{"id":823,"date":"2026-02-02T14:15:01","date_gmt":"2026-02-02T22:15:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hr.uw.edu\/dso\/?page_id=823"},"modified":"2026-07-07T12:33:59","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T19:33:59","slug":"support-persons","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/hr.uw.edu\/dso\/employee\/support-persons\/","title":{"rendered":"The role of a support person in disability accommodation meetings"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 ez-toc-wrap-left counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title ez-toc-toggle\" style=\"cursor:pointer\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #000000;color:#000000\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #000000;color:#000000\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/hr.uw.edu\/dso\/employee\/support-persons\/#Requesting-a-support-person\" >Requesting a support person<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/hr.uw.edu\/dso\/employee\/support-persons\/#Role-of-a-support-person\" >Role of a support person<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<p>At the University of Washington, we recognize that participating in an accommodation meeting can sometimes feel overwhelming. Employees requesting disability accommodations may request to bring a <strong>support person<\/strong> to meetings to provide emotional support and help navigate the process.<\/p>\n<p>This page outlines the role of a support person, how to request to bring one, and the expectations they must follow to ensure a productive and respectful meeting.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Requesting-a-support-person\"><\/span>Requesting a support person<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Advance approval is required.<\/strong> Employees must submit a request to their Leave and Accommodation specialist or the Disability Services Office (DSO) before inviting a support person to any meeting.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Support persons must be UW employees in good standing.<\/strong> Exceptions may be made for family members or union representatives, depending on the nature of the meeting. These requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis and must be approved in advance.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Confirmation of understanding is required.<\/strong> If approved, the Leave and Accommodations Team or DSO will email guidelines to help the support person understand their role before the meeting.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Role-of-a-support-person\"><\/span>Role of a support person<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>The role of a support person is limited to providing quiet emotional support to the employee during the meeting. Specifically:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Listen silently and respectfully<\/strong> without interrupting the conversation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Take notes<\/strong> if requested by the employee.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Provide reassurance<\/strong> if needed, without disrupting the meeting.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Request a private break<\/strong> if the employee needs to pause and consult privately.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Support persons do not speak on behalf of the employee, advocate for outcomes, or otherwise participate in the meeting discussion unless explicitly invited by the employee for clarification.<\/p>\n<p>To maintain the integrity of the accommodation process:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Support persons must uphold <strong>strict confidentiality<\/strong> regarding all meeting discussions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Professional conduct<\/strong> is expected at all times.<\/li>\n<li>If a conflict of interest exists, or if conduct disrupts the process, UW reserves the right to deny or withdraw approval for the support person.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This page outlines the role of a support person, how to request to bring one, and the expectations they must follow to ensure a productive and respectful meeting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":49,"featured_media":0,"parent":802,"menu_order":50,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"no","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"class_list":["post-823","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hr.uw.edu\/dso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hr.uw.edu\/dso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hr.uw.edu\/dso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hr.uw.edu\/dso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/49"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hr.uw.edu\/dso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=823"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/hr.uw.edu\/dso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":828,"href":"https:\/\/hr.uw.edu\/dso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/823\/revisions\/828"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hr.uw.edu\/dso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hr.uw.edu\/dso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hr.uw.edu\/dso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}