To want to understand how disabled MNers manage to be employed?

[JobhuntingDespair]

With the proposed benefit cuts, I'm interested in the reasons why those who could work struggle to find suitable employment, so would like to know how people have managed it. (I'm currently job hunting myself, having to take into account autism and keeping mental health reasonable, so I am facing some of these issues.)

So if you're unwell/disabled and in employment (or know someone who this applies to) I have some questions...

1. What sort of role are you in, and is this influenced by disability? (Eg. physical disability so avoid manual work.)

2. What sort of reasonable adjustments do you find the most helpful? And how easy was it to get these?

3. Were you disabled when you became employed, or later so had already proved your worth to employer?

4. If you were already disabled, what led up to your current role - eg. did you have to get qualifications? Experience elsewhere? And how did you financially support yourself during this time?

5. How did you manage to pass the probationary period or avoid being managed out for performance/time off sick?

6. Do you have large CV gaps due to your disability, and if so how have you explained/managed these?

7. How did you convince an employer to give you a chance, to get a foot in the door of a suitable job?
   (I'm thinking in particular of experience (and references). Starting in any old job as a first step toward something better may not be possible for a disabled person as the "any old jobs" available are unsuitable due to their disability. Is there a way to leap-frog past this stage?)

Anything else you think is relevant please explain!

I have autism, ADHD, EDS, history of mental health issues including depression, anxiety and self harm. I work in a professional role part time. My job is hybrid so I can work from home a couple of days a week. I’ve built up trust over time so now if I’m having a day where I can’t go in I can say I’m wfh and it’s fine. It was a struggle getting to this point though and have worked my way up, I’ve put a lot of effort in over the years to compensate for my weaknesses. It’s been very hard but now get the flexibility I need.

I have MS and ADHD, work full time, have 2 kids at home, one PDA, and I'm doing my master's

I work in HE wellbeing as management for a very understanding team, have just been through occ health and they have suggested flexibility with home working and time off for appointments.

I needed a degree. Have experience in a wellbeing role previously.

I had the disability when I started but wasn't diagnosed. I have had the odd day off but passed 6 months probation in Jan. The team want me for my expertise and we're grateful how I brought the team back together after they had a very difficult time before I arrived. I have updated so many processes that they have been blown away (deans words, not mine) by my work. They don't want to let me go. In fact they offered a higher wage instead of me leaving to a better paid position.

I have gaps, but only include the last 10 years and I have been studying/working in that time.

For me it was getting my degree and getting into HE. I have been happy in all my roles in HE and always felt supported. However this isn't always the case for every institution.

I think the main thing for me has been supportive teams. And getting into wellbeing so they already know and are aware of disability and that people can thrive if supported well.

So charities for instance would be a good place to look.

Going to uni, there is so much support available now, that even some of the students who seem like they will fail get a good outcome.

Also, some things have to give, so I have a cleaner.

I’m not currently employed but I was.

i was a teacher. Maths degree plus pgce.
Secondary maths teachers are difficult to recruit.

I had an accident ten years into my career. The school I was working at was a local hub for disabled students so did have a lift.

i worked there for another ten years.
reasonable adjustments:
lift key to use the lift
in fire practices didn’t have to leave the building

that was about it.
i had to fight them over time off for physio and space to charge my wheelchair when I got an electric one.

it wasn’t easy and I pretty much knew no other school was ever likely to employ me.

I’ve been to many many teaching conferences and got involved with international exchanges and working with new teachers and I’ve never met another one who uses a wheelchair.

covid did for me. Reasonable adjustments and covid precautions/changes in education didn’t go together. At one point all the kids were staying in the same classroom and the teachers moved and I just couldn’t do it.

@No33
Wow, you're doing a lot!

It sounds like you didn't need significant time off work before getting enough experience for later roles, which must help.

Is your degree in a relevant area or was it just a case of any degree? (I got a degree during a v long period off work, but have only done low paid jobs that don't require a degree since.)

@Overthebow

You mention working your way up to this point - how did you manage doing these jobs without needing days off/flexibility etc? Or did you need them but do other stuff to prove your worth to the employers?

1. I work for myself. In a role that's intrinsically linked to my disability.

1. I work for myself so I'm the one who chooses the reasonable adjustments. However I have appeared on Teams calls propped up with pillows- this is only with clients who know me very well though.

1. Sort of built my job around the lived experience of being disabled because I knew my chances of being employed were slim. I haven't been disabled all my life though.

