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 need to retrain from what I do public facing with no Flexibility to soemthing with some wfh or flexibility.

Is love ideas and to know what people on here are doing. I'm autistic and get very tired. I'd love to be 3-4 days a week. Most jobs I look at retraining in require 5 days a week., I wish I'd got it right first time. High iq/good degrees. Struggling to find a new job.

Just wanted to say as a parent of two disabled children that this thread is inspirational.

@JobhuntingDespair I might be wrong, but I think those who are suggesting you aren't genuine possibly suspect that you're in fact a Daily Fail journo trying to get case studies to show why disabled people don't need benefits. As the parent if an autistic young adult, and very likely neurospicy myself, I didn't read that into your post at all, it read as someone autistic trying to get help understanding a very confusing world at an even more confusing time.

I have a sleep disorder, Arthritis and Fibromyalgia. For many years the biggest barrier to work was actually my child as it was difficult to get a diagnosis for them and they really struggled at school due to being very academically able so lots of "there's nothing wrong with them" while their mental health plummeted thanks to lack of social understanding. Now they're older (and I am!), my own disabilities are the bigger issue.

What sort of role are you in, and is this influenced by disability? (Eg. physical disability so avoid manual work.)
Charity shop manager. Yes, my qualifications are in business and I worked as an office manager before moving into care work when I needed to work nights as it meant I could home educate. I had to leave carework because the arthritis made it difficult and an operation to reduce the pain left me unable to write for a long time and I still can't do buttons or some zips! I couldn't go back to admin roles because of the arthritis.

What sort of reasonable adjustments do you find the most helpful? And how easy was it to get these?
It's the kind of job where I can create them myself to a certain extent, mostly because its not part of a big chain with set in stone rules, and because I was employed to set the shop up. For example, we have hangers with twisty hooks because that way I don't have to take clothes off and turn them around if they are going on a rail that faces the opposite way, I just twist the hook. I'm the kind of person to find work arounds myself for most things, I have specialist keyboard and mouse provides by access to work that make it more comfortable to use the laptop and I buy special pens for myself. I have an excellent physio/ot via the NHS so access to various supports to help. I think more people need to know 'access to work' scheme exists as they can make a huge difference.

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

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?
I volunteered in a charity shop when I had to stop care work and was recovering from the op. A paid position came up and the manager asked me to apply. She persuaded me that we could make the reasonable adjustments I needed so I agreed. When she left she recommended me for her job. I declined as the sleep disorder means I need to work part time. After a few months and no replacement for her I was asked by senior management to do it as a secondment and as 4 days not 5. I agreed and did that for 9 months before then leaving to go to my current job.

How did you manage to pass the probationary period or avoid being managed out for performance/time off sick?
Time off sick isn't an issue if I work part time. They were aware of my issues so my performance meets expectations.

Do you have large CV gaps due to your disability, and if so how have you explained/managed these?
Yes, 18 months out as I had two operations a year apart and couldn't work between. I put that on my CV and did volunteer work in that time so it's not an actual gap just a paid employment gap.

How did you convince an employer to give you a chance, to get a foot in the door of a suitable job?
Volunteering first to show I could do it. I now have many volunteers who have come to me in similar situations to my own, we've helped them build confidence and they've gone on to jobs elsewhere. One is now my assistant. Being disabled myself means I understand the difficulties and we are known to be a very disability and neurodivergence inclusive team.

It surely depends hugely on the job and the disability/s?

I work in IT. I've worked with a guy in a wheelchair - he could do everything except one or two bits of physical work with handling computer hardware. He did once go for an interview where there was no step-free access to the building, which they failed to mention beforehand

I've had/have a number of deaf colleagues who are usually fine with hearing aids. One has a cochlear implant. Sometimes you just have to remember to speak to their better side, or where they can see your face.

I have a friend who is blind, and is a department head in a secondary school. I think it's very pertinent that he became blind as an adult, and already had an established career record. I think it would have been a very different story were he starting from scratch in his career. He's currently in the private sector and they happily coughed up for some very swish tech to read documents (even handwritten ones) for him. It has made things more accessible for him - and it cost money that the state sector just couldn't spend. When he was last applying for jobs, there were schools he declined, because they weren't as accommodating. He's also been quite upset at points when his remaining sight has declined further and he could no longer make out children's faces and so on.

I don't know about colleagues with mental health issues. I probably have worked with some, but I haven't been aware of a formal diagnosis, and as I'm not HR nor their line manager, why should I? I am I a particularly techy area of IT, and I suspect quite a few colleagues over the years may be autistic, but I'm not aware of any with a formal diagnosis - but again,why shoukd I be?

I think physical but mostly stable conditions are probably easier to accommodate. It's the ones which flare up, or cause burnout, meaning attendance is less predictable which is more challenging for employers; it's easier to manage a team when absences are planned, not like having a team member where you're never sure if they'll be in that day. Conditions affecting mental ability will also restrict the sorts of jobs possible for someone - many jobs do require staff to have a certain level of intelligence.

Larger organisations are probably more able to be more flexible as a general rule, because if you've got hundreds of staff, you've got more options in terms of hours, job shares, physical and mental abilities. A staff of five usually means you just can't change much and still cover your operating hours, but it does still depend on the exact job/business and particular role. A guy with one arm might not manage well in a physical warehouse role, but would be fine in accounting (assuming he's had the relevant training.)

But I think slso, there's still a lot of prejudice out there. There will be employers who don't want yo put in a wheelchair ramp or won't see how more flexible working patterns could benefit the business, not just the employee.Or they're making assumptions about reliability and attendance or just about (in)ability to do the job, or don't want to bother with perceived extra paperwork etc.Not that they'll necessarily say that overtly, EA2010 and all - "the other candidate just haf more relevant experience," etc.

@POTC
@JobhuntingDespair I might be wrong, but I think those who are suggesting you aren't genuine possibly suspect that you're in fact a Daily Fail journo trying to get case studies to show why disabled people don't need benefits. As the parent if an autistic young adult, and very likely neurospicy myself, I didn't read that into your post at all, it read as someone autistic trying to get help understanding a very confusing world at an even more confusing time.

Thanks. I thought it would have been obvious from the questions that I recognise the barriers disabled people may face with employment. If there's any intentional subtext in my OP it's more along the lines of knowing it's not as simple as off you pop and get a job.

Autism, anxiety, chronic migraines, and airborne allergies that make being around people risky and difficult.

I got an excellent education and made myself highly in demand before my allergies got so bad that it was hard to be out and about. I now wfh exclusively. I negotiated part-time flexible hours so I can work around my medical
issues. They don’t really care when I work as long as the work gets done. I try not to miss critical meetings.