It’s Disability History Month and the theme for this year is disability livelihood and employment so I asked you what you wish people knew about working (or not being able to work) with a disability. What would you add to the list, let me know in the comments?

What we wish you knew about working with a disability:
1. Working around our symptoms can actually work to your advantage because when we’re feeling our best, we get the most work done. If we are forced to struggle through we will not do our best work.
2. If you live with a disability or chronic condition and live in England, Scotland, and Wales, I highly recommend you apply to Access To Work. It’s got its issues, but it’s a great grant scheme that can fund things like support workers, mobility equipment, all to help you do your job. You can find out more info about this on my YouTube channel.
3. Hiring disabled people brings lots of skills that non-disabled people don’t necessarily have. We bring a different perspective, our adaptability skills are amazing and we have some of the leaders in innovation. We are creative & diverse and deserve more recognition for the amazing work we do!
4. It can be really hard finding a job with a disability due to prejudiced views, and it can be even more difficult to get accommodations when you’re in a job. It’s exhausting and time consuming, and accommodations are not just something that we get given for no reason.
5. A lot of us really aren’t able to work, but we have to. Benefits do not cover it all, and life costs an average of £975 per month more in households with 1 disabled person, so often we have to push through & cause ourselves more harm. We spend all of our time when we are off work recovering.
The main thing we want you to remember, this Disability History Month is that disabled people do not have to be working to be valued members of society.