Many employers and disabled employees are unaware of the support from the government to assist a disabled person in employment. I was only introduced to Access to Work 10 years after I started full-time employment. Access to Work has provided financial assistance and allowed me, with the support of my previous employer and now myself as a director, to purchase specialised equipment so I am able to carry out my job more effectively. This has made a difference to me staying employed for as long as I have.
Access to Work is not commonly known about and is not as utilised and accessed by disabled people as it should be. Statistics show that just over 39,000 people applied to Access to Work between 2019 and 2020. If you compare this to the number of disabled people in employment, it is a very low percentage.
Over 16,000 people who had successful applications received specialist equipment, whereas just over 14,000 receive support towards having a support worker or PA. I have received a few awards from Access to Work which have been for specialist equipment. My awards included specialist software programmes, such as Dragon, Text Help Read and Right, to help my dyslexia. I also received support to purchase a touchscreen laptop, a trackball mouse, and an adapted keyboard. However, it isn’t just technical things. I’ve received several hours of specialist training allowing me to understand my dyslexia. They taught me how it impacts me and provided me with useful hints, tips, and different ways of working. I have also received help to buy a height-adjustable desk, a specialist computer chair, and blue printing paper, as I struggle to read from white paper.
It wasn’t until late 2019 that I was offered a support worker as part of my latest application. At first, I was against this. I had managed my employment on my own for such a long time, I was unsure how a support worker would help me. It made me feel as if I was not capable of carrying out my employment on my own. I was advised to think of the larger picture and how someone could take some of the pressure off me and allow me to fulfil my job to a greater standard. I spoke to many people about this. I toyed with the idea for a long time, and I drew up a list of pros and cons. I knew I had to put my pride to one side and to take up this valuable support for me and Ability Consultancy.
Coming up to 2 years later, I have to say it is the best decision I have ever made. I use a personal assistant company that works remotely for me. I was awarded seven hours a week and I did wonder how I would fill their time. But I have to say it is near enough perfect. They proofread all my documents, and they schedule all my social media after they have proofread it. One of the things that I appreciate is that they make everything read correctly but keep my words and my personality at the forefront of everything.
They have even come up with suggestions regarding social media. They are fully supportive and engaged in everything that I do. I think it helps to find an organisation that has a background in disability. They understand the systems and themselves understand Access to Work and disability legislation.
I know they are invested in what I am doing and are constantly providing ideas and suggestions to who I could work with. The amount of work they are doing behind the scenes is phenomenal and I can’t wait to see what the next year brings.
Having experienced Access to Work for all it is (the highs and lows), I am eternally grateful to have this support. It allows me and Ability Consultancy to grow and keep moving with the times.
Access to Work needs to be more prominent. I feel this would assist with increasing the employment rate among disabled people.
If employers and disabled people knew what support is out there, I am sure it would have an impact on the desire to employ a disabled person. It would then have a positive impact on an employer’s diversity amongst their employees. As we have discussed before, having a diverse workforce can bring so many benefits to any organisation.
If you want to find out more about equality and diversity, or would like support in understanding disability, please get in touch. We have several generic and bespoke support offers to assist businesses and organisations to be compliant, assessable and open to all.
Contact us at claire@ability-consultancy.co.uk
To find out about access to work check out click here
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