Practice Examples

  What To Do

• Review the steps in the ASK strategy. Keep it bookmarked or keep it posted beside your computer as a reminder of ways to help your partner find information to answer questions about disability issues.
• Now read each of the examples below and choose the response that would be the best one for the mentor to give to the partner. Remember that the mentor will be most effective if he or she uses an effective strategy to help the partner find information — the ASK strategy.
• As you complete each example, check to see if your answer is correct and read the feedback.

  Example #1

You are the mentor for Jennifer. Jennifer is in her early twenties and just started a job doing literature searches at a university. She has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair and an AAC system. Jennifer writes you this e-mail message:

"I could do my job a lot better if I had a better computer system. Can I ask the university to pay for a new computer for me?"

Which of these answers would be the best one for you to send if you were Jennifer's mentor?

	"Of course you can! Because of ADA they have to buy you anything you want to help you do your job. Go ahead and tell your boss that he has to buy the equipment."
	"I don’t know. The laws are so complicated. I can never keep track of it all. You better ask someone else."
	"Jennifer, you just started your job. I wouldn’t start rocking the boat already by asking for a lot of new equipment. Your boss might get mad."
	"Jennifer, sounds as if you really want to do a good job. That’s great! Can you tell me more about the problem that you are having and what new equipment you think you need? Why don't you get in touch with your Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVR) counselor. He should know about your rights under the ADA (The Americans with Disabilities Act)and about funding. Also maybe you could try looking up some information on the ADA and other funding sources on the web yourself. Try checking: http://www.eeoc.gov/facts/ada18.htm (information about your rights as an employee with a disability)."

This research is supported by Grant #H133G8004 from The National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research and no official endorsement should be inferred.