@article{THESIS,
      recid = {3894},
      author = {Weller, Heather},
      title = {Reimagining "Reasonable": Workplace Accommodations Among  People with Disabilities in the COVID-19 Era},
      publisher = {University of Chicago},
      school = {B.A.},
      address = {2021-06},
      number = {THESIS},
      abstract = {During the COVID-19 pandemic, many workplaces have adopted  accommodations that  people with disabilities have long  requested but often been denied, such as the ability to   work from home. The social model of disability and a  culture of ableism help explain  which accommodation  requests were denied or fulfilled prior to the emergence of   COVID-19. However, the pandemic opens a window of  opportunity to better understand  accommodations and the  workplace, and the impact of COVID-19 on the future of   reasonable accommodations. By centering the voices of  people with disabilities through  twenty-one interviews  with members of ADA 25 Advancing Leadership, I show how the   COVID-19 pandemic has made visible the strong culture of  ableism and the use of the  medical model of disability  prior to and during the pandemic, while creating  possibilities  of what a more accessible workplace could  look like. Specifically, I demonstrate that  among people  with disabilities, there is hope that this progress will  not be lost,  particularly now that many companies have  been forced to change and reimagine the  workplace. In  other words, there is now evidence that certain  accommodations are  possible, and this can be used to  advocate for a more accessible world; while this brings   hope, there is also much doubt and uncertainty. It is of  critical importance that the  Americans with Disabilities  Act, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, courts,  and  employers clearly recognize accommodations such as working  from home and  flexible work schedules as reasonable  accommodations since the COVID-19 pandemic  has  demonstrated the feasibility of these accommodations. We  must also reimagine  “reasonable”; these work arrangements  must not be allowed only when people without  disabilities  are involved.},
      url = {http://knowledge.uchicago.edu/record/3894},
      doi = {https://doi.org/10.6082/uchicago.3894},
}