Excerpt from the ICC Diversity Tool Kit:

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Preconceptions about disability, or associated impairments, can hinder the success of even the most well-intended efforts to provide accommodation and/or to promote diversity and inclusion. Mindfulness is perhaps the best prescription available for arbitrators and practitioners seeking to avoid falling into this cognitive trap. The five propositions and three questions below provide the basis for a short but effective mindfulness exercise. These propositions and questions should occasionally be revisited  as a means of reinforcing best practices.

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Potential pitfalls:

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1. Many disabilities are not visibly manifested, especially to the untrained eye.

2. Persons with the same disability can experience or manifest their disabilities differently.

3. Not everyone who has a disability needs or wants accommodation at a given point in time.

4. It may take time for even the disabled person to identify an impairment, which could affect how suitable accommodation might be provided.

5. Social stigma still attaches to many disabilities, underlining why persons with disabilities may be reticent about disclosure.

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How to avoid them:

 

1. Am I mindful of the need to respect the individual autonomy and privacy rights of persons with disabilities?

2. Am I receptive to the possibility that an unforeseen disability-related impairment could arise at any point during the arbitral proceedings?

3. Have I remained flexible enough to actively participate in creative problem-solving that simultaneously addresses the disability-based impairment at issue and safeguards values that underpin any international arbitration?