1. A lot of it is lived experience however I have done specific training courses as and when needed.

1. Work for yourself- no-one to answer to then!

1. Yep and explained with honesty.

1. There are employers out there who actively recruit for disabled people and/or have policies where disabled people meeting the essential job spec are guaranteed an interview. These tend to be but are not always in local government.

I work part time but did work full time before I became to ill. I had the job before my disabilities really started to significantly impact me. I feel like if I lost this job I'd be unemployable. I work in a large company so it's not as bad getting cover for sick leave and appointments. My work are very understanding and flexible. But I absolutely wouldn't pass a probationary period in a new job even if I was lucky enough to get hired in the first place. I use all my holidays for appointments and it still doesn't cover them so I don't ever feel like I get a true break. I would say my attendance level in an average year was about 50/60 % mainly due to hospital admissions, recovering from surgeries and just flare ups. I have a mix of mental and physical health conditions

I have CFS/ME, that was under control until I caught Covid 5x in 2 years, so now have long Covid. Through that diagnosis, I have learnt I have an auto immune condition. I suspect I have adhd or some kind of bipolar disorder, but not interested in getting formally diagnosed just managing symptoms. I also have severe anxiety which causes agoraphobia and prevents me from being able to leaving my house or driving anywhere unfamiliar at its worst, at its best I can fumble with public speaking etc

I rely heavily on the CBT techniques I learnt when I was first diagnosed with CFS/ME, I do a highly analytical and high pressured job.

The analytical side helps with my wondering brain, I get very meaty problems to analyse and can hyper fixate on them, I usually out perform peers on analysis due to this!

Re the pressure (I lead teams of engineers and software developers) I have allies in my team and senior management team and let them know if I am feeling particularly anxious, so they can cover me if I start falling flat in presentations etc, I usually don’t fall flat in presentations as I know I have the support network.

The one biggest thing I say to my self each working day is, you have no idea what everyone else is feeling or thinking, what they are going through, they might even feel worse than you, so just go and try your best.

I’ve line managed physically disabled people in the past and as long as they were upfront with what they needed we worked to accommodate. What is really annoying as a line manager is when people aren’t honest. Taking time off for appointments and saying they will be back in an hour when it that is unrealistic and the type of appointment usually takes 2 hours etc.

I’ve also line managed autistic people and people with mental health issues, autistic people aren’t difficult to work with at all. It is mental health issues that tend to be difficult as people try to hide that they aren’t coping, disappear off sick and disengage.

For me, being open and honest with the employer about your needs is the best starting point. If they turn you down because of that it is discrimination, any decent employer will look at your skills and if they don’t be skeptical as they probably aren’t worth working for.

Following

I get this, as someone with mental health issues I know I lie to my employer always and down play how I am feeling!!! Yet as a line manager myself, I wouldn't ever judge someone for their mental health struggles.

I've been a civil servant for 40+ years. About 34 years ago I was badly injured in a car accident. I now mostly use a wheelchair, but can manage short distances on crutches. I was in hospital for 8 months after the accident & then have had to go back for surgery several times over the years & am facing more surgery in the future.

I also have Complex PTSD & often don't sleep well - I was trapped in a car that was in flames. I often have flashbacks when in the front passenger seat in a car (where I was at the time of the accident) & fairly regularly I wake up screaming. In the past I have had to take extended periods of time off work due to MH problems.

Over the last year I have travelled into the office at least 10 times to find that I have to trek home again because the lifts aren't working & I can't access the building & no-one thought to tell me. I've found that it's best to be totally honest about my needs. However I'm lucky in that my manager (who doesn't work on the same site) is very sympathetic-possibly helped by fact that I was his manager many years ago & encouraged him to go for promotion.

My disability is mobility and pain related, with a side order of bowel and bladder issues (spina bifida with tethered spinal cord syndrome).

I work full time now but I did have to build up to it, I worked part time (and did an OU degree part time) while my children were little and I gradually increased my hours so I could learn coping strategies and build my stamina while I did it.

I do have to sacrifice a lot of life outside of work because full time work exhausts me, I have to be in bed by 9pm, often earlier, otherwise the pain gets overwhelming and . If I want to do anything at all other than eat, a bit of reading or TV and bed on an evening then I need to book annual leave the next day to recover. I do my physio and resistance exercise in the mornings before work and almost always take my lunch break.

It is hard and there are times I wonder why I am making myself do it but then I read so many threads about how people hate work and I realise that is a fairly typical experience and may not be just my disability. It does help that my job is something that feels like it helps society so that sense of purpose is fulfilling.

