APPENDIX A SUPPORTS AND ACCOMMODATIONS ⁶ • Notetakers Federal and state laws require healthcare providers to provide individuals with disabilities full and equal access to health care services and facilities and bar
• Closed-caption decoders • Qualified readers • Other similar services and actions
discrimination on the basis of disability. This involves ensuring patients have access to appropriate “supports and accommodations,” which refer to a broad and evolving range of formal and informal options that enable a person to live independently, communicate, make decisions, or function. These options can also help facilitate meaningful discussions about a patient’s abilities, needs, and ways to meet those needs. Because guardianship hinges on a person’s ability to make, communicate, and effectuate decisions, specific guidance on effective communication supports is provided here along with guidance on working with people with disabilities generally. This is not an exhaustive guide. What is Effective Communication? Effective communication means providing information, whether written or spoken, in a way that is as clear and understandable to people with disabilities as it is for people who do not have disabilities.7 It means identifying and facilitating access to supports and accommodations that enable a person to receive, digest, and provide information. Examples of effective communication supports and services include auxiliary aids and services such as: • Sign language interpreters • Assistive technology
• Assistance from third parties Ensuring effective communication also involves recognizing non-traditional forms of communication. For example, people who do not communicate with speech or who have slurred or difficult-to-understand speech may use body language, vocal sounds, gestures, pictures, assistive technology, communication devices, and other augmentative and alternative communication tools.
Adapted from Assessment of Older Adults with Diminished Capacities, A Handbook for Lawyers, 2nd Edition (2021); Disability Etiquette Tips, People on the Go Maryland; Inclusive Communication: An Introduction to the Vocabulary of the Disability Community (Webinar) (RespectAbility); and The Words We Use, CommunicationFIRST Style Guide. U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, ADA Best Practices Tool Kit for State and Local Governments, Chapter 3, General E˝ective Communication Requirements Under Title II of the ADA, March 9, 2017, available at https://www.ada.gov/pcatoolkit/chap3toolkit.htm .
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