Fighting Chance blog 4

Overcoming the hurdles of employment

Wednesday, 01 February 2012 03:36

Our In-house blog writer, Maria Makhoul, is back to look at the challenges people face in gaining employment. Employment: One's work, trade, or profession. Back in August 2011, when I introduced myself in my very first Fighting Chance blog, I briefly touched on what “employment” generally meant for and to me whereas this time, I’m delving deeper inside of what the different challenges that mainstream employment has to offer and entail for people with disabilities; what follows is a series of interviews with myself and my Fighting Chance colleagues Ray Sladic, Mark Wadsworth and Georgia Cooper about our employment experiences. Georgia Cooper 1. What is your disability and how does it affect your ability to work? Ray: “Well, I have mild cerebral palsy (CP). How does it affect me? Well, it doesn’t really affect me. But it can affect other people’s points of view.”  2. What are the difficulties of getting into mainstream employment that you can’t do anything about? Ray: “Well, you know, it’s very hard getting a job, especially for disabled people. Employers want a person that can be able to do everything, and sometimes they think you can’t do everything.” Mark: “Most jobs now days require a driver’s license and I had to give mine up last year. Getting to and from work is difficult but you can do it.” “All I require are toilet modifications and that’s about it. But then, I’ve never particularly liked working for someone else.  I’ve been self-employed since the age of 19. I’m pig-headed, I’m obstinate and I’ll tell people what I think.” 3. What kind of problems might you face in the workforce? Maria: “Whilst I can adapt to people being different, I can’t adapt to people getting angry with me for things I can’t do anything about. This is why I feel it’s really important to establish a rapport for the people I’m working for, if something personal comes up that you might find difficult to handle, you would be hesitant to talk to them about it if you don’t have a personable rapport.” “Georgia: For me, if I can’t get something myself I need some assistance. But I like to be as independent as possible, that’s the most important thing, to be independent and focused and confident as you can be.” 4. Have employers ever discriminated against you? Maria: “My last job wasn’t really challenging or stimulating. I was doing packaging and had leave due to ill health. They wanted me to increase my productivity and work too fast. My neck was hurting and it gave me frequent headaches. I would classify this as discriminatory, knowing how capable I am at doing everyday stimulating work tasks at my own pace.” “I would ask employees to follow their heads and hearts and to speak up if something is wrong and persist in speaking up if they don’t get heard, or just empower themselves to take a stand and leave if they feel that they’re not being heard.” Mark: “They wouldn’t dare.” Georgia: “No not really. Mostly employers have been pretty good.” 5. What does it mean for you to be employed? Maria: “It’s just given me a purpose of the ability to connect with others and getting to voice my opinions on many issues that matter to me outside my disability”. “I’ve been told that the work I am doing is inspiring, but I never saw myself that way I just saw myself as doing what any other person would do under the circumstances.” “It feels really comforting for me to work here (Fighting Chance) because I work with a family that is committed and driven to make a difference for people with disabilities and believe in me enough to employee me. I enjoy talking to my employers and I’ve established a great rapport with them. They know what I’m going through, if I go into work having a difficult time, they can ask what’s wrong and they help you get what you need to overcome whatever hurdles.” Mark: “Basically, it’s fulfilling, it makes you feel as though you’re contributing to society. The most important thing about working is enjoying the company of the people you work with...Except the boss.” The bottom line is, when life throws challenges at us, we all go through something that makes us become strong life survivors. Getting into mainstream employment is no exception to this rule because I wholeheartedly believe that each and every single one of us as human beings is an “unstoppable” and capable warrior, in our own right; that should be given a chance.