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For most graduates, the
process of both graduation and finding a job at the end of your
educational endeavours is, to say the least, 'stressful'.
However, add a disability
to all of this and the situation can easily feel pretty hopeless.
Nevertheless, with help
and some handy hints from Graduate UK, graduation for a disabled
person does not have to feel like this.
Definition
The term 'disability'
can be applied to a whole range of graduates who don't quite fit
the 'norm'- from being slightly dyslexic to having a very debilitating
illness or disease.
However small or large
your condition is, there is help out there for you. So take it!
Advice
from your University
Your University employs
all the staff it needs to help people like you. Do not be ashamed
or afraid to ask for help, this is what these people are employed
to do!
Your University's Disability
Support Unit (DSU) will be able to guide you to the right people
to talk to about future employment.
They will normally send
you to your University's Careers Service where you will be given
the opportunity to discuss your worries about employment, and how
your employer will be able to help you succeed in the workplace
despite your disability.
There are many placement
schemes designed for disabled students - full details will be available
in your University Careers Service.
These schemes are an
excellent way of getting to know your rights as a disabled employee.
They also help you to
establish your own boundaries of what you are able to do in the
workplace, without doing more damage to your health.
Postgraduate
Study
If you are contemplating
doing a postgraduate degree, your University Careers Service will
be able to help you there, too.
Your Disability Support
Unit (DSU) will make sure that the correct procedures are put into
place for you to continue in your education with the support you
need.
Your
Rights as a Disabled Employee
As a disabled employee,
you have as many rights in the workplace as your colleagues do.
Your place of work will
likely have some kind of Union in which it is in your best interests
to belong to in case you need support and backing.
If you are having trouble
finding work, and suspect this to be because you are disabled, then
potential employers who turn you down may be guilty of discrimination.
Remind employers of the
"Access
To Work" scheme which has recently been put into place.
This is a government backed scheme which gives grants to employers
to enable them to employ disabled workers.
It is hard to come to
terms with having some kind of disability and, therefore, even harder
to admit this to an employer. However, it is in your best interest
to be honest about your disability - it doesn't help anybody to
lie.
Tell your employer how
your disability affects you, and tell them what they can do to make
working life easier for you.
Recent figures suggest
that there are over 250 disabled people per week being employed,
so do not lose hope!
If
the Worst Comes to the Worst: Benefits
If you are too ill to
work, do not be afraid or ashamed to ask for government help in
the way of Incapacity
Benefit or Disability Living allowance (DLA). There
is an awful lot of form filling involved, but it will be worth it.
It can bring great shame
upon a graduate applying for benefits-especially as you have worked
so hard for your degree. But do not fear - this is only a short-term
solution and, once you are well enough to work again, you can sink
your teeth back into something you enjoy in the workplace.
Working
From Home: An Easier Option?
Working from home is
ideal for a disabled graduate, although you don't get the social
side of attending a place of work.
Depending on what degree
you have studied, there are lots of different opportunities for
you if you choose to work from home.
For example, you could
think about setting up a small business from home, be a freelance
writer, work in sales and communications…there are all sorts
of opportunities out there, so grab them with both hands!!
Useful
Contacts
Disabled
Data Link Group (Click
to visit)
Disability
Home Page
(Department for Work and Pensions - DWP)
(Click to visit)
Government helpline
for Your Rights in the Workplace:
Tel: (08457) 622
633
This article was written by Esther
Fretwell. Click here to contact her.
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