WISE Ticket to Work Webinar
Reasonable Accommodations and the Path to Employment
July 22, 2020

Speakers: Sarah Hyland (Moderator), Ray Cebula & Wendy Strobel Gower (Presenters)

SARAH>> Good afternoon and welcome to today's Ticket to Work webinar, "Reasonable Accommodations and the Path to Employment." 

My name is Sarah Hyland. I am a member of the Ticket to Work Team, and I will be your moderator for today's webinar. We are so glad you are able to take time to spend with us today to learn about Social Security's Ticket to Work program and how it can help you start the path to financial independence through work. Each of us has our own path to follow, and we hope you find some information today that will assist you in moving forward on your path to employment and financial independence.

Let's get started by going over some functions of the webinar platform so that you can interact and get the most information out of today. 

First, you can manage your audio using the audio option at the top of your screen. The audio option is an icon that looks like a microphone or telephone. All attendees will be muted throughout today's webinar. Thus, when presented with options to joining the audio conference, choose "listen only," which appears at the bottom right in the audio menu. Clicking "listen only" allows the sound to be broadcast through your computer speakers or your headphones. Please make sure your speakers are turned on and your headphones are plugged in.

If you are unable to connect to the audio with your computer or prefer to listen to the webinar by phone, dial 1-800-832-0736 and enter access code 4189148 pound sign (4189148#).

Next, we will share some information about webinar accessibility. 

On the Adobe Connect platform, you will notice that on your screen there are four different boxes. These boxes are called "pods." We have the Presentation pod where the slides appear. Below that is the Closed Captioning pod. In the top right-hand corner, you will see the Q&A pod; and below the Q&A pod is the Web Links pod. We will talk about these pods in more detail in just a bit.

If you need assistance navigating Adobe Connect, an Accessibility User Guide with a list of controls is available at http://bit.ly/Adobe-Accessibility. This link is also available in the Web Links pod at the bottom right-hand corner of your screen and is titled Adobe Accessibility User Guide.

Real-time captioning is available and is displayed in the Captioning pod, which is the box that appears below the slide that is on your screen right now. The captioning link can be found in the Web Links pod under the title "Closed Captioning." 

If you are fluent in ASL and would like support for today's webinar, follow the link below that provides instructions to connect with an interpreter through the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Video Relay Service (VRS). The ASL User Guide can also be found in the Web Links pod under the title ASL User Guide.

We are here today to answer questions that you may have about the Ticket to Work program. Please send your questions in at any time throughout the webinar by typing them into the Q&A pod. We will direct the questions to our speakers during the Q&A portions of our webinar. We will be addressing questions at two different points throughout today's presentation. So go ahead and send those questions in, and we will do our best to answer as many of them as we possibly can.

If you are listening by phone and are not logged into the webinar, you may ask questions by sending an e-mail to Ticket to Work. The e-mail address is webinars@choosework.ssa.gov. 

Another resource available that we think you will find extremely helpful in connecting to the different resources mentioned today is the Web Links pod, which you will find at the bottom right-hand of your screen. This pod lists all of the links to the resources presented during today's webinar. To access any of these resources, simply highlight the topic you are interested in and would like to connect to; and then select the "Browse To" button at the bottom of the pod, and you will be taken to the website requested. 

If you're listening by phone and not logged into the webinar or don't have access to the Web Links pod, you can e-mail Ticket to Work. The e-mail address is webinars@choosework.ssa.gov, or reference the confirmation e-mail that you received for today's webinar for a list of available resources. Also, please note that SSA cannot guarantee, and is not responsible for, the accessibility of external websites. 

Today's webinar is being recorded; and a copy of it will be available within two weeks on the Choose Work website, which can be accessed at http://bit.ly/WISE_OnDemand. This link can be found in the Web Links pod at the bottom right-hand corner of your screen. It will be titled "WISE Webinar Archives."

We hope that all of you have a great experience on today's webinar. However, if you run into any technical difficulties, please use the Q&A pod to send us a message; or you can send us an e-mail at the Ticket to Work e-mail address, being webinars@choosework.ssa.gov. 

As mentioned earlier, my name is Sarah Hyland. I'm a member of the Ticket to Work Team, and I'm excited to be here with you today as your moderator. We're delighted to have Ray Cebula and Wendy Strobel Gower with us today as well.

Ray received his law degree from the University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law. He spent 23 years providing legal services to individuals with disabilities in their interactions with Social Security. He became part of Cornell University's Work Incentive Support Center in 2000; and in 2005, he joined the staff of Cornell's Yang-Tan Institute on Employment and Disability where he now serves as the Program Director of YTI Online, Cornell's Work Incentives Practitioner Credentialing program. 

Wendy is a Senior Extension Associate and Program Director for Disability Inclusion and Accommodation at Cornell University's K. Lisa Yang and Hock E. Tan Employment and Disability Institute in the School of Industrial and Labor Relations. She currently leads a diverse team of professionals in the development and testing of innovative approaches to learning and culture change in organizations as it relates to the inclusion of people with disabilities. 

Wendy is a Project Director for the Northeast ADA Center funded by the National Institute for Disabilities, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research. She is also the co-Project Director of the Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion funded by the Office of Disability Employment Policy. Wendy holds a master's degree in rehabilitation counseling from the Medical College of Virginia at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU).

Thank you again for joining us. Today we are going to discuss how Social Security's Ticket program can help you and answer your questions related to Social Security's Ticket program, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Overview and the Accommodation Process, disclosure, reasonable accommodations, and reasonable accommodations resources. 

It is my pleasure to introduce Ray to start us off with the Ticket to Work program and support on your journey to work.

Thanks, Ray.

RAY>> Thanks, Sarah.

Welcome, everybody.

Before we get started, I just have an announcement to make about the question and answer pod. We are not going to be taking any questions directed at the COVID-19 situation today. If you do want information from Social Security concerning that topic, you can get that at https://www.ssa.gov/coronavirus/. It is also in your Web Links pod at "Social Security COVID-19 Resources."

So let's get started. I get to lay a foundation for Wendy today, which is my pleasure. Wendy and I have worked together for a long time, so we're going to have a little bit of fun today working on the same project for once.

We're talking about two different benefits programs that you may be receiving from Social Security, both of which have great work incentives to get you from benefits-dependent to work. The SSDI program, Social Security Disability Insurance, is an insurance program; and that is for people who have worked and paid FICA taxes and become insured for disability purposes.

The other program is a needs-based program, SSI, or Supplemental Security Income. This is folks who might not have worked enough to become insured for SSDI or don't have a work history and otherwise meet the programmatic requirements. Both programs are important. Both programs have different work incentives. So before you talk to somebody in particular about your situation, make sure you know what benefit you're receiving.

