Disabled student struggling with where to start thinking about work practicalities

DylanEvans

Hi all,

I hope this is the best place for this. I'm currently in my last semester at university. I've decided to take some time out after uni to focus on my health and developing my 'adulting' skills, but obviously the need to find work after that is on my mind. I'm not all that worried about finding work as, frankly, I will have quite an employable degree and a decent CV, but the practicalities are really troubling me.

The thing that's most concerning is accommodation. I'm a wheelchair user so need accessible housing, which is obviously fairly hard to come by. I'm struggling to see how I can accept a job away from my current home without knowing I have somewhere to live, but also how I can enter into the lengthy process of getting accommodation without knowing I have a job to go to. I have similar concerns about arranging PA support and the like. I had to find accommodation and PA support at very short notice for an internship this summer and it was barely doable, and not sustainable long-term. My local social services tried their best but ultimately couldn't help with finding accommodation or a care agency.

I'm also pretty mystified by Access To Work, what support might be available to me and how I access it.

I'm sorry that I can't really distill this into a question, but I suppose that's half of my problem. It feels like a terrifying chicken-and-egg situation.

Thanks.

Zaid_Alumni

Hi @DylanEvans
thanks for posting. There are lots of variables in your enquiry. Scope has excellent resources to demystify Access to Work for you: https://www.scope.org.uk/support/disabled-people/work/access-to-work 

With regard to the other issues you mention, I feel that you should get in touch with us at Support to Work to register and have a chat about your options. You can call on 0300 222 5742 or register here: https://my.scope.org.uk/supporttowork/ 

I hope this helps and we look forward to hearing from you!

Sam_Alumni

I wonder if @melaniethorley can help at all?