So, who is going to employ all these disabled people the government wants to wean of welfare

[Jimisnotmyname]

Really wondering. Not saying it is necessarily a bad thing to encourage those who can work, to work but as a carer for 2 disabled family members, I am hugely struggling to find another job as nobody is willing to give me any flexibility (which I need as a carer) and there are always candidates who do not need the same accomodations I do. I would imagine that many of those currently not in work because of disability or a health condition, will often need a similar level of flexibility. I just wonder who on the the government think will offer jobs galore on these circumstances??

Well you're very lucky. I lost my NHS role due to scoring too highly on the Bradford scale for repeated sickness. Which was related to a condition I had at the point I was employed, and that they were fully aware of. I was advised at one point to stay off sick until I was 100% sure I wouldn't go off sick again before the end of that year. In order not to score more points. So basically, for those that don't know- the Bradford score means that if you have 5 separate days off sick you score points for each occurrence but if you only have one period off, even if that's 6 whole months, you're not then penalised because it's about periods of sickness rather than length of that/those period/s. I'm sure that some managers/organisations are able to be more flexible than others, but in my trust it was very strict.

I'm now well enough to work with adaptations, but as it's taken me 5 years to get to this point I can't even get an interview due to the lack of recent employment/references. And my list of disabilities limit what I'm capable of so I can't just apply for anything going. I get PIP but due to my partner's wage I'm not entitled to any further benefits, so I count myself very lucky that he's willing to cover pretty much all our bills. I have the constant fear of losing him as without him I'd end up homeless.

I worked very long hours before I became disabled (with conditions I neither caused nor saw coming) and it's devastating going from being gainfully employed and fairly well off to pretty much unemployable and on the breadline. I just hope that those of you that are so judgemental never have to experience this.

@PangoPurrl same here. I lost my NHS job too for the same reason. My manager insisted there was no reasonable adjustments that could be made for me. I was treated terribly, and looking back I should have taken him to a tribunal but I had no fight left in me at all.

They are amending the points to just two. Saw it on breakfast tv. It v

I’ve got many highly visible scars on my body from where I’ve passed out and hit the floor/furniture/fittings, due to the pain of worsening IBD & bathroom visits.

I kept some photos of the injuries - blood and gore - and they ain’t pretty. I won’t post them here. Suffice to say I wouldn’t wish to inflict that on a workplace, especially with the fancy new gender neutral toilets, and me being immune compromised from my injections.

Everyone is probably much better off with me WFH.

I only get two PIP points for toilet stuff in Daily Living section, interestingly, despite not being safe without someone around. It’s a tough benefit to claim.

It should; but often the assessor doesn’t award it.

I'm so sorry to hear that. There are so many aspects to becoming disabled that you just don't know about until they happen. Not least using up your resilience and being unable to fight unfair/discrimatory treatment.

Nothing can stop them but the information submitted would need to be consistent with their condition and history to be accepted. Stating that you're too depressed to wipe your own bum would be hard to prove unless you already had such help from a nurse or care agency but for someone severely autistic who cannot manage their daily care and any semblance of continence has been a long battle, the statement would not be out of place.

Just to be clear before we start I don't claim benefits because I have a husband who works. I am in constant pain, albeit low level, my joints are stiff and sore until about mid day when I can sometimes take a walk . Yesterday I walked farther than normal because it was sunny. It made me physically ilI've been judged gaslit and told I have depression by doctor s ( I don't) so I don't bother with them any more. This also makes me vulnerable to abuse by my husband because I'm dependent on him, because I can't claim in my own right, this happens a lot . Imagine you are already vulnerable by being disabled and then told you have to be dependent on your abuser if you live in dv situation( I'm not being abused ). We struggle to make ends meet and my husband won't hear of any kind of benefits, he's coming up seventies now ( I'm 12 years younger than him)and if he dropped dead tomorrow I'd be up shit creek I just hope I go first.

"Care homes, local authorities and education institutions will offer more flexibility than regular corporate jobs."

Certainly not true of schools - if pupils are there teachers have to be there - and are not likely to be able to take the odd hour off for appointments etc. And have to be on top of the game to cope with a class of 30 kids.
Not sure of flexibility in care homes but sure staff work long (and unsocial) hours. Don't know about Local Authorities.
Think you need to be self-employed / work from home to have more flexibility - sure OP knows this

Just saying something isnt proof.

You would need Drs appointments printed with details of that being discussed, proofnof appointments at incontinence clinics, proof that you get sanitary aids on the NHS (adult diapers) proof that ypu have a carer and that 'intimate toolet care ' is in your care sheet.
Things like that.