Now, starting the journey to work is a very big decision. Fortunately, you're the only one that can make that decision for you. You have to sit down, weigh the good, weigh the bad, talk to people that we can direct you to during this webinar, and come to a conclusion as to how you want to proceed. Nobody is telling you, you have to do anything.

The Ticket to Work is a great program. It was part of the Ticket to Work Act. It goes back to December 17, 1999, one of President Clinton's last acts that he signed into law. It is going to help you in some pretty tremendous ways to find services that are going to support your journey to work and to keep you employed. Now, this is apart from the work incentives that exist for each program. This is an extra where you can get services from your State VR Agency or a private employment network. 

Again, free services to help you get to work and stay at the workplace. We don't want to just get you a job and drop you. We want to support your efforts until you're comfortable leaving us. 

Now, what is this Ticket to Work program?

Please notice that first bullet. It's very important. It's free and it's totally voluntary. Nobody in here is trying to say you must do something. We want you to make an informed choice about what is your best option; and we believe that once you have the information, you will decide that work is your best option. This ticket offers career development for people ages 18 to 64 who receive Social Security disability-based benefits and want to go to work.

Now, we've got to watch out for that age 18 group because that group has to go through what's called an "Age 18 Redetermination" in order to become a disabled adult before they're going to get a ticket. So there is a requirement that you are age 18 and 64 and considered a disabled adult.

The free employment services can start right now, deciding if work is the right thing for you. People will help you determine what type of work you might be interested in and discuss with you the impact of earned income on not only your Social Security benefits but your health care and the other benefits that you may be receiving. 

How are you going to prepare for this new job? Do you need education? Do you need some rehabilitation so that you can do the same job you were doing but do it a little differently?

Finding a job is a big step as well -- preparing résumés, getting some interview practice, potentially getting the right outfit to go to the right interview. Once again, we don't want to just get you that job and leave you to it. We want you to succeed at work; and, as a result, we can continue to provide you with support services while you're on the job. 

I believe I'm ready for some questions unless we want to turn this right over to Wendy, Sarah.

WENDY>> I think it comes to me first, Ray, and then we stop after I talk about disclosure for questions.

RAY>> That sounds great. Wendy, take it away.

WENDY>> All right, so we're going to talk about the ADA, what it is; and then we're going to talk a little bit about disclosure; and we're going to talk about the accommodation process. With that, I'll get started.

The ADA is a non-discrimination law. It's about civil rights for people with disabilities, and it prevents discrimination – or prohibits discrimination, it can't prevent it – in five areas: 
Title 1 deals with employment.
Title II deals with state and local governments and public transportation. 
Title III is places like hotels and restaurants, places where you go to get services in the community. 
Title IV provides the Telecommunications Act. So when you mentioned the FCC and their telecommunication service, that was enabled by Title IV of the ADA. 
Title V prevents things like retaliation when you exercise your rights under the law.

We're going to talk mostly about Title I. Again, that's the employment provisions of the law. Title I of the ADA helps people with disabilities really get the same opportunities and benefits that anyone can get from a job. It gives you the right to be interviewed, the right to work, the right to ask for an accommodation. Really, it's main purpose is to make sure that you're treated equally, that employers don't treat you a certain way because they see that you have a disability.

Before the ADA was passed, this happened a lot. "You have epilepsy? We don't want you." They could say it that plainly. So the ADA helped to prevent that kind of blatant discrimination that would happen in the workplace all too often. It allows qualified applicants and employees with disabilities to get those reasonable accommodations for changes in the way that they do work so that they can perform the job when they need them.

One part of the ADA that's always a little bit confusing is what's the definition of "disability," so who qualifies under the law. In order to be qualified under the ADA, you have to have a disability; and under Title I, you have to be able to perform the essential functions of the job and have the qualifications that the employer has specified or required for the position. So let's talk about the definition of a disability. 

There are three different ways you can be covered under the ADA. The first is to actually have a disability, a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits a major life activity or a major bodily function. You can have a record of such impairment, which means that you have, say, a history of psychiatric disability or you had cancer in the past – so something in your past that caused you to have a disability. You may be at this point not currently experiencing cancer, but you still may need to be able to go to those doctors' appointments so that you stay cancer free. That's why that counts under the ADA.

The third way is "regarded as," and this is a little confusing; but it basically means that if your employer treats you differently because they assume you have a disability, then you can also be covered under the law. We can talk about that in your questions if you have any about that.

I want to talk a little bit about the ADA National Network. I operate the Northeast ADA Center with my team; and we serve New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virginia Islands. There's one of these centers that covers every state and territory in the U.S. We provide information and guidance. The ADA will give you fact sheets and send you to websites where you can find the information that you need. We also do a lot of training; we do a lot of social media.

To call any Center in the U.S., dial 1-800-949-4232; or you can get this link, the ADA TA link, off your Web pod. It is called the ADA National Network.

Look at me finding things. I'm so I'm proud of myself (laughing).

All right, so I'm going to talk about disclosure. Disclosure is really a very personal choice, much like going to work is that Ray was talking about; and it's not an easy decision for everyone to make. There are times when you need to do something differently at work in order to be effective. You have an interview; you need a job coach to come with you. If you need to ask for a reasonable accommodation, you do have to disclose your disability.

You can ask for an accommodation, either during the interview process or after you've been employed. So you can choose when to disclose your disability until you need that accommodation. So even if you think you'll need an accommodation to do your job, if you can interview just fine without telling anyone, you can wait to disclose your disability until you're actually working.

Then the other thing I want to tell you about disclosure is most of the time you tell someone you have a disability and they say, "Okay," and you work out what you need with them. Sometimes there can be negative reactions to disclosing a disability, and so it's really important that you think through how is my manager likely to react, how are my coworkers going to react? Just make sure that you've talked that through with someone to make sure that you've thought about what you want to say and how you want to say it. I hope that that makes sense.

We're going to talk a little bit about how to disclose your disability. Really, there's no one right way. In general, you have to say, "Because of X disability or medical condition, I'm having trouble with Y job duty."

"I'm sorry I had to leave the meeting today. I had to take some insulin," is a disclosure of disability. You can do it verbally; you can do it in writing; but you just need to let the employer know that because of a disability or a medical condition, you need to do something differently at work to do your job well.

Usually, you want to let them know a few things. When you're having a conversation with someone about a disability, it's called an "interactive process." They'll want to know what you're having trouble with. What's the functional limitation that you're experiencing? Is it something that you experience all the time, or is it just sometimes? Employers under the ADA can ask for a disability label, but it's not going to give them all of the information that they need. What they really need to know is how your disability affects you at work and what you're having trouble doing.

