Coaching can be an effective accommodation for employees with disabilities by focusing on their strengths. A study examined the impact of coaching interventions for various disabilities like dyslexia, autism, and ADHD. The coaching addressed barriers at the macro, meso, and micro levels and utilized behavioral, psychosocial, emotional, and cognitive techniques. Results from 2015 and 2017 studies found marginal but significant improvements for coached participants compared to controls, with medium effect sizes, suggesting coaching can enhance workplace performance and inclusion for those with disabilities.

1. 8th International
Congress of
Coaching
Psychology
Positive and Coaching Psychology:
Enhancing Resilience, Performance and
Health
11th and 12th Oct 2018, London (UK)

2. Coaching as a Disability Accommodation
Ethics and Evidence
Nancy Doyle
City University of London
Genius Within CIC

3. Terms and
intro
Research
and results
Implications

4. • Longer than 12 months
• Memory, ability to communicate and
understand
Disability
• Changes to environment and
workflow made by an organisation
• “Reasonable Adjustments”
Accommodations
• Strengths-focused activity?
• Workplace or Health?
Coaching

5. Developmental (Applied) Dyslexia
Dyspraxia (DCD)
Developmental (Clinical)
ADHD
Autism
Tourette Syndrome
Acquired – Mental Health
Acquired – Chronic Neuro and Brain
Injury
Neurodiversity

9. Macro: society, humanity, education,
country, gender, ethnicity
Meso: interaction with
immediate environment
Micro:
individual

10. Society that excludes specialist thinkers
but provides legal framework
Organisation requires
generalist ability, but
provides adjustment
Can the individual
‘fit’ the environment
or vice versa?

11. Condition Hits pre-
1995
1995-
2005
2005+ Population
prevalence
Proportion
of research
Dyslexia 448 278 79 91 10% 9%
Autism 496 173 80 243 2% 10%
DCD 95 46 11 38 2% 2%
ADHD 110 3 17 90 4% 2%
TS 10 3 3 4 1% 0%
Mental
Health
4040 16% 78%

12. Behavioural – strategies, use of tools,
adapting workspace, workplace
flexibility
Psychosocial (reframing self opinion
leading to more confidence self
advocacy)
Emotional
(stress and anxiety techniques)
Cognitive (visualisation, repetition)
Meso
Individual

13. 2015
• N=67
• Group/Control/1:1
• Before, immediately after,
3 months
• Group means comparison,
Bonferroni-corrected
pre/post t-test
2017
• N=52
• Group/Control
• Before, immediately after,
2 months
• Group means comparison,
Bonferroni-corrected
pre/post t-test

14. Marginal Bonferroni-
corrected p-values
Control Group
improvement
Medium effect sizes
Attrition reduced
power

15. ‘Meta-
Impact’
•1: Significant
improvement separated
from practice effects
Control vs
intervention
•2: Much stronger
differentiation
Improve
where
needed
•3: How deliberate was this?