD has provided the following Q&A. This can be useful to provide to healthcare professionals who are verifying the need for assistance animals. 

What are assistance animals?

Assistance animals do work, perform tasks, provide assistance, or provide emotional support for a person with a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits at least one major life activity or bodily function.

What are physical or mental impairments?

Physical or mental impairments include: any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more of the following body systems: Neurological; musculoskeletal; special sense organs; respiratory, including speech organs; cardiovascular; reproductive; digestive; genito-urinary; hemic and lymphatic; skin; and endocrine; or

Any mental or psychological disorder, such as intellectual disability, organic brain syndrome, emotional or mental illness, and specific learning disability; or

Diseases and conditions such as orthopedic, visual, speech and hearing impairments, cerebral palsy, autism, epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, cancer, heart disease, diabetes, Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection, mental retardation, emotional illness, drug addiction (other than addiction caused by current, illegal use of a controlled substance) and alcoholism.

What are major life activities or major bodily functions?

They are: seeing, hearing, walking, breathing, performing manual tasks, caring for one’s self, learning, speaking, and working.

Other impairments – based on specific facts in individual cases -- may also substantially limit at least one major life activity or bodily function.

What are some examples of work, tasks, assistance, and emotional support?

Some examples of work and tasks that are commonly performed by service dogs include:

• Assisting individuals who are blind or have low vision with navigation and other tasks,
• Alerting individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing to the presence of people or sounds,
• Providing non-violent protection or rescue work,
• Pulling a wheelchair,
• Alerting a person with epilepsy to an upcoming seizure and assisting the individual during the seizure,
• Alerting individuals to the presence of allergens,
• Retrieving the telephone or summoning emergency assistance, or
• Providing physical support and assistance with balance and stability to individuals with mobility disabilities.

Some other examples of work, tasks, or other types of assistance provided by animals include:

• Helping persons with psychiatric and neurological disabilities by preventing or interrupting impulsive or destructive behaviors,
• Reminding a person with mental illness to take prescribed medication,
• Alerting a person with diabetes when blood sugar is high or low,
• Taking an action to calm a person with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) during an anxiety attack,
• Assisting the person in dealing with disability-related stress or pain,
• Assisting a person with mental illness to leave the isolation of home or to interact with others,
• Enabling a person to deal with the symptoms or effects of major depression by providing a
  • reason to live, or
  • Providing emotional support that alleviates at least one identified symptom or effect of a physical or mental impairment.

What are examples of a patient’s need for a unique animal or unique circumstances?

• The animal is individually trained to do work or perform tasks that cannot be performed by a dog.
• Information from a health care professional confirms that:
  • Allergies prevent the person from using a dog, or
  • Without the animal, the symptoms or effects of the person’s disability will be significantly increased.
• The individual seeks a reasonable accommodation to a land use and zoning law, Homeowners Association (HOA) rule, or condominium or co-op rule.
• The individual seeks to keep the animal outdoors at a house with a fenced yard where the animal can be appropriately maintained.

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