The next thing is the process of actually disclosing. It's important to know that you can use plain English. You don't have to say, "the ADA." You don't have to say, "accommodation." You don't have to use any fancy words about your medical condition. "Just because I've been feeling sick to my stomach, because I've been having trouble with my hands, I need to do something differently at work." So really, any way you say that is fine. 

I usually recommend to people after they verbally ask or let their employer know that they have a disability, put it in writing. That gives you documentation should you have trouble getting the accommodation from your employer. They can never say, "I don't remember you asking," if you've written them an e-mail that they've received that says, "To follow up on our conversation, because of my hands, I'm having trouble typing." That's a very clear disclosure; and now it's in writing, and you have that documentation.

Make sure also that you – you can't just talk to your coworkers. You can't go up to your friend Sally at work. I couldn't go to Ray and say, "Hey, Ray, guess what? Because I have a disability, I'm having trouble with my typing at work," because Ray is going to be like, "Well, I'm sorry to hear that," and then nothing will happen. It has to be a supervisor or an HR representative or an ADA coordinator. It has to be someone in a position to do something about giving you the accommodation or getting you what you need to be successful. 

You can check out the Ticket to Work blog post here on "How to Request Accommodations." It is in your Web pod list.

So disclosure really is something that you can plan out, so the services Ray was talking about earlier. Sit down with someone and say, "Listen, I'm really nervous. I've got to tell someone at work that I have a disability because I have an accommodation, and I just don't know how to do it." There are worksheets that you can find online that I didn't think to look up before we got together; but I can send some to Sarah, and she can help you guys get them that kind of talk through the process. What is it you're having trouble doing? What are you having trouble? What might help? It's great to go to a supervisor with some ideas about what might help when you start that conversation. 

All right, we are now going to talk about interviewing techniques. Really the thing you don't want to do is you don't want to go in and say, "Hi, I'm Sally; and I have a disability." That is not the most compelling thing about you. So you want to say, "Hi, I'm Sally; and I'm very organized and an excellent typist," if you wanted to be admin or an administrative assistant or a secretary. So you want to lead with what it is that you're good at. Make sure you write that down on a résumé so that someone looking at your résumé can understand what you're good at and why they want to hire you.

You want to write a cover letter that highlights some of the things that they talk about in the job description and why you're good at those things in particular. That means, yes, you do have to write one every single time you apply for a job (laughing). Then make sure that you're completing the application. Job coaches can help you do that if you need help with it. More and more companies are working very hard to make sure that their application systems are accessible. If you ever find one, a site that's not acceptable and you can't fill out the application online, you can call the company before you get there and say, "I have a disability. I need a paper application," or, "I need someone to help me fill out the application online," and they can do that.

Then, when you go into the interview, if you're going to disclose in the interview, which again is your choice depending on when you need the accommodation, make sure that you've thought through how you're going to talk about that, what you're going to say. I think it's really important to put your disability in the best light possible. Don't say, "I have a disability, and therefore I have trouble doing X, Y, and Z," but, "I have a disability, and it's taught me to set a schedule for myself that I follow that helps to keep me organized and feeling great." Or, "I have a disability, and it helps me figure out how to overcome challenges." So think about how you're going to present that in a positive way. 

There's another link here called "Disability Disclosure and Interviewing Techniques for Persons with Disabilities" that you can get from your Web pod.

I keep seeing messages I'm going too fast. I'm like, "I'm going to go faster; I can't stop." So, Ray, if I (inaudible), you can rein me in a little maybe, I don't know.

SARAH>> You're doing fine, thanks, Wendy.

WENDY>> All right, sorry, everyone (laughing).

I just wanted to give a couple of examples. When you're at work and you're complaining, that's not disclosure. So if you go at work and you say, "You know, I'm so tired today. I went to the doctor, and I wasn't feeling well; and I just need a nap." That's not really a disclosure at all. You have to be clear that because of some disability or medical condition that your job is impacted. So if you said, "I went to the doctor. He told me that I have this condition, and it makes me feel really sleepy. I'm having trouble going to work in the morning." Then you've made a disclosure because you've tied that complaint that you have to your work duties. 

So you have to kind of make it clear that because of that medical condition or disability you're experiencing, it's impacting your job. Here's an example, and you can just think about it. You don't have to tell me the answer or write in the answer anywhere, but just think about it.

"I feel really tired today. I think my allergies are kicking." I think, okay, well, is that a disclosure?

No, it's not. It's, again, not tied to those work responsibilities; so it's not a disclosure of disability. Something like, "I'm sorry I had to leave the meeting earlier. I had some problems with my insulin." That is a disability disclosure. You left the meeting, a work-related thing, in order to deal with a disability issue. As much as we can, we train managers to understand what this looks like. That's why I say it's great when you say something like this you follow it up with that e-mail and say, "Dear Joe," because Joe is your manager, "as I mentioned earlier, I had to leave the meeting because I had to take some more insulin. This happens occasionally with my diabetes, and so I wanted to speak with you about an accommodation where I could have some freedom to do what I needed to do to take care of myself."

Then just follow up that verbal conversation with a letter so that everyone recognizes that you have, indeed, asked for a reasonable accommodation. E-mail is usually fine. You can go ahead and just shoot an e-mail to your manager or to HR so that they have that written documentation of the fact that you asked for a disability. Verbal disclosure is fine; but it's just a good idea so you have the paperwork should anything happen in the future where you have to file a suit because you didn't get what you needed to verify that you did, indeed, ask.

So what do you need to need to know?

The interactive discussion is an important part of the reasonable accommodation process. Once you disclose the disability – I'm having trouble with my hands, and I can't use a keyboard anymore – I should be having a conversation with someone. They may ask me for medical documentation. If my disability is not obvious, if you can't look at me and see that I have a disability, medical documentation is a thing that employers can ask for.

Now, this is not your entire medical history. This is specific information related to the issue that you have raised in your disclosure. "I'm sorry, I'm having trouble with my hands and I can't use a typewriter," is not, "You need to see the neurologist's report of my brain function," right? It's a note from a doctor who treated me for the problem in my hands that verifies the need that I need another input mechanism other than a keyboard.

So they can ask for medical documentation, but you want to be able to explain what part of your job you're having trouble with and why. Then, as much as you can without getting too technical, explain why the task is difficult for you. So, "When I use the keyboard, my hands go numb; and they hurt so much that I can't use them anymore," just a clear, plain-language explanation of what the problem is. Then, you could say something like, "I've heard about this voice input software that I can speak into this computer, and it types up what I want to say; and here's the name of that software." 

