The Qualified Professional with a Disability in Public Education: Responsive Strategies to Accommodation Dilemmas through Analysis of the Americans with Disabilities Act and Narrative Portrayals

This dissertation portrays a narrative inquiry into dilemmas that arise when the educational leaders who are authority figures in public school districts are asked to provide workplace accommodations for the professionals with a disability. To surface the dilemmas, actual life experiences told by individuals with a disability are juxtaposed with the Americans with Disability Act of 1990 [ADA]. Through deeper understanding of the dilemmas facing professionals with a disability and public school districts, it is hoped that by understanding disability, more responsive strategies for reasonable accommodation can be identified for the benefit of the employer as well as the qualified professional with a disability. There lies in me a desire to determine what they should do to treat individuals with a disability with more acceptance, compassion, and respect. I want to be an advocate for other qualified professionals with a disability who face similar struggles. I want to ensure that whenever school administrators encounter adults with a disability, the response will be within the spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act