Key takeaways
- The challenges of juggling work and parenting differ greatly for parents of children with disabilities, so it’s important for organizations to recognize the complex family dynamics that team members may be navigating while working.
- Managers can support their team members by being aware of the challenges they may be facing at home, offering accommodations and flexible work options and using inclusive language and terminology.
- Further training for managers may be needed to support team members with diverse family structures.
In the US, one in five families cares for a child with a disability. Understandably, the working-parent juggle in these families looks very different and can often be more complex compared to those who are raising children without additional needs.
As empathetic managers, there are ways to support your team members who have children with disability.
Offer Flexibility where possible
Organizations are starting to understand that team members with children who have disabilities may experience more workplace interruptions compared to those parenting children with typical development. Children with disabilities often have to attend more medical and other appointments related to their disability and these appointments are often only available during the working day. Flexibility is key to these parents and their ability to do their jobs depends on it. See where your organization could offer flexibility or alternate ways to work during these times. And be willing to allow for informal requests for flexibility where necessary.
Check for assumptions and biases
Examining your biases around disability means being receptive to new ideas and willing to recognize and correct any misconceptions you may be holding. As a manager, it’s important to respect that all families are formed differently and have different sets of experiences and challenges. While you may have personal experience with someone living with a disability, acknowledging that you don’t know everything about your team members’ unique situation will allow you to be more open to their sharing.
Avoid stereotypes
People who have a disability are sometimes described in ways that perpetuate unhelpful stereotypes. Expressions such as ‘victim’ or ‘sufferer’ suggest people with a disability and their parents are unhappy about their lives or that they wish they were ‘normal.’ While these stereotypes are often not intended to be harmful, they can inadvertently imply that team members and their children should be viewed with pity, which may not accurately reflect their experiences.
Use appropriate language
Lead with the person first and the disability afterward to avoid unnecessary focus on a person’s impairment. For example, use terminology such as “person with a disability” or “child who is deaf” rather than “disabled person” or “deaf child.” While it may seem like a small thing, using the right language acknowledges that people are much more than their abilities and disabilities.
Further training for managers
While some managers may be well versed in managing people who have children with a disability, others may opt to sidestep difficult or awkward conversations. Learning how to navigate this is an important part of manager training. When supported by their managers, team members tend to feel more positively towards their companies, stay longer and become advocates to attract further talent.
Putting it into practice
If you’re a leader:
- You can build awareness of disability by providing diversity training to your team members. Look for conversation guides on how to talk about disability so your team is using the right language and look out for unconscious biases you or your team may have around disability.
- Train your team leaders to lead with compassion and make them aware of all available staff entitlements the organization offers. That way, they can point their team members who need support in the right direction when needed.
- Talk to your team member about policies that could support them, like workplace flexibility. If your organization doesn’t have clear policies addressing how to successfully implement and maintain flexibility, advocate with HR to create a better policy that allows for both informal and formal adjustments to be made for working caregivers.
Key definitions
Informal Flexibility
Informal flexibility is achieved through negotiations with co-workers or supervisors to make temporary adjustments to schedules to meet employees’ personal or family needs.
Sources
- PWDA, Aug 2021. PWDA Language Guide: A guide to language about disability.
- Young N.A.E. 2021. Childhood Disability in the United States: 2019. American Community Survey Briefs, U.S. Census Bureau; Washington, DC, USA
