Well, I cant believe I blogged last night and didn't even talk about the thing that the blog was about....so, while I was on the bus we picked up a lady in the next village along from mine. she got on with another older lady and they made their way to the back of the double decker where I sat on the bench seat.
The first lady I recon might have been my ageish, she didn't really come near enough for me to see her properly. She had a walking stick and seemed to be struggling to walk. when she started to talk she sort of sounded middle aged, if that's not ageist.
The lady following her was short and had a rain mac down to her ankles, and a bobble hat, her voice sounded like that of a older person....maybe I am ageist!
Anyway, the conversation they were having was about how difficult it is to get a job as a person with a disability.
They younger woman was saying that she had always worked, she didn't have a partner (that's not to say she hadn't ever had a partner, I am only going on what I could hear her say), she also hadn't had children, so she only had to provide for herself.
Suddenly she had found herself in a different bracket when she unfortunately became 'disabled' and the full time job she was in was unsuitable and the company she worked for made her redundant.
She could no longer drive and sold her car, so this meant while she was recovering from numerous operations to help her have a better quality of life, she was reasonably well off financially whilst her physical and mental wounds healed and she learned to live a new life as a disabled person.
Yep, I get all that, life can throw some shit at people, and I felt a wave of pity for this lady and then shamefulness as I was sitting earwigging into their conversation.
But I continued to listen....so because she was in a comfortable financial position she was unable to claim most of the benefits that are available, so she plodded on.
As time trickled on, her bank balance had started to trickle away, so as she was feeling mentally strong and ready to get back to the rat race.
That's where the trouble started, the lady began telling the other woman how she had become unemployable, and that companies will not employ someone with a disability, she then reeled off a long list of companies that had vacancies that she had applied for, but none of them, she says, would employ her because of her disability.
So, in my mind there are one of two things happening here, one is, this woman is not trying hard enough to find employment and is simply sitting back and picking jobs that are unrealistic and maybe have health and safety issues involved, maybe she needs to ask why they turn her down! Maybe she needs to look at the types of jobs she is applying for and perhaps re train or look for a job that is more realistic considering her disability (Bare in mind I still don't know what her actual disability is)
The second issue, and one I think is maybe more likely, is that there is a serious problem in this country when it comes to employing people with disabilities....don't get me wrong I do see both sides of the coin, some people with disabilities are quite happy to sit at home claiming every benefit under the sun, others truly ARE UNABLE to work, and then there are people who want to work but cant find someone to employ them.
I have worked with special needs children for 13 years, but I know if I left my job tomorrow and then decided that I missed it, I am quite sure my employer would not re employ me, I am a liability, and probably come with a long list of reasons for not employing, so what do we do? There must be support out there, I know for a fact that there are contacts for my disability that will help me as much as they can. So there must be other organisations to provide people with support to move into employment, actually I am quite sure they are out there, but I don't think the information filters through to everybody, and people get missed, we need a better system to help disabled people with employment, there are companies that will happily employ persons with a disability, Asda for instance have a policy for doing just that.
Maybe communications need to be better, opportunities need to be better advertised, if I found a section in the local newspaper devoted for opportunities for people with sight impairments I would be overwhelmed, not only for job vacancies, but other opportunities, like disabled swim, blind yoga, or blind running club...that obviously would be no good for me as I cant run without peeing myself! I suppose I could wear a tena lady....but then it might rub...what the hell am I talking about, I CANT RUN!!
Anyway, that was what I was supposed to tell you all about yesterday!! I woke up in the middle of the night and thought bugger, I know what I missed out!!
Right am off for a bath and bed, Goodnight everyone,
Speak soon xx
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