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National Level Data Sources Regarding Employer Accommodations and

Assistive Technology

Center for Large Data Research & Data Sharing in Rehabilitation (CLDR)

William Erickson, MSYang-Tan Institute on Employment and Disability (YTI)

Cornell University

National Academies' Committee on the Use of Selected Assistive Products and Technologies

May 16, 20162

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www.DisabilityStatistics.org

• Yang-Tan developed a leading resource for disability statistics over 12 years ago, providing estimates from multiple data sources.

• Over a quarter million page views/year

• As part of Center for Large Data Research & Data Sharing in Rehabilitation (CLDR), developed tools designed provide information on over 50 disability related data sources for rehabilitation researchers.

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Dataset Inclusion Criteria:

• Topics:• Employment related accommodation information

• Assistive Technology use (working age)

• National level datasets

• 2000 and forward

• Data Sources:• Population surveys

• Administrative data

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Warning!

There is very limited data available to respond to the questions regarding employment related AT

Most do NOT provide the level of detail that this committee is asking for!

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Employment Related Accommodation Data

• RSA 911: Rehabilitation Services Administration

• Health and Retirement Study (HRS)

• National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2)

• Current Population Survey (CPS) Disability Supplement

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Data Source Populations:

• RSA-911: Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) clients with closed cases.

• HRS: focused on persons ages 50 and older

• NLTS-2 : students receiving special education ages 13 to 16 in 2000

• CPS-DS: persons ages 16 and older

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Data Source Limitations

• RSA-911 • No details (y/n received assistive technology)

• HRS, NLTS-2, CPS-DS• Disability information limited

• Only basic accommodation information

• AT accommodations not specifically identified

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Example: CPS Disability Supplement

• Representative of persons in the workforce

• Relatively current data (May 2012)

• Large sample size

• Reasonable sample of persons with disabilities (n=5076)

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CPS disability questions

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• Hearing: Is anyone deaf or does anyone have serious difficulty hearing?

• Visual: Is anyone blind or does anyone have serious difficulty seeing even when wearing glasses?

• Cognitive: Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition, does anyone have serious difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions?

• Ambulatory: Does anyone have serious difficulty walking or climbing stairs?

• Self-Care: Does anyone have difficulty dressing or bathing?

• Independent Living: Because of a physical, mental, or emotional condition, does anyone have difficulty doing errands alone such as visiting a doctor’s office or shopping?

Who is requesting accommodations?

• 12.7% of employed PWD have requested accommodations

• 8.6% of employed people WITHOUT disabilities have requested accommodation

• Requests from PWD account for only 5 percent of all accommodation requests

• 11.8 individuals without disabilities requested accommodations compared to 0.6 million with disabilities.

12von Schrader, S., Xu, X., & Bruyère, S. M. (2014). Accommodation Requests : Who is Asking for What ? Rehabilitation Research, Policy, and Education, 28(4), 329–344. doi:10.1891/2168-6653.28.4.329\

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Who is Requesting Accommodations?

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Number (in thousands) and Percentage of Workers with Disabilities among Workers Who Requested Accommodation

von Schrader, S., Xu, X., & Bruyère, S. M. (2014). Accommodation Requests : Who is Asking for What ? Rehabilitation Research, Policy, and Education, 28(4), 329–344. doi:10.1891/2168-6653.28.4.329\

CPS Accommodation types

(1) New or modified equipment

(2) Physical changes to the workplace

(3) Policy changes to the workplace

(4) Changes in work tasks, job structure or schedule

(5) Changes in communication or information sharing

(6) Changes to comply with religious beliefs

(7) Accommodations for family or personal obligations

(8) Training

(9) Other changes.14

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9.5%

11.7%

15.8% 15.6% 15.7%17.2%

12.7%

8.6%

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

Hearing(N=1795)

Visual(N=778)

Cognitive(N=1173)

Ambulatory(N=1930)

Self‐Care(N=303)

IndependentLiving(N=613)

AnyDisability(N=5076)

No Disability(N=138160)

Data Source: Current Population Survey, May 2012: Disability Supplement.Note: The part of the error bar above each point represents plus one standard error and the part of the bar below represents minus one standard error. von Schrader, S., Xu, X., & Bruyère, S. (2014). Accommodation requests: Who is asking for what. Rehabilitation Research, Policy and Education, 28 (2), 329-344.

Percentage of Workers who Requested Accommodationby Disability Type

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55.4% 52.4%

70.6% 74.1% 75.3% 70.4% 68.4% 63.0%

22.2%18.1%

7.7%9.4% 9.4%

11.1% 13.2% 18.8%

22.4%29.4%

21.7% 16.5% 15.3% 18.5% 18.4% 18.2%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

90.0%

100.0%

Hearing Visual Cognitive Ambulatory Self‐Care IndependentLiving

Any Disability No Disability

Granted Partial Not Granted

Workers Reporting That Accommodation Requests Were Granted, Not Granted or Partially Granted, by Disability Type

Data Source: Current Population Survey, May 2012: Disability Supplement. Note: Estimates only include individuals who reported requesting an accommodation.

von Schrader, S., Xu, X., & Bruyère, S. (2014). Accommodation requests: Who is asking for what. Rehabilitation Research, Policy and Education, 28 (2), 329-344.

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Percentage of Workers Requesting Accommodations:Of those requesting accommodations, By Disability and Accommodation Type

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0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9)

Any Disability

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) (8) (9)

No Disability

(1) New or modified equipment (2) Physical changes to the workplace (3) Policy changes to the workplace (4) Changes in work tasks, job structure or schedule 

(5) Changes in communication or information sharing (6) Changes to comply with religious beliefs (7) Accommodations for family or personal obligations (8) Training (9) Other changes.

Von Schrader, Xu, & Bruyère , 2014The part of the error bar above each point represents plus one standard error and the part of the bar below represents minus one standard error. 

Specific Assistive Technologies PrevalenceSurvey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP 2010)

Persons ages 15-64

• Hearing aid use:• 1.4 million (0.7%)

• Wheelchair/electric scooter use:• 1.6 million (0.8%)

• Cane, crutches, or walker use:• 3.6 million (1.8%)

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Americans With Disabilities: 2010 By Matthew W. Brault, U.S. Department of Commerce, Economics and Statistics AdministrationU.S. CENSUS BUREAU P70-131 Issued July 2012 Estimates Calculated from Table A-1http://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/p70-131.pdf

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Durable Medical Equipment file (DME)

• Prescribed durable medical equipment provided to Medicare Part B beneficiaries ICD-9 Diagnosis

Detailed equipment code: Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS)

Reimbursement costs

Maintenance costs

Geographic specificity down to zip code level

Can be linked to other CMS files

- Limited to only Medicare Part B beneficiaries

- Equipment is for medical purposes, not employment 19

Potential Funding Sources for AT*

• Medicaid, Medicare

• Plan to Achieve Self-Support (PASS) SSI program

• Worker’s Compensation

• Private Insurance

• Vocational Rehabilitation

• Independent Living

• Veterans Administration

• Special Education/504 (children under 18)

• Foundations, loans, personal finances• List not comprehensive, each of the above have specific requirements & limitations

** Not aware of any actual data regarding how individuals actually pay for their AT20

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Thoughts

• Focused on data sources that seemed best suited to respond to the general questions asked

• Mapping conditions/disability to specific AT difficult

• Additional non-national level data may be available

• Other data may be focused on specific AT types

• Detailed state level VR AT data (if available) might provide the most useful information.

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Questions?

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www.DisabilityStatistics.org

William Erickson

wae1@cornell.edu