Conclusions
2.8 The Difference Support Worker Provision Makes to Users In this section we draw on users’ own words to demonstrate their strong feelings
about the importance to them of the support.
For some, the fundamental difference was being able to work – ‘the difference between working and not working’. This could not be emphasised ‘strongly enough’. Not having a Support Worker might mean ‘the end of my working career’.
Almost all users emphasised the increased ability to do their job effectively. A driver meant getting to get to work reliably and doing a full week’s work. Support from a job coach enabled quicker work, mixing with others at work, and so gaining confidence to progress to another job. When starting a new job learning about the job, making appointments and getting to know team members would have been ‘very difficult’
without a communicator at work. Communicator support enabled more direct
communication of important information needed to do the job (as opposed to written messages which can be hard for BSL users to understand). Having Access to Work demonstrated that employer and colleagues ‘want me fully involved’.
Also stressed were participation in at work and social inclusion. People talked in terms of Access to Work giving them confidence, making them more relaxed, and making it easier to communicate with colleagues. People were not sure that they could have ‘coped without it’. Being ‘kept in touch with the outside world’, not feeling excluded at meetings and not knowing what other people were talking about made a lot of difference.
Independence, control and associated well-being were also highlighted. Having an assistant ‘on tap’ allowed greater command over the work without the indignity of having to always ask for help from colleagues. ‘Having to interruptand hassle’ busy colleagues would cause problems. People did not want to be ‘a burden’.
Career chances were enhanced, users believed. Having a personal reader enabled entry to a very competitive profession on a more equal footing, by demonstrating ability to do the work properly, and helped with advancement. Users of personal readers and job aides also pointed to improved career prospects - through being able to travel extensively and gain job experience or through progressing within the firm without appearing a burden to the employer and colleagues. Access to Work was ‘a crucial service’ to broaden careers.
For self-employed people Support Worker support could be ‘absolutely key’ to running company in the way a non-disabled person could. Guaranteed provision enabled planning of long-term business needs and more efficient business management.
Using a Support Worker could bring significant health gains that made the difference between staying in work and giving up. Without the ‘agony’ of writing and carrying, it
was possible to step back from the brink of resignation. Early retirement was averted through reduction of physical activity and associated pain, and the Support Worker was ‘a weight lifted off my shoulders knowing I could carry on’. Having a Support Worker could also make ill-health less likely, by reducing stress in coping with business paperwork for example.
For some, Support Worker provision was believed to reduce the disadvantages facing other disabled and deaf people too. Having a Support Worker demonstrated to non-disabled colleagues and customers that disabled people can work on an equal footing and helped to reduce prejudice.
Only one respondent referred solely to financial advantage, where the Support Worker was a family member who served as a driver to work.
2.9
Summary
• Without a Support Worker, getting any job would have been impossible for most
users, and some might even have given up looking for work altogether.
• Around one in four people established in work when they applied felt that they
would have given up working altogether if a Support Worker had not been available, and their employers generally agreed.
• Almost half of Support Worker users were completely or fairly certain that they
would lose their job without the support.
• Getting the support needed from other people at work was usually seen as
impossible and unacceptable to most. In only one case did the user and employer see scope for an acceptable alternative to having a Support Worker.
• Employers are not required to pay towards the costs. No employer agreed
wholeheartedly that the organisation would pay the full costs, but some might have paid a proportion. Employers were concerned about ongoing costs if several staff used Support Worker provision. The point was made that shifting costs to employers would make disabled people disproportionately expensive to employ.
• Some users stressed the responsibility of government to promote equality of
opportunity. Users felt asking an employer to pay would emphasise impairment and difference, prejudice employment chances, affect relations at work or reduce felt independence.
• Support Worker users stressed the difference the support made to them.
Participation at work, social inclusion, independence, control and enhanced career chances were emphasised. The support could be key to running a self- employed business in the way open to a non-disabled person. It could bring health gains that made the difference between staying in work and giving up. It also showed that disabled people can work on an equal footing and helped to reduce prejudice.