So just be prepared with a little bit of communication. There are a lot of ways to get a lot of jobs done. For keyboard input alone, you could do voice activation. You could do letter prediction. You could do word prediction. There are a whole lot of choices, so just have an idea of what might work for you.

All right, that brings us to questions. I guess, Sarah, I turn it over to you.

SARAH>> Yes, thank you, Wendy.

Thank you, Ray, as well for kicking us off with the Ticket to Work program and then Wendy, of course, for the ADA overview and the accommodation process and disclosure. We are going to pause and take a few minutes to address the questions we've had coming in from the audience.

The first question I have is for you, Wendy: "I worry about discrimination once an employer learns about my disability. Do you have any recommendations for power answers to advise employers why they should hire me with a Ticket to Work?"

WENDY>> There's a whole business case for companies about hiring people with disabilities. I think the most important thing is you want to impress upon an employer that you are a good employee, that you are ready to work, that you have skills that are going to contribute to the workforce instead of trying to convince them that in general hiring people with disabilities is a good idea. Make sure that you've developed a strong case why you are an excellent for that employer.

We just finished a small business toolkit that explains Title I of the ADA to employers. It's SmallBusinessatWork.org, I think (laughing); and it lays out the business case. It talks all about why hiring people with disabilities is a good idea. 

As an individual seeking a job, your job is to say, "I'm a good employee, and here's why you want to hire me. Here's what I did for my last employer," so that they really know that this is about a good employee; it's not about some larger issue of is it a good idea to hire people with disabilities. So make sure you have a good sales pitch for yourself.

SARAH>> Okay, that's excellent advice. Thank you, Wendy.

The next question I have is for Ray: "Can referrals to the Ticket to Work program come from a community nonprofit organization, or must a consumer go to the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation?"

RAY>> Okay, you don't need to do any of that to get your ticket. Your ticket should be with you. It should have been mailed to you by Social Security. If you're looking for referrals, this is a great program because there's no wrong door. If you were to contact your state rehab agency, you could start there. That might be the place. You can also contact the Help Line, and the Social Security Help Line is in the Web pod. That Help Line will talk to you, give you a little bit of information about the Ticket to Work, and get you in touch with people near you who can help you out.

You can also go to the Choose Work website. There is a Help Finder there that can get you in contact with the state VR agency, an employment network near you, or a benefits planner near you. Any one of those is going to begin your journey to build that team to help you be successful returning to work.

SARAH>> Thank you, Ray.

The next question I have is going to be for Wendy again: "Wendy, could there be a legal issue if I choose not to disclose my disability at the time of my interview?"

RAY>> No, as I mentioned, choosing whether or not to disclose your disability is a legally-protected choice. So you can do it in your interview; you could do it right after they hired you; you could do it after you've had the job for 20 years. It is something that you can choose when you want to do it.

Now, I can't tell you that an employer might not feel like you lied to them if you don't tell them; but as an ADA specialist and someone who speaks with employers frequently, I would tell them that that is your choice, that you don't have to tell anyone you have a disability until you need to do something differently on the job. So they would be wrong (laughing). You can disclose whenever you want in the employment process.

SARAH>> Wendy, I have a follow-up question to the last question: "Once employed, what if the employer directly asks me if I have a disability; and what do you recommend I respond with?"

WENDY>> That's a really tricky question. The EEOC gives very clear guidance about what an employer can and can't ask. An employer can't just come up to you and say, "Hey, Charlie, do you have a disability?" That's always going to be an illegal question. 

They might say, "Charlie, I noticed that you were swerving a little when you walked today. I got a little worried, so I wanted to give you an opportunity to sit down and we can talk about that," so thinking that you might be drinking on the job and you might have a disability issue. So asking you to explain something that they're worried might be a danger in the workplace – it's called a direct threat – or asking you to explain a performance issue is fine. But just walking up to you and saying, "Do you have a disability," is not fine.

Now, there are circumstances when an employer can ask, for reasons that are job-related and consistent with business necessity, you to take a medical examination. It can't be just you because they suspect you have a disability. It has to be everyone who has a job that's similar to you. So there are some very limited circumstances where they can ask questions, but it's never just to walk up and say, "Hey, do you have a disability," question? 

Ray, as a lawyer, is there anything you want to add?

RAY>> No, I think you got that one just right.

WENDY>> Okay, good, I always ask the lawyer (laughing). 

SARAH>> Thank you both. That was a thorough response.

The next question I have is going to be for Ray again: "Is there someone who can help me with benefits counseling and understanding my options?"

RAY>> Absolutely, there are benefits planners built into this entire Ticket to Work program. Again, the Choose Work website has a Help Finder. You could also contact the Help Line to get in contact with a benefits planner. Nowadays, there may be some distance work going on; but they are available to help you. It's a great idea to make contact with a benefits planner who can talk to you about what's going to happen if you take a job and you earn $1,000 a month so that you know before things happen to your benefits. So either the Help Line or that Choose Work website Help Finder is going to be the place to start.

SARAH>> Thank you, Ray. 

The next question I have is for Wendy: "Wendy, if my limitation is related to a secondary medical condition, are employers still required to provide reasonable accommodations?"

WENDY>> Yes, so let's say that you have cerebral palsy; and, as you get older, you've noticed that you had problems with your eyesight and it's deteriorating. The issue with your eyesight, whether it's a primary condition or a secondary condition or a tertiary condition is still a disability. So you can still get an accommodation for that. 

Also, I think it's important to know that let's say that you have a psychiatric disability; and medication controls that disability. Because of the medication that you take, you operate really slowly in the morning. You can get an accommodation for the side effect of that medication that you take because of your disability. So when the ADA Amendments Act passed, they really said, "We really want you to think about disability broadly." 

So for the most part, we advise employers that if someone comes to you and says, "Because of a disability or medical condition, I'm having trouble with my work," make the accommodation. Don't think too deeply about does this count? Will it rise to the level of disability? If you're working and you're having trouble with some part of that work because of a disability, let your employer know and talk about reasonable accommodations.

SARAH>> Thank you, Wendy. The next question I have is for both of you. Wendy, I'm going to have you start.

Then, Ray, feel free to jump in and add whatever information at the end.

"Who can help me if I feel I am being discriminated against?"

WENDY>> That's a tough question because I think there are a lot of different ways to get recourse. The first thing you should do is speak to your company's HR Department; or, if your company isn't big enough to have an HR Department, speak to the boss and say, "Here's what's happening. I feel like this is discriminatory," and see if you can get any kind of resolution within your own company.