I have autism, hypermobility, POTS, osteoarthritis and obviously with all that lot going on, chronic fatigue. Ive worked fully in my whole life, apart from a year off to have babies.
I’ve never even told an employer that I’m disabled. I just plough on through it and burn myself out if I try to do too much outside of work. Work uses up every shred of energy I have.
I am very very careful with my neck/spine, I can’t ever sit at anyone else’s desk as any changes completely disable me. I use heat pads at every opportunity to loosen myself up. I take about a million supplements and eat painkillers like sweets. I am very aware of when I need to rest.

It's not relevant to what I do, but I am working up to use my degree eventually.

I have had years out when I was younger. And I had no experience in HE/wellbeing at one point. Just had to really ram home my want to work in HE and in a wellbeing role. I didn't work for 8 years at one point and before that only in retail/customer service type roles

Ok..

1 - I am self employed with skills I can use from home based on knowledge gained from decades of self study, external assessment/qualification when I was more mobile and generally a bit healthier. I used to go out to peoples homes, now I can no longer do that. I also used to run seminars/lectures, but I can't do that any more either.

I am subcontracted to one company for several shifts a week, and freelance at other things, but all within the one field.

2 - Now - the fact my colleagues will cover my shifts at no notice, obviously thats extra pay for them if we can't arrange a swap. Often I can't arrange to swap because I don't know if I will be ok to do their shift instead of mine.

Then - I had a PA via access to work to carry stuff and drive me around, set things up, demonstrate things.

3 - I was already disabled when the company I sub contract to headhunted me for their start up project. I've been there ever since and have had several pay rises. They're happy to work around my disabilities and I also get extra work through them sometimes (writing articles, occasionally illustration).

4 - I'd put myself through decades of self study on the thing I do, plus external assessments, memberships of professional organisation. Some were more helpful than others as my disabilities increased/mobility decreased. When I was more mobile I did some volunteer work for practical 'real world' skills.

5 - N/A.

6 - N/A - I have huge gaps of years where I literally lay in bed trying not to die. I doubt any employer would interview me! I wouldn't!

7 - Big Company headhunted me, I was already known for what I do, and the job was mine literally before it even existed. This is incredibly lucky. Private clients find me via my website or word of mouth.

I am extremely lucky that a thing I was doing for free and later privately for a reasonable fee became something someone else wanted me to do for a decent hourly rate. I am again, extremely lucky that I have a variety of skills/talents, some of which I've worked hard at and some of which I honestly have not, that people are willing to pay me for, although I am now taking a real hit from AI!

I do not know how I would go about finding employment in any other industry, I can't work outside of the house (I currently cannot get out of my house safely!). Even long before I knew I was disabled (so loads of symptoms I struggled with but no dx), I rarely ever got to interview stage, and have never been offered a job following interview for one reason or another (I might once have got a job at Sainsburys but I had to leave the area). I couldn't even get McDonalds to hire me as a teenager!

So I am stuck, self employed and freelancing which is very precarious - I am also incredibly lucky that I inherited enough to buy a house (right to buy, and then bought a house at below market rate from my sister who was supported by our Father in buying another property) so I have some security there.

I am also debt free and have some small savings plus two credit cards for emergencies (literally nothing on them, we occasionally use them for the big shop then pay off immediately we get home).

I get max. PIP which pays for my vehicle, (yes, ironic since i can't currently use it but its a WAV and they're on a 5 year contract), physio who comes here, various stuff the NHS either doesn't supply or supplies only in very limited amounts, eg replacement parts for equipment, B12 jabs.

I get UC though I am not fit to work and not expected to find any/do any, I am permitted to do what I want, I just report my incomings/outgoings each month. I'd have preferred the WTC system but was pushed off that into UC fairly recently, so thats a safety net if I can't do any work or have to give my shifts away at any time.

My partner is my full time carer, I can cope with him being out of the house for a few hours at a time but theres a lot I still can't do, or am not safe to attempt doing if no ones here.

Didn't mean to quote the OP can't remove it now though!

Define disabled? I have ADHD, and officially depression, anxiety and pernicious anaemia and well as the normal.kind. I know a couple of people with less than that who categorise themselves as disabled so 🤷 I've always worked bar time off with kids, just jumped jobs more than someone without my attention span problems may have had, have found them hard because I was incapable of doing anything to the best of my abilities without medication, have self sabotaged more than I'd like to admit. Have cried in the shower more mornings than I should because the thought of forcing myself out into the world that felt so hard and critical, through a nightmare commute etc felt like too much. Have had to force myself through some fairly crippling lows. That's life sometimes isn't it?