PIP is incredibly hard to get because you need a lot of hard evidence.

Crohn's is a relapsing remitting condition and an IBD team would usually aim to enable people to achieve remission. Your friend should not be being left in that situation. There is a huge range of medications available and not all of them work in the same way so I would be surprised if every one made her vomit, and if they do then she should be considered for surgery.

One consistent thing about our Crohn's journey is how consistent medics have been in saying that there are no specific food restrictions in Crohn's, though very recent research looking at eliminating emulsifiers in the diet is promising. There are also a couple of diet plans that some people follow - specific carbohydrate diet, for example, or the Crohn's disease exclusion diet.

The Ng tube feeding for Crohn's is usually an 8 week course liquid diet to try to induce remission in children, steroids are more usually used in adults. NG feeding doesn't in itself cause further irritation to the gut, or it wouldn't be the first line treatment for children.

In short, I suggest your friend complain to PALs if the only thing her IBD team is doing is suggesting she avoid certain foods.

One of the best things the government could do IMO is to discourage this obsession with returning to the office.

I have a reasonable adjustment to WFH when I need to due to my disabilities. Prior to covid, no-one cared how many days I used that adjustment. Since the push to return to the office I keep having to justify my reasonable adjustment and why I need it at all/need to be able to WFH more than 2 days a week. I also have to push to not be made to 'make up' my office days at a later date (as I have a reasonable adjustment and part of this is that the days don't need to be made up).

I have other reasonable adjustments and managers/other senior people are constantly questioning them. Even when you get an adjustment you can't relax as it's only a matter of time before you have to justify it again.

There are also frequent issues - for example my organisation rolled out a new performance management system in the knowledge no-one who used specialist software like dragon could use it and it would be months until they could. So, no visually impaired colleagues could use it. Nor any severely dyslexic colleagues. Or colleagues with physical disabilities preventing them from typing could use it. That was hundreds of colleagues (very large organisation).

More needs to be done to protect disabled people's rights to reasonable adjustments.

The good news is that these reforms will help to force encourage a few people into work. The bad news is that the number that come off benefits and are able to remain in work consistently will be extremely small.

The bad news is that:
There will be some tragic outcomes of people harming themselves or others from being placed into unsuitable jobs.
Homelessness and poverty among disabled people will increase.
The prison population will get bigger.

Until proper support with mental health is available on the NHS, none of the measures that have been announced will save money or increase employment levels. There is no economic incentive for employers to give disabled people jobs and most can’t/won’t be flexible enough.

I'm scared for my children. DD is autistic and also suffers from seizures, usually multiple times a day. She is intelligent and on a good day you'd think nothing was wrong, expect her good days are few and far between. She can only attend college part time and can't exercise or go anywhere because of her seizures but I am scared she'll be forced in to some crappy job. She'll loose the job because of her seizures but not being able to claim PIP.
My son is only young but mentally, socially and emotionally is like a child half his age. I would hope that if his condition remains the same the government wouldn't be stupid enough to force him in to work but I won't hold my breath.

That doesn’t really bear any resemblance to reality where employers are being squeezed for NI until the pips squeak, hence fewer jobs available for those who might have to come off PIP

I'm a teacher. Not one of the schools I've ever taught in has been wheelchair accessible. When I had to start using a wheelchair, I was medically laid off because, and I quote, "A wheelchair in a school is a health and safety nightmare".

I think some people genuinely want employers to be more understanding of disabled people's needs. I think others just want the disabled people to shut up and never show any symptoms ever.

Those jobs would also be suitable for non disabled people as well. So who would you choose...the disabled person with no experience or the non disabled person who has the experience by virtue of being employed for longer? To assume that just because a job is suitable then it's automatically given to someone currently on benefits is just ridiculous.

It sounds like you want the disabled to just be hidden away. Have no autonomy over where they can live.
No thank you.

When I was looking for the right place to train I did have one school refuse to take me because, even though I could access half the classrooms, the other half would have required rearranging and they refused to do it. I chose not to fight it because I don’t want to go somewhere that had to be forced not to discriminate. By contrast, one school that was far less accessible was prepared to move the toilets and the department office to accommodate me. The place I’ve ended up hasn’t had to change anything though because it’s a new build. I couldn’t believe it when I first looked round, I can get everywhere, it’s so liberating! I do have trouble getting round the classrooms though and I’m waiting to hear back from access to work to see if they’ll help with a smaller wheelchair. I keep getting stuck in corners and having to do complicated 20 or more point turns to try to get out, much to the amusement of my students 😂

This is a joke, right?

I replied to you but accidentally cleared the quote and don’t know how to fix it. It’s above.