Now, some companies will have some form of an ombudsman. Those are people that kind of act as negotiators between the company and the employee. If you work at a company -- those are usually a little bit larger -- that have those people, you can certainly go to them and speak to them. If you're in a Union, you could talk to your Union rep. For most people, the path is you go to your boss; and if that doesn't work, you go outside your company to either the state's Enforcement Agency, or you can file a complaint with the EEOC.

That's my start, Ray. I pass it to you now.

RAY>> Okay, I appreciate your start too, Wendy, because as an attorney, I like it when people try to resolve their own issues before coming to me to immediately look to sue somebody. All of those things have to be done. If you are looking to file, if you just go through your employer and it doesn't work out to your satisfaction, you could contact the protection and advocacy agencies in your state. They're usually called Disability Rights New York, Disability Rights California. 

You can also find them in that Help Finder in the Choose Work website. They are provided funding from Social Security, so they can provide you with free services to determine what your best course of action is and help you write that EEOC complaint or go to the state agency and then, if necessary, take that into court.

WENDY>> Just to add one more thing, Ray, if you ever just don't know – like if you think, this doesn't seem right to me or it doesn't feel good to me – you can always call that ADA National Network line that I gave you, the 1-800-949-4232. They can kind of talk you through what are your rights or what are the employer’s responsibilities. 

Some people, for example, will say, "I asked for this particular chair as an accommodation for my disability because I know it will work for me; but they didn't buy me that chair. They bought me this other chair." That's okay. So the employer ultimately decides what accommodation is put into place. No one has discriminated against you; they've just provided another option. So it's not always as clear-cut as what they did was wrong and what I did was right. 

So it's helpful to just speak to someone about what are my rights and what are the employer's responsibilities. What are my responsibilities when the employer asks me for something during this whole process? So they can help you kind of understand what's happening from the point of view of the regulations.

RAY>> Yep, and I think, Wendy, if you were to call the Job Accommodation Network, they could talk to you even before that to determine what might be best, what might be the best type of accommodation. You can find them in the pod link too, and that's a great organization. I think we've pretty much covered that one.

SARAH>> Yeah, definitely, and Ray will be covering the Job Accommodation Network a little bit further in a bit, Ray, as you know.

One final question, and this one is for Wendy: "Wendy, do you recommend that it is better to disclose a disability verbally or in writing?"

WENDY>> I think you've got to read the situation. It may be that your boss comes up to you and says, "I need you to do this report by the close of business." It's written in a format that's not accessible; so you need a screen reader, you need a document that is accessible. It might at that point be a good idea to just say, "Listen, I'm not going to be able to do that and here's why."

I think verbal is fine as long as you follow it up with that written documentation or the written confirmation that you had the conversation. I don't like to think that all issues are going to turn into something down the road. I hope every time someone discloses a disability and asks for a reasonable accommodation and goes through that interactive process that it goes super smoothly and you have no problem. In the event that it doesn't, and you do decide to file a lawsuit or even go to HR and demonstrate the problem, you want to have that documentation. So do it verbally, but then follow that up. 

It really depends on the relationship that you have with your manager. If you're worried he's going to react badly, do it in writing; and then he can react all he wants and calm down before he talks to you. I shouldn't assume the manager is a man; that's bad for me. Think about how you feel about talking to your manager, if you're going to be comfortable doing it; and then follow that path that you feel will be best. There's no right or wrong way, really.

SARAH>> Thanks very much, Wendy. 

Before we move on, I would like to remind everyone that accessibility materials for today's webinar are available either in the Web Links pod or in your confirmation e-mail for today's webinar or by emailing Ticket to Work at webinars@ChooseWork.ssa.gov. 

Thank you, Wendy and Ray, for the thorough answers to the questions sent in by our participants. Although we do have more questions for you, which we will address later in the webinar, we're going to stop and turn things back over to Wendy, who will share information about reasonable accommodations.

Thanks, Wendy.

WENDY>> All right, so we're now going to get more into reasonable accommodations. We talked about it a little because disclosure and reasonable accommodation are tied up together a bit. Usually when you do disclose a disability, it's because you want to have a reasonable accommodation. Now we're just going to get into this nitty-gritty about reasonable accommodations.

The legal definition of reasonable accommodations – and I'm going to read this because this is the law. "Reasonable accommodations are any change in the work environment or in the way things are customarily done that enables an individual with a disability to enjoy equal employment opportunities." So these are changes in the way that you approach the work. It could be as simple as a keyboard; it could be a change in the location of where you work; it could be a change in the way that you move between your job duties. The possibilities are really endless.

Understand that equal opportunity is about the same level of performance. It's not like, "I'm going to buy you a robot so you can do your job twice as fast as your colleagues." This is, "I'm going to give you this tool so that you can do the same work as everyone else." 

It's not just the job. One of the bits that a lot of people miss in this law is the equal benefits and privileges. So if you work for a company that has cars that they offer; anyone in the company can sign out a car. They have to have a car that you can drive too. We actually did at Cornell have someone asked for a hand-controlled car because they needed a hand control. Everyone else in the company could sign out a fleet car, but they couldn't. So it's those equal benefits and privileges. 

If they have a gym and you have a disability, they have to have equipment that you can use. They have to have classes that are accessible to you. So it's not just the work; it's all the things that surround work as well. I hope that makes sense.

I'm trying to go slower, Sarah. You're going to be so proud of me.

Okay, there are a few times that you can get accommodations; and not everybody knows this, so we like to say it explicitly. You can ask for an accommodation during the application process. So you know you have an interview coming up, and they have told you as part of that interview you are going to have to demonstrate your ability to do part of the job – take a typing test, show them how you would program a simple computer program. You can ask for an accommodation to do that portion of the interview even before you go in to meet everybody. You can get accommodations to perform the essential functions of the position.

My dog is barking; I apologize.

You can get an accommodation to enjoy the equal benefits and privileges of employment, as we just talked about. So there are really three points in the employment process where you can get accommodations. 

Now, as I said, the range of reasonable accommodations is extremely broad. They can include things like making modifications to increase facility accessibility – so adding a ramp where there isn't one, where you need to be able to access a room, increasing the space in an aisle so that you're able to walk through it easily. It could mean things like eliminating marginal job functions. Let me give you an example of that because it's a little confusing.

Someone worked as a customer service rep, and their normal job was to answer phones and respond to customer inquiries and be on the computer and things like that to look up customer information. Once a year, they had to do a mailing. So they had to stuff envelopes and make sure everything was labeled and all that kind of stuff. It wasn't something that this group of people had to do, but they were a convenient workforce to do that part of the job. That mailing is a marginal job task.

So someone who was a customer service rep could do all the essential parts of her job, but she couldn't do the mailing. So you're able to take away that marginal job task and give it to someone else; and, in essence, you're restructuring that position. Now, you're probably going to get a different marginal job duty to make for that work; but that's okay, as long as it's something that you're able to do.

