[humanser] Questions about Use of Aira in Counseling Work, Disclosures about Blindness, Readers, etc.

[Sarah Meyer]

Hello,

I am writing with a few questions that have come up for me as I am on
Master's Internship.

1. Has anyone here used, or requested use of, Aira as an accommodation
while completing essential tasks of your job as a therapist or social
worker? I am particularly interested in hearing from those who are
bound to HIPAA and FERPA compliance. I tried to get my internship site
to explore Aira because I've had so many accessibility challenges
within our database and being able to read assessment scores in a
timely fashion, among other things, and when they heard that Aira
wouldn't be working towards getting their HIPAA certification until
Q2, they stopped having follow-up conversations. Aira was even willing
to take a look at and possibly sign a privacy document that my
counseling center was wanting vendors to sign (they have all outside
consultants sign for confidentiality purposes).
2. If you use a reader or a service like Aira, would you include this
in a consent for treatment or confidentiality disclosure as a blind
provider? I could make an argument either way. I can see how allowing
clients/patients to know this before seeing me seems like the best and
most respectful thing to do of their privacy; yet at the same time, if
these are accommodations that I use in order to provide care, then is
it necessary? I hope this question makes sense.
3. Another question to therapists, social workers, psychologists
(anyone treating clients): do you discuss your blindness with clients?
If so, when, and how? Are there some settings in which you do disclose
and others in which you do not? I personally cannot hide the fact that
I'm blind; my cane is very obvious, my eyes jiggle and I can't make
eye contact, and I use Braille and alternative technology. So, for me,
it is more a question of do I bring what is in the room but not openly
discussed out into the open?  So far, I have made a brief statement,
acknowledging that I am blind and may at times use some different
technology, and welcoming any questions/concerns about how this may
impact treatment. I have done this with my individual clients and some
groups; however I am getting ready to begin process observing a loss
and grief group where I may eventually take on more co-leadership, but
for now I will be silently observing. I am trying to decide if it
would be helpful to clients or unnecessary to discuss the blindness
factor, thus I was curious what others have thought and done depending
on situation. To be honest, I would like to not always have the
blindness conversation with a client, but my supervisor encouraged me
that if I do it might help clients to know about the tech I use so it
isn't as distracting to them.

Thanks for any thoughts you may have.

Sarah

-- 
Sarah K. Meyer
Graduate Student, Clinical Mental Health Counseling
Ball State University
sarah.meyer55 at gmail.com
(317)402-6632