Summary of the Best Practices for Interacting with Persons with Disabilities: A Guide

1. Purpose

This is a plain language summary of the Best Practices for Interacting with Persons with Disabilities Guide, which provides best practices to assist transportation service provider personnel in their interactions with persons with disabilities. More detailed information on how to provide assistance to persons with specific types of disabilities can be found in the original guide.

2. General best practices

When providing a service or assisting a person with a disability:

• Identify who you are (for example, show the person your name badge or verbally introduce yourself).
• Speak directly to the person, not to their interpreter or support person.
• Offer your help, but don't insist.
• Ask how to help and what to do. Never make assumptions about what is needed or how to provide the assistance, and don't hesitate to ask the person to repeat or to provide further clarification.
• Recognize that persons with disabilities have diverse needs.
• Give priority to the person's determination of their own disability-related needs and what sort of assistance or accommodation will meet those needs.
• Ask questions about the person's disability only when this is necessary to understand and meet their disability-related needs. For example, it is rarely pertinent to know the underlying cause of a disability.
• Recognize that technologies (for example, self-service kiosks) may not work for everyone and that personal assistance may be required.
• Given that persons with disabilities often travel with extra equipment, offer to help them ensure that they have retrieved all of their possessions before leaving an area, such as a check-in counter, security screening area, or passenger seat.
• Some terminals have implemented the Sunflower Lanyard program in order to help persons with non-visible disabilities to discreetly identify themselves during travel. Be aware that if you see someone wearing a sunflower lanyard, it could indicate that the person has a hidden (non-visible) disability. Be prepared to offer assistance if required.