Flexible scheduling – let's say that Ray works every day from nine to five. I can't work at nine; I have to take medication that makes it difficult for me to get up in the morning, so I work ten to six. Or I'm able to leave every Tuesday at two o'clock to go to a standing doctor's appointment that I have, so changing what your schedule looks like so that you're able to accommodate a disability or medical condition. 

Getting new equipment – this could be things like a screen reader, voice activation software. Any kind of either hardware or software that makes it easier for you to do your job is considered a reasonable accommodation for the most part.

Providing qualified readers and interpreters – so if you have a learning disability or you're deaf and you need a sign language interpreter, those are considered to be reasonable accommodations. 

Then modification of application and testing procedures or training materials – so you get a new job at a restaurant, and all of their training materials are on video. They sit you down in front of the video and say, "Watch these; you'll know how to do your job." Those would have to be captioned if you needed captioning in order to understand those. So they have to make sure that the ways that people get into the job, into the work, are accessible to everyone. I hope that makes sense.

All right, let's talk about what's not a reasonable accommodation. 

Employers never have to eliminate essential job functions. So my job is a trainer. I have to talk to people; I have to be in front of people; I have to be able to communicate clearly verbally. I have to be able to make training materials. If I can't do any of those things that are a core part of my job, I am not qualified. That means that for that particular job, I'm not covered by the ADA. So my employer can fire me simply because I'm not qualified to do the job, regardless of whether or not I have a disability.

They don't have to lower production standards. So Ray I work together, and we both need to produce 100 widgets by the end of the day; and I consistently can only produce 50 widgets, no matter what accommodation my employer gives me. Again, I'm not qualified; so they don't have to lower those production standards.

They don't have to provide things like hearing aids, wheelchairs, crutches – things that are personal use items that you would use both inside and outside of the work environment. 

Employers never have to change someone's supervisor, and that's an accommodation that we hear asked for a lot. "Just give me a different supervisor, and I'll be fine. This guy's mean, or he doesn't understand me." An employer will never have to do that as a reasonable accommodation. What they can say is, "I need you to communicate with this person differently. I need you to give them written instructions versus verbal instructions. They need you to follow up on those fly-by assignments with an e-mail." So those kind of interactions can change but not the manager itself.

They don't have to excuse the rules. So if there's a hard and fast rule that you cannot come to work out of uniform and you forget to wear your uniform, then you've broken the rules; and the ADA doesn't protect you from that. 

Changes in the work environment or in the way that things are customarily done that would cause an undue hardship – so let me just give you an example of an undue hardship. Let's say that I have trouble getting up in the morning because of a psychiatric disability; but my employer's busiest time is from eight to ten in the morning. So if I can't be there from eight to ten in the morning, I'm really no use to my employer. They say, "We can't do that. It makes no sense for us from an operational perspective." Then they wouldn't have to go ahead and make that change for you. 

Every accommodation you ask for, you have to understand, has to be individually evaluated. So one person might ask for that change; and they would say, "I will close every single day. I can make that work." Then when the second or the third person asks for that same accommodation, eventually it gets to be something that the employer can't keep doing for people. So there is an element of we have to individually assess what's going to work for us in this situation. I hope that that makes sense.

Okay, so we're going to do an example. Again, you don't need to type anything. I just want you to think about it in your head. I'm going to read this you.

Maybe, Ray, you can answer me so everyone feels like you answered on their behalf.

RAY>> Okay.

WENDY>> "Terry was recently hired as a warehouse assistant in a distribution center for a large pharmaceutical retailer. One week after she started, Terry told her supervisor that she had diabetes and would need an accommodation of one extra 10-minute break during the day to monitor her condition. Terry's supervisor now wants to fire Terry because she lied during the interview by not telling her about the accommodation needed."

Okay, Ray, here are your choices; and tell us what are the best options:
A. Transfer Terry to another job within the firm.
B. Fire Terry because she failed to inform the employer of an accommodation needed when she was hired.
C. Begin the interactive process to put a reasonable accommodation in place. 
D. Educate the supervisors about accommodation rights and responsibilities.

So what do you think, Ray?

RAY>> Well, what I think right now is that I want "A" and "B" erased immediately; and I want "C" and "D" to happen. I want that interactive process to put the reasonable accommodation into place because ten minutes doesn't seem like it's going to take that much time. We know that Terry didn't have to disclose, so I want to educate the supervisors and those who are hiring. I want them to be educated as far as interviewing and when accommodations need to be made.

WENDY>> Well, you're the winner, Ray, because that is right.

RAY>> Yay!

WENDY>> So the answer is "C" and "D," right? So ten minutes – that's not going to cause an undue burden. Normally you can either take that off another break, or you can work ten minutes later in the afternoon to make up the time. So it's a pretty easy accommodation to make. So start talking to Terry about how this is going to work, and then make sure that your managers and your supervisors know what the accommodations are. 

There are so many resources out there to help employers understand what those are. You can call an ADA Center to get some resources you can provide to your employer. You could call JAN and get the same resources probably. There are a lot of ways to figure that out. If you have a job coach or someone you work with through this program, you could talk to them about talking to the employer. Or you could just say, "Hey, employer, here's some information I found about accommodations that I thought might be helpful to you." So there are a lot of different ways to communicate that.

Okay, we're going to do one more example.

Sarah, do you want to do this one; or should I make Ray do it again?

SARAH>> Whatever you're more comfortable with, Ray. Do you want to do it, or do you want me to? 

RAY>> You can do it. Go ahead, take the steering wheel.

SARAH>> I'll take it.

WENDY>> All right, are you ready?

SARAH>> Yep.

WENDY>> "Susan is a manager in a large retail chain. Until recently, Ellen, a sales associate, had been a model employee.  But for the past month, Susan has noticed in change in Ellen's job performance. First, Ellen lashed out at a coworker when there was a mistake on the cash register. Then, she stormed out of the store after she received a text message, leaving the sales floor unattended for a brief period of time. Finally, Ellen insulted a customer who was returning merchandise. Susan and Ellen have been friends for a long time, so Susan knows that Ellen has bipolar disorder and suspects that Ellen has gone off her medication; but Ellen has not said anything about her job issues."

So here are your options:
A. Susan should have a private performance discussion with Ellen to ask her if she went off her medications.
B. Susan should have a private performance discussion with Ellen to discuss her recent performance issues.
C. Susan should not discuss this performance at all with Ellen because she would risk an ADA charge.
D. Susan should document her suspicions about Ellen's bipolar disorder along with how her condition seems to be impacting her job performance.

So what do you think?

