Access to work for self employed? Any advise/tips or discussions about what's reasonable

[KatyMac]

I'm self employed - most of the time I work from home sometimes I cant/don't

I'm disabled, I struggle with walking, standing, carrying and moving things - I have large amounts of pain and I find it hard to find safe food and drink to eat when I'm away from home

I have done huge things to make my job easier for me and I drive an automatic as I can't manage the leg movements for a clutch

I make clothes and go to events to sell them, I run workshops at these events and I talk about sustainability

But I can no longer do the set up and pack down at these events, and I'm starting to struggle with the driving and I spend days after the events in bed because I've used all my spoons up

Would access to work help me in some way or would they just expect me to give up and get an easier job?

If I do claim what sort of things would it be reasonable to ask for help with?

Thanks x

Oh! Good luck xx

Fantastic news, well done! I was awarded over £17,000 to cover the full 3 years and won’t use all of that, but it’s lovely to have!

I’m finding the new way of submitting claims online makes the whole claim procedure much easier as well (and cheaper - no need for stamps).

I hope you find the award helpful to your business.

Brilliant news 🤩. This video is aimed at people with ADHD who are seeking funding but might help some trying to navigate the Access to Work process more generally https://www.adhdworks.info/access-to-work

Oh wow @Pushkinia I hope its fab for you xxx

ADHD is something I'm wondering about and I have to say chasing up a decision wasn't the most disability friendly process

@KatyMac The whole process is very disability unfriendly, I found!

My disability is physical, so possibly easier for the advisor to understand, so I get the award for taxi journeys, as public transport is a real challenge for me.

Writing out the 5 page claim form every month has been a struggle (I don’t write well, due to neurological problems) so the new online claim system is marvellous!

I’ve generally found the AtW advisors on the phone very helpful, when I manage to get through to them (average queue time 35 - 60 minutes).

I guess the next admin task is applying for disabled parking - I do find admitting I'm struggling really hard