12 minutes
Asking about access needs without demanding personal information Ask what would work, focus on the task, and collect only what you need to provide the support.
What you’ll be able to do Ask about practical access needs with questions that focus on the task and the barrier, and explain what will happen with what the person shares. Compare the responses to this question and explain your choice: What should the scheduler have said instead? Draft Tell us what would help for your work, including opening line, choices offered, what we record. Ask about the task, not the person Staff often ask for a diagnosis because it feels like the responsible thing to do, as if knowing the condition would tell them what the person needs. It rarely does. Two people with the same diagnosis can have opposite access needs, and the person in front of you is the only reliable source for theirs. The question that produces useful information is about the task: “What would make this appointment work for you?” “Is there a format you prefer for the forms?” “Would more time help?”
There is also a privacy reason. When you collect a diagnosis you do not need, you create a record that follows the person, that other staff may read, and that the person may not have chosen to share if they had known where it would go. In DHS work, health and disability information is protected, and the safest way to protect it is to not collect it in the first place unless a specific program purpose requires it. When it does, the responsible office, not the front counter, should ask.
Tell people what happens with what they share. One sentence is enough: “I will note that you would like questions in advance and a longer appointment, so the assessor can plan. I will not record anything else you have told me.” People decide what to share more comfortably when they know where it goes.
Rewrite the question Time Format Communication Support Place
Instead of: “Do you have a condition that affects concentration?”
Ask: “Would a longer appointment or a break partway through help?”
Instead of: “Are you visually impaired?”
Ask: “What format works best for you for written information: print, large print, electronic, audio or something else?”
Instead of: “Are you hard of hearing?”
Ask: “How do you prefer to communicate with us: phone, video, email, text or in person? Is there anything we should arrange, like an interpreter or captions?”
Instead of: “Do you have a guardian?”
Ask: “Would you like anyone to join us, and what would you like their role to be?”
Instead of: “Can you walk?”
Ask: “Would you prefer to meet at our office, at your home or by video? Is there anything about the location we should know?”
Collect what you will use What you can change You control which disability-related questions are on the scripts and forms your team uses, and whether the answers ever change anything.
What to watch for Do not keep a diagnosis field on an intake form because it has always been there. If no support decision depends on the answer, the field is a privacy risk with no benefit.
Your next step Pull one script or form this week. For every disability question, write the support decision that depends on the answer. Remove or reword the ones with no decision attached.
Tell us what would help A short card, in print and on the appointment confirmation, that invites the person to name an access need before the meeting.
Opening line We want this appointment to work for you. Tell us anything that would help, and we will plan for it.
Choices offered More time. Questions or forms sent ahead. Large print, electronic, audio or another format. An interpreter or captions. A quieter room. A different location or a video visit.
What we record We write down what you ask for so the person meeting you can prepare. We do not ask for or record a diagnosis.
Contact One named person, a phone number, an email address and a text option, with a note that you can ask at any point, including during the appointment.
Attach the card to your unit's appointment confirmation and post it at the counter. Track how many requests arrive before appointments instead of during them.
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Download this published draft What you need, what you do not You need to know
The access need: format, time, communication method, support person, location. This is what lets you plan.
You do not need to know
The diagnosis, the cause, the history, the medications, the prognosis. None of these tell you how to run the appointment.
When documentation is appropriate
Some program eligibility and formal accommodation decisions do require documentation. Those requests come from the responsible office, are limited to what the decision requires, and are handled under privacy rules. They are not a front-counter question.
The one-sentence notice
“I will note what you asked for so we can plan. I will not record anything else.” Say it before the person decides what to share.
When a person volunteers a diagnosis
Thank them, and steer back to the task: “That helps me understand. What would make this work best for you?” Do not write down more than the access need unless a program purpose requires it.
Every time a new worker asked what was wrong with me, I had to decide again whether to tell my whole story to a stranger just to get a form in large print. The first person who asked what format I wanted got the answer in five seconds.
Composite participant perspective, illustrative Carry this forward The useful question is about the task: “What would make this work for you?” not “What is your disability?”
You need to know the access need to provide the support; you do not need to know the diagnosis, the history or the cause.
Tell the person what will be recorded, who will see it and what it will be used for, before they decide what to share.
A scenario decision, a knowledge check and a rewritten set of intake questions.
Rewrite one question your team asks about disability so it asks about the task and the barrier instead. Add one sentence that says what happens with the answer.
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