SARAH>> I think I can comfortably eliminate "C" and "D."

WENDY>> Yeah.

SARAH>> I think I'm going to go with option "B."

WENDY>> That is wise, very good.

SARAH>> Perfect.

WENDY>> Yeah, you don't want to talk about medications. You don't want to talk about disabilities. I don't know if you remember when I started this morning telling you that the definition of disability was a three-pronged definition; and the last one was the "regarded as." So when you get into psychiatric medication or disability labels, you are basically triggering that "regarded as" clause; and as an employer, you never want to do that.

That private performance discussion, too many times people with disabilities don't get the benefit of feedback. Employers get nervous. They don't want to talk about disability issues. They're going to be uncomfortable. They're not going to know what to say. They don't coach them and just don't get that feedback. So sitting Ellen down and saying, "So here's what I noticed. None of these are good things. Can you tell me what's going on," gives Ellen the opportunity to tell Susan what is going on and if there's anything she needs to get better. 

So we recommend an employer say, "What can you tell me about this performance issue, and is there anything I can do to support you?" That second part is an invitation to disclose a disability and ask for a reasonable accommodation. So "B" is definitely the right answer. I'm very proud of you.

SARAH>> Thanks, Wendy.

WENDY>> Sure.

We're going to go through some reasonable accommodation resources.

JAN, which Ray stole our thunder and talked about early. It's in the Web pod. They have people on standby who can answer questions either from employers or employees or job applicants. They can kind of talk through accommodation options. Their website is a wealth of information of different potential solutions for accommodation issues that you can kind of explore. Again, that's under "Job Accommodation Networks" in that Web part.

I think Ray was going to talk about this one.

RAY>> I was going to say, "Talk about stealing thunder," (laughing). 

WENDY>> I earned that thunder, Ray. It's mine.

RAY>> You did.

The Ticket to Work and reasonable accommodations – so if you're working with your ticket provider, again, a benefits planner, an employment network, or State VR, that provider can offer you access to guidance and support when you're applying for jobs and making that transition into the workplace. 

The resources on the Choose Work website that I pointed out several times are talking about disability disclosure – how to request those accommodations, the things that Wendy was telling us about. 

The Low and No, the cost of reasonable accommodations – I think a lot of employers when they hear "reasonable accommodations" just jump to a conclusion that oh, my god, this is going to cost more than the salary when, in fact, most reasonable accommodations are under $500. So if you have that information that you can read on those websites through the Choose Work link in your pod, you'll be able to begin to have that discussion with your employer. 

Even if you need to read that information and then talk to your Ticket to Work provider, there's another way to get more information, more help for having that discussion with your employer. So there's some really great resources in there.

Now, I need to talk to you about Shirley. She's our success story today. Shirley was having some trouble not being able to control sleepiness. She sought help from a neurologist and was diagnosed with narcolepsy, and that's a sleep disorder that affects the brain's ability to control sleep and wake cycles so that you basically can fall asleep at any moment.

She stopped working and started receiving SSDI to focus on her health. She was later diagnosed with clinical depression. So she learned to manage her health through holistic measures like regular exercise, changes to her diet, and strict routines. 

After feeling better, she was ready and motivated to work again. So she contacted a Ticket to Work program Employment Network. That employment network provided her with the development of an individualized work plan.  So there was a plan built for her to move her from benefits back into the workplace. 

Learn about the Work Incentives. All of the incentives that we mentioned earlier about Title II benefits, SSDI, and Title XVI SSI benefits, have to be brought to bear here so that Shirley knows when her benefits will be effective so that she doesn't have to react to something that happens. 

Find a temporary and, later, a full-time job. That's a great step. That's a great employment network, who offered Shirley the option of how about starting slowly and we can build up to full-time. 

Then, advocate for reasonable accommodations. We need to give her maybe 15 minutes extra for lunch because she needs to go to a special restaurant to keep her diet in place. She needs that strict routine. She needs to have her exercise. Everything Shirley will need to be successful and that was all provided to her free because she had a Ticket to Work.

Now, I want to read you that website so you can go into the success story, which his https://bit.ly/Shirley-success. I encourage you to go into the success stories that are on the website because a lot of them can really give you some great encouragement. I, frankly, love watching these success stories and listening to these people talk about their experiences.

Again, just to summarize, Shirley made that choice to try to go back to work. She make contact through the Ticket program with an employment network, and all of those services that helped her find that job and stay employed were provided to her free. Great story, good on Shirley for that.

I think we're going to move into some more questions, Sarah.

SARAH>> It is time for some more questions. Thank you for sharing Shirley's story, Ray, and the reasonable accommodation resources – and Wendy, of course, as well, reasonable accommodations. We're going to pause here and take a few minutes to address some questions we have received from the audience on these topics. 

The first question I have is for Wendy: "Wendy, are there any templates that help to create a disclosure statement?"

WENDY>> Yes, there are plenty of them. I think there's one in the Web pod on 'Disability Disclosure and Interviews' that you can look at, but there are a lot of good templates out there. I think the most helpful thing is just to sit down with someone and make a list of what you're having trouble with, what might help you, and how you want to talk about it – again, putting yourself in the best possible light. Go ahead and look at the link in the Web pod. I think that would be helpful for you as well.

SARAH>> Thank you, Wendy. I have another question for you: "Is the need to work part-time considered an accommodation?"

WENDY>> No, not – well, that is a complex question (laughing). You can get a job that is part-time; and if you know that you need to work part-time, that is usually the best solution for you is to look for a part-time job. If you have a full-time job and a disability issue springs up that makes you want to change to a part-time job, you can certainly request your employer that for a period of time you're able to do that. Depending, again, on the needs of the employer to get that work done, if there's someone available who can maybe do a job share with you, they may be able to grant you that accommodation.

It's not a given. No accommodation is a given; there has to be a discussion. So "possibly" would be my answer. I think it's really important to explain why it's necessary. Let's say that you got a new medical diagnosis, and you need time to deal with the repercussions of that diagnosis. You may access something called the Family and Medical Leave Act that allows you to take some time off to deal with medical issues. When the FMLA leave expires, you can get additional leave on top of that as a reasonable accommodation. 

If what you're looking for is permanent part-time work, you might just talk to your employer about the availability of a part-time position.

SARAH>> Thanks, Wendy.

The next question is for Ray: "Ray, are there resources for determining accommodation for a specific disability?"

RAY>> Yeah, there are. The first one I'm going to go to is JAN again, the Job Accommodation Network. They are available to talk to you about what issues you're having and come up with a solution. I wouldn't discount Wendy. Wendy happens to be one of my go-to people when I need to talk about reasonable accommodations when I come up with those issues. 

