The Promise of Assistive Technology to Enhance Activity and Work Participation (2017) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 9-24
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Social Security Administration (SSA) provides monetary benefits to eligible individuals with disabilities through two programs: Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI)
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. To receive SSDI or SSI benefits, an individual must meet the definition of disability: "if he or she has a medically determinable physical or mental impairment (or combination of impairments)
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The first prong, often referred to as the "actual disability" prong, requires having a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities to be considered a person with a disability2: • Physical impairment is defined as "any physiological disorder or condition, cosmetic disfigurement, or anatomical loss affecting one or more body systems, such as neurological, musculoskeletal, spe cial sense organs, respiratory (including speech organs) , cardiovas cular, reproductive, digestive, genitourinary, immune, circulatory, hemic, lymphatic, skin, and endocrine."3 2 29 CFR § 1630.2(g)
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The third prong, often referred to as the "regarded as" prong, applies to individuals whom others regard as having a substantially limiting impairment.9 People often treat others differently if they regard them as having a substantial impairment. The ADA mandates that "absent undue hardship," employers must make reasonable accommodations for employees who meet the "actual disability" or "record of" prong definition of disability if the employees request them.10 Failure to do so is considered discrimination.
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, the Supreme Court recognized that ADA determinations and disability determinations under the Social Security Act "both help individuals with disabilities, but in different ways."12 The petitioner, Cleveland, had a stroke during employment at Policy Management Systems Corporation. "The stroke left her impaired in her concentration, memory, and language skills."13 Cleveland applied for SSDI benefits, stating that she was "disabled" and "unable to work." After 3 months, Cleveland's condition improved, and she returned to work, reporting her return to work to SSA.
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her disability.'"18 Cleveland alleged in her ADA suit "that she requested, but was denied, accommodations such as training and additional time to complete her work," and she submitted an affidavit to support the need for the reasonable accommodations from her treating physician.19 Rather than evaluate Cleveland's request for reasonable accommodations on the merits, the District Court granted summary judgment, noting that by applying for and receiving SSDI benefits, Cleveland "had conceded that she was totally disabled."20 The summary judgment prevented Cleveland from presenting any testimony on the merits regarding whether she was a "qualified individual with a disability" able to perform the essential functions of the job, with or without reasonable accommodations, the key inquiry under the ADA.21 The Fifth Circuit Court affirmed the District Court's grant of summary judgment, stating, "The application for or the receipt of social security disability benefits creates a rebuttable presumption that the claimant or recipient of such benefits is judicially estopped from asserting that he is a ‘qualified individual with a disability [emphasis added] .'"22 The Fifth Circuit Court further noted that it was "at least theoretically conceivable that under some limited and highly unusual set of circumstances the two claims would not necessarily be mutually exclusive."23 However, it concluded this was not the case with Cleveland.
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. The first statements, she says, ‘were made in a forum which does not consider the effect that reasonable workplace accommodations would have on the ability to work.'"29 Thus, since SSA does not consider reasonable accommodations in determining SSDI, an ADA plaintiff's claim that she can perform the essential functions of a job with reasonable accommodations is consistent with an SSDI claim that she is unable to work without accommodations.
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. The 15-member committee included experts in the areas of physi cal medicine and rehabilitation; speech-language pathology; augmentative and alternative communication; rehabilitation science/engineering; physical therapy; occupational therapy; workplace accommodations; disability law and policy; environmental modifications; assistive devices, including WSMDs and upper-limb prostheses; and assistive devices related to hearing and communication (see Appendix D for biographical sketches of the committee members)
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The report will include conclusions but not recommendations. including defining and explaining terms relevant to the assistive devices environment, providing an analysis of the impairment-mitigating effects of the selected assistive devices, describing the training regimen and adaptation time for the selected devices, identifying the prevalence of use of the selected devices by specific physical and mental disorders and by age,
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SSA'S CONSIDERATION OF SELECTED ASSISTIVE PRODUCTS AND TECHNOLOGIES The following is a description of how SSA considers certain assistive products and technologies during its sequential evaluation process, which, as detailed above, includes assessment of whether an adult's impairment meets or medically equals a listing (step 3) , evaluation of RFC to do past work (step 4)
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When assessing RFC and ability to perform work in steps 4 and 5, SSA evaluates an individual's ability to hear with a hearing aid if the severity of his or her hearing loss does not meet or medically equal a listing. As mentioned earlier, RFC is an individual's maximum ability to perform sustained work activities; therefore, SSA assesses the maximum ability of the claimant when he or she is wearing a hearing aid.
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Speakers at the workshops included experts in assistive devices pertaining to hearing and communication and speech recognition, WSMDs, UEPs, workplace accommodations, disability statistics, and the transition from high school to the workplace. The committee also heard from representatives of Kaiser Permanente, the Veterans Health Administration, Medicare, and state vocational rehabilitation services gencies, who addressed the coverage of relevant assistive products and a technologies.
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Chapters 3 through 6, respectively, provide for the four selected categories of assistive products and technologies -- wheeled and seated mobility devices, upper-extremity prostheses, hearing devices, and augmentative and alternative communication devices -- descriptions of the various products and technologies31; clinical considerations, including effects on mitigating the impacts of impairments; and the prevalence of use. Chapter 7 provides an overview of financial access to the relevant assistive products and technologies.
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. Background for IOM on SSA policy and processes related to assis tive devices and workplace reasonable accommodations.
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2013. Identifying SSA's sequential disability determination steps using administrative data.
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