Vocations · Job Skills

Your disability,
your decision to share.

Telling an employer or a college about a disability is a choice, and the timing matters: what they may ask before an offer is different from what you can request on the job. Write down what would help, weigh your own reasons, and learn the rules for your stage before you decide.

Think it throughWhat you get

Your decisions

The worked example is made up: a new hire with a hearing loss deciding whether to ask for captioned meetings, and a college student weighing extended exam time before spring. Saved on this device only.

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What you get

Vocations · Job SkillsFree

What you finish with
A record per decision: where, the stage, the employer’s size, what would help, whether you need it now, who you would tell, your reasons for and against with a weight for each, your comfort and seven things to know first. Totals your own weights and decides nothing; flags what an employer may ask at each stage, small employers, documentation, waiting and the college disability office.
Who it is for
Job seekers, employees and college or training students with a disability or health condition, visible or not, and the families supporting them.
Format
Browser guide with a saved record per decision. Prints one decision’s notes, every decision in a table or a blank sheet; downloads a spreadsheet (.csv); exports and imports a file.
Access
Free. No account, no sign-in and nothing to install. Everything you type stays in this browser; nothing is sent to Caveat.
Where it lives
The Job Skills space in Caveat Vocations.
Support
Questions about access, an order or a correction: team@caveatacademic.com.

How to use it

  1. Name the setting and the stage.
  2. Write what would help, in practical words.
  3. List your reasons each way, with a weight.
  4. Work through what to know first.
  5. If you ask, ask in writing and keep the date.

Think it through

What they may ask

What an employer may ask, and when1ApplyingOnly whether you can do theessential tasks2InterviewYou may ask for an interviewaccommodation alone3After an offerMedical questions only ifasked of everyone in the job4On the jobQuestions only if job-relatedand necessary5Your requestPlain words, in writing; nospecial form needed6Talking it throughOptions, documentation ifneeded, a decisionWhat an employer may ask, and when1ApplyingOnly whether you can do the essentialtasks2InterviewYou may ask for an interviewaccommodation alone3After an offerMedical questions only if asked ofeveryone in the job4On the jobQuestions only if job-related andnecessary5Your requestPlain words, in writing; no special formneeded6Talking it throughOptions, documentation if needed, adecision
The ADA covers employers with 15 or more employees; state laws often reach smaller ones. Colleges follow the ADA and Section 504 through their disability services office.

What to say

“I have a hearing loss that makes video calls hard to follow. Captions turned on in our meeting platform would let me catch everything.” That names the limit and the fix. You do not need the word “accommodation” or a diagnosis to start.

If it goes badly

Retaliation for asking for an accommodation is against the law where the ADA applies. If a request is refused without a conversation, or things change after you ask, write down dates and contact the EEOC or your state agency for information.

Sources

  1. U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Enforcement guidance: disability-related inquiries and medical examinations and Reasonable accommodation (eeoc.gov).
  2. Job Accommodation Network. Disability disclosure and the Searchable Online Accommodation Resource (askjan.org).
  3. U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights. Students with disabilities preparing for postsecondary education (ed.gov/ocr).
  4. U.S. Department of Labor, Office of Disability Employment Policy. Disability disclosure resources (dol.gov/odep).

The worked examples are made up. This page helps you think and adds up your own weights; it makes no recommendation and is not legal advice. Laws differ by employer size and state. Nothing you type is sent to Caveat. Support: team@caveatacademic.com.