So the ADA Network is available to you, and the protection and advocacy agencies are associated with Social Security. They have folks who can talk to you, and many of them have – what am I thinking about, oh, god – they have a technical – oh, god – what am I--?

Wendy, help me here.

WENDY>> The TechConnect program?

RAY>> Yeah!

WENDY>> Is that what you're talking about, the loan program for the TechConnect program?

RAY>> Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. So they have some people who can talk to you about technology and things like that that might be helpful to you. So there are lots of places out there; but JAN, again, I've got to give them – hands down, they're going to be a great resource for you.

SARAH>> Thank you, Ray. One more question for you, for now of course: "What if I get to work and have to leave work due to my disability?"

RAY>> Well, that's a really good question because that can happen. If you go into the success stories, you're going to find someone where that actually did happen to. If you do go to work using the Ticket to Work program and your benefits are terminated because of that income, there's a program called Expedited Reinstatement. It will allow you to get back onto benefits really quickly. You don't have to reapply. You just have to tell Social Security that your work has stopped or it's dropped below the substantial gainful activity level, which is a different discussion; and they can get those benefits started up really quickly.

SARAH>> Thank you, Ray.

Wendy, the next question I have is for you; and it's an excellent question from the audience: "Job gaps on my résumé might be a warning sign to potential employers. How should I handle explaining them if I want to wait to disclose my disability?"

WENDY>> Well, there are a lot of different ways. I think anything productive that you did during the time that you had a gap in your job, you should talk about that. So if you took a class and went back to school or focused on your family or whatever it was, don't be afraid to say, "I used that time productively to...." Even in a cover letter, you can explain that. "My work is very important to me, but my family is also important; so I took some time off during the period of 2013 to 2014 in order to focus on my family."

Just make sure that, again, you're framing yourself in a positive light. You never want to say, "Well, I lost my job and I couldn't find a new one," because then the employer will say, "Well, why couldn't you find a new one? Maybe you're not right for me if you're not right for anybody else." So you always have to think about how am I going to frame this in a way that puts my life and my activities in a positive light. Really, you're in charge of selling yourself. So make sure you don't sell yourself short when you're talking to an employer.

There are also different skills résumés and stuff like that you can use. So make sure you're talking to someone about, "What's the best résumé for me to make myself shine instead of having a timeline résumé?" I forget -- that's not the right name, but there's a résumé where you put all the times on it. 

SARAH>> Thank you, Wendy. I have another question for you, Wendy: "Is the employer legally responsible for covering the costs associated with a reasonable accommodation?"

WENDY>> Yes, the employer is supposed to pay for the accommodation. There are circumstances where they might get help to do that. So in some cases, Vocational Rehabilitation might cover some of the cost, especially if someone is new on the job or their employer is reluctant to hire someone because they're worried about costs. 

Other circumstances – let's say that you ask for a super expensive chair. The employer says, "Well, this chair has demonstrated that it's just as good; so we're going to get you that one." You, as the person with the disability, really want that really expensive chair. You could offer to cost share with them; but, for the most part, the employer pays for accommodations.

SARAH>> Wendy, I have another question for you: "What should I do if a supervisor does not follow up or rejects my medical documentation for accommodations? Who should I talk to?"

WENDY>> Usually, HR – that would be your best bet. I really encourage companies when I speak with them. You don't want your managers collecting medical documentation. Hopefully, they are smart enough to know that that should go to either the company owner or to HR versus going right to a manager, just to make sure that confidentiality is maintained. The ADA does have provisions that ensure confidentiality of medical information. So it is a big mistake if a manager is to breach that confidentiality. You could certainly file a charge or, as Ray was saying, go to the protection and advocacy organization if that were to happen. Hopefully, it won't; and if it ever does happen, you could go to HR or an ADA coordinator and speak with them about that.

I had one instance in a company that I was working with that someone asked for a reasonable accommodation. The manager of that department sent an e-mail to everyone and said, "Because so-and-so asked for a reasonable accommodation, everyone now has to do X, Y, Z." So that is a perfect example of a breach of confidentiality. As I explained to that person's manager, that's a performance issue for that manager that needs to be dealt with immediately because they have exposed you to all kinds of risk.

SARAH>> Thanks, Wendy. 

To wrap up the questions for the day, Ray, I have one more question for you. The audience is asking: "I am interested in participating in the Ticket program. What recommendations do you have for getting started?"

RAY>> Okay, what I'm going to recommend is that you begin looking at the Social Security website and look at that Choose Work website that will find you all of the resources that you need. Clearly, I like making lists. I do that everything morning, and I hope I finish with them; but think about what you want to do. Think about what you may need to do that job and make a list of what's going to be good about working/what's going to be bad about working, so that you can address all of those issues with your benefits planner that you're going to need, with your employment network that you may choose to work with, or with the State VR agency. 

I think if you do a lot of homework, you're going to then be in a very proactive position when you decide who you want to be on your employment team. Remember, none of those support people or agencies are exclusive. You could work with State VR and then move to a private EN afterwards for on-the-job supports, and you could have a separate benefits planner working with you the entire time. So it really is building your team and having a good idea about what you want to do.

SARAH>> Ray, thank you so much. Those are all great resources on the path to financial independence.

We are, unfortunately, out of time for questions for today's webinar. Thank you for sending in all of your questions to the audience. We hope we've provided you with answers to your questions on the Ticket program.

Of course, many thanks to Ray and Wendy for being with us today and sharing their knowledge of the Ticket to Work program.

Thank you.

If you would like to know more about our monthly WISE webinars, we encourage you to subscribe in order to find out our upcoming topics and be amongst the first to register. To learn so much more about the Ticket program, employment service providers, please subscribe to the Choose Work blog; and you will get weekly updates sent directly to your Inbox. Both of these links can be found in the Web Links pod under "WISE Webinar Subscription" and "Choose Work Blog Subscription."

Social Security's Ticket to Work program has a number of service providers and other resources ready to help you get started. To get a list of providers in your area or to get answers to questions that you may have about the Ticket program and other work incentives, you can contact the Ticket to Work Help Line at 1-866-968-7842 or, for TTY, 1-866-833-2967. That's Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

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Please join us for our next WISE webinar, "Think Outside the Office," which will be held on Wednesday, August 26, 2020, from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. Registration is open, and we look forward to having you attend. To register online go to choosework.ssa.gov/wise; or you can call 1-866-968-7842 or, for TTY, 1-866-833-2967.

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Thank you again for attending today to learn about the Ticket program. Please take the opportunity to reach out to any of the resources we discussed today and take the next step on your career path. This concludes today’s webinar. Have a wonderful evening. Thank you.