Enabling Work Case Studies
Enabling Work is here to:
- Give individuals with disabilities a place to find genuine support, guidance and more importantly control over their own careers even though they may have many barriers to overcome.
- Give businesses the opportunity to empower their valued staff who have developed disabilities to find solutions to overcoming any barriers. This will benefit the business by enabling them to retain their employee’s valuable skills.
Sue Berry – Managing Director of Enabling Work
Jenny –Mid Wales
Jenny developed an eye condition that meant over the next year or so she would lose practically all of her sight.
She loved her job as a Physiotherapist at the local hospital, she was a community nurse which meant some local travel. Jenny hoped she could find a way to continue this work. How could she find a solution?
With the help of specialist assessor/coach Sue Berry, Jenny established that if she could change her approach to filling in forms etc, get used to travelling alone to her patients homes and keep her confidence and motivation high, she would achieve her goals.
Jenny asked her employers for support and they were able to provide her with a laptop, scanner, portable printer and screen reader software. She then set about learning how to use this equipment for her job. She scanned in all of the forms that her employers needed her to work with and adapted them to enable her to fill them in accurately. She also started to learn to touch type, a skill invaluable if you are losing your sight.
Over the following months Jenny made valuable enabling changes that meant she could keep her job and self worth. She is still adjusting to her new life but with the confidence to succeed.
Dave – Cumbria
Dave is dyslexic and finds it hard to put pen to paper. He has his own pest control business. Until recently all he was expected to do was to get rid of vermin, but new legislation mean that for each company he now visits he has to supply a report of findings and actions.
How did he overcome this huge issue?
Dave with the support of specialist assessor/coach Sue Berry looked at solutions to achieve his goal of producing onsite reports.
With the aid of a laptop, portable printer and both dyslexia software and Voice Recognition software Dave was able to get the report format installed onto his PC. He then learnt how to fill in these reports using Voice Recognition software and for when people were around he used the dyslexia software to ensure he was spelling and constructing sentences accurately. These could then be printed out for the client.
Everyone is happy, especially Dave who now feels confident and very professional. Legislation didn’t get the better of him!
Karen – South Wales
Karen works for a National Charity as a manager – her responsibilities involve dealing with staff and what seems like a stack of paperwork – including reports and budgets, appraisals and letters. She loves her job but has a back condition that means she can only sit or stand for short periods of time.
How can she possibly stay in work?
Well with the support of specialist assessor/coach Sue Berry, Karen worked out that she could do all of her paperwork lying down if she was supplied with a flat couch and a computer with Voice Recognition software installed. Karen soon learnt how to use this software and her Employers and staff soon adapted to seeing Karen lying down for some of the day. Video Conferencing was set up for long meetings so that Karen could participate without pain and her work did not suffer at all, she very rarely takes time off work due to her illness so she is happier and her employers have retained a crucial member of their team.