My mum is disabled (physically, requires a chair most of the time) and has worked since becoming so. Not at all times, and she is retired now at 75 odd, but has always been busy.

I have physical and mental health issues.

1. office based. I have changed my job role to remove some more physical aspects that are impossible for me.

2. being part time is the biggest for me. I have always worked part time but initially applied for a full time role but asked to do it part time. Knowing when to ask was difficult, but I chose to speak to the job contact before I put in my application. My other main adjustment is flexibility eg being able to wfh sometimes if needed or around appointments (although sometimes I use annual leave). The other is my employer classing some of my time off is disability leave rather than sick leave and giving me more leeway with this.

3. disabled before employment. But I was known to my employer which made life easier.

4. my role requires professional qualifications. I was supported through student loans and stipends.

5. my probationary period was never official as to start with I was on several very short term contracts which led on to a longer one. For sick leave, some is accepted as disability leave. But I think I'm lucky that my job is highly qualified and specialist which means my employer is more flexible as it's not very easy to go out and replace me.

6. yes. I explained that I had been unwell during that time, but I was now at a stage where my conditions were stable and I was confident I could deal with the demands of the job.

7. that didn't really apply to me because my qualifications meant I was a competitive candidate. If you have no recent work history, is there any volunteering you can manage within your condition and benefit rules? Even knowing x turns up punctually, is appropriately dressed, deals with customers/clients/colleagues well and has a great attitude is a useful reference for a potential employer.

I work in local government and we have people with a range of disabilities physical, mental and developmental. A good HR department that understands the type of supports that are available to employers as well as employees helps. Some of our most disabled have started with us as part of government schemes where we go paid to take them on but have then proved they can contribute.

As a person with a disability, I think your OP is filled with stereotypes and misconceptions about what it means to be disabled, and in parts is borderline offensive.

I am a civil servant and manage a large team and we have many staff who are ND. We have a range of reasonable adjustments including reduced targets and home working contracts. Since Covid sickness rates across the team are pretty low for all staff, but all my team leaders are reasonable and fair and if someone asks for emergency AL, we will always allow it.

I myself have a physical disability, which meant a major surgery in 2017. Prior to that I was having a lot of stents which caused me to have life threatening acute pancreatitis multiple times (gallstones in my early 30’s damaged my pancreas permanently). It was hard to manage the sickness, and work were a lot less accommodating than they are now. I still suffer with pain, and take Oxycodone slow release and immediate release 3 a day. So quite strong meds to work on, but I don’t get drowsy as been on them for so long. For me, losing my job would have been awful. I love working, it brings so many benefits to my life. I really do think that working, in a supportive job like mine, improves people’s life’s. Sometimes having a disability can be all consuming, and its easy to sink into a depression. Having a career, good supportive colleagues (friends) only enriches my life. If I need adjustments, my boss wouldn’t hesitate to put whatever I need in place to help me keep my job.

Can’t handle stress, brain fog and fatigue limit what I can manage.

I dropped right down to a few hours a week in a basic admin job, then gradually increased my hours as and when I could cope with more. I’m up to 26 now.

Basically pacing and a job that’s significantly less challenging than my original potential.

Could you explain?

@noctilucentcloud
If you have no recent work history, is there any volunteering you can manage within your condition and benefit rules? Even knowing x turns up punctually, is appropriately dressed, deals with customers/clients/colleagues well and has a great attitude is a useful reference for a potential employer.

I have worked for approx. two of the past three years since a huge employment gap (during which I recovered from complex trauma, discovered I'm autistic, and got a degree). However this has only been in care roles and I have ended up leaving both due to struggling to manage the constant changing shifts/expectation of early-to-late availability 365 days a year (job 1, although I lasted almost 2 years!) and loads of poor management and timetabling issues (job 2). Have done a college course (related but different field to my degree) in the past year.

I'd really like something 9-5 (ish) Mon-Fri! And if it uses my skills even better! But it's hard to work out how to get a foot in the door.

This thread is intended as a general enquiry though! Although I will be taking down any tips!

If you enjoyed the care work and felt it suited you to some extent there are roles available that fit 9 to 5 monday to friday. Day centres is a good example

I did need flexibility but really just carried on through everything, burnt out at times, very hard but possible. I didn’t have much choice really, I needed a job, I had no one else to support me. But I have the rewards of that now im well paid, part time with lots of flexibility and benefits that include therapy and private healthcare.