March/April Dilemma Results: What to do about a speech impairment By Barbara Ceconi and Kurt Kuss, presenters of Session 2: March 23, 2007: Including and engaging people with disabilities: Don't "dis" abilities! Engage employees and their expertise The March/April Dilemma asked participants what they would do if faced with the prospect of including Jeff, a person with a speech impairment, on a special project team. Anne is a motivated employee who was recently chosen by her manager to head a team that will promote the company to new clients. She has been with the company for six years and is excited about the opportunity. Anne interviews Jeff as a potential team member, who has come recommended by co-workers and his manager. He has excellent follow-through on assignments and his evaluations are great. He has worked with the company for 10 years; four have been in his current position. Jeff has a severe stutter and it makes Anne uncomfortable during the interview. It slows down communication and she finds herself finishing Jeff's sentences. She is unsure if his speech impairment will have an impact on the team and make clients uncomfortable. Although his experience and qualifications would be an asset, Anne expresses her concerns with her manger. The manager is not persuaded as he has worked closely with Jeff and finds his written communication superior to most other applicants. He strongly encourages Anne to include Jeff on the team, leaving Anne feeling apprehensive and pressured. What should Anne do? Hire Jeff. Anne feels compelled to include Jeff even though her manager discounted her concerns. She doesn't want to start off by alienating her boss. Besides, including a person with a disability will look good to management, and may improve her opportunities for future promotions. Ask Jeff to participate in a lesser position. This allows Anne to engage Jeff in the project without alienating other team members who may feel they have to compensate for his stutter. She believes this will satisfy her boss. Discuss Jeff's speech impairment with him. Anne wants to understand whether his abilities can outweigh her perception of his disability. Anne consults with HR to determine what she can ask Jeff about his disability in order to avoid a lawsuit against the company under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Decide not to include Jeff. After searching the Internet for "speech impairment," Anne realizes how much work it will take to figure out ways to use Jeff's expertise without having to communicate orally with him. She decides not to include Jeff because it will decrease the efficiency of the team. Decline the team leader position. Anne feels she didn't receive the support she needed from her boss. She doesn't want her success to be put at risk by Jeff's speech impairment, and she's concerned her decisions might be second-guessed in the future. Perhaps transferring to another department and waiting for a different opportunity would be better. Other: Results: Top choice: C. More than half (55 percent) of participants would discuss Jeff's speech impairment with him, and then consult with HR to determine what is acceptable to discuss about his disability in order to avoid a lawsuit against the company under the Americans With Disabilities Act. Second Choice: A. 18 percent of participants would hire Jeff. These people feel compelled to include Jeff even though the manager discounts their concerns. They don't want to start off by alienating the boss. And, including a person with a disability will look good to management, and may improve opportunities for future promotions. Third Choice: E. Only one participant would decline the team leader position. One, there's no support from the boss and two, Jeff's speech impairment is a risk to the team's success. Better to wait for the next opportunity. No one would ask Jeff to participate in a lesser position or not hire him at all. 24 percent of participants, however, did opt for other and submitted their own solutions: Also ask HR for guidance on questions to ask about how to best support him, and how to communicate more effectively with him. Wow! This one really hits close to home. As someone who stutters, I find that none of the suggestions would be what I would ask for from my co-workers and/or potential boss. First, none of these responses take into account where Jeff is with his disability. I'm certain that he's aware of how uncomfortable others are, since it has been my experience that others are pretty open with this discomfort e.g., finishing sentences, laughing out loud, finding ways to avoid calling on the individual. Second, since I'm certain Jeff is aware, an approach for Anne would be to talk to Jeff, not about his "problem" but hers -- her discomfort with the stuttering. Third, people who stutter and have learned to manage it, find ways to put others at ease. This is not Jeff's problem, this is both Anne's and her bosses. She should not worry about his speech. That has nothing to do with his performance of his job duties. If his performance is excellent and he does a good job. She should do her job and not discriminate. Anne should do some Internet research on his disability to understand it. Then go to HR. I would take another approach entirely to the team. Understanding that on teams people's roles are all very different - on this team - there should be networking roles, written communication roles etc etc. I would ask each prospective team member where they would feel most comfortable - meeting the client face to face, writing communications, or being on the phone. This way all members of the team will be comfortable with their own choices for the roles they want to fulfill. In addition - Jeff would be able to let me know where he feels most comfortable - if it's in front of the client - excellent - if it's behind a desk - that's ok too. What do you think? Include Jeff because it will be good for Anne to learn to adapt to others, besides, the same person that has confidence in her has confidence in him. A total of 33 people participated in the March/April Diversity Dilemma on DiversityCentral.com. Read more: View the results of a previous Jan/Feb 2007 Dilemma, "Delivering the goods" without losing your integrity View the results of a previous Nov/Dec 2006 Dilemma, How would YOU handle negative feedback? back to top

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