Do Aspes get Justice?

By Erica Lyons 20/5/2013

The purpose of this article is to help give an assessment of the employment system on a personal level. It is about the events from when I graduated in 2007 until now, to make a decision as to whether the system does justice to people with disabilities or the taxpayer. The job centre’s aims are to stop people claiming means tested benefits so therefore they advertise work for minimum of sixteen hours, but is this cost effective on the taxpayer in practicality? They have agencies like Shawtrust and Remploy to help get people with disabilities into work. Do people with Asperger’s syndrome get justice? Or are they even treated equally? Remember equal does not mean identical, I will discuss more on that later.

In 2007 I graduated with a 2.2 honours degree, I went straight to the job centre and was advised to make an appointment with a disabilities advisor; she advised me to go to Outreach to get a CV done. I was then referred to the Oakley Trust to do a work preparation course; I did a six-week placement at the Zero Centre doing administration. A few weeks later the advisor sent me a form for the Child Support Agency, and said the civil service had an equal rights policy. The civil service gives a guaranteed interview to people with a disability or health condition if they meet the job specification. I passed the literacy and numeracy tests and went to the second interview. I did not get the job. If the people in the interview panel have no knowledge of Asperger’s syndrome there is a high chance that a person with the condition will not get the job.

A few months later I was referred by the jobcentre to Shawtrust. They applied on my behalf for a job in a hotel to work as a chambermaid. The hotel initially advertised it in the job centre as a sixteen-hour job, they offered it to me and said they were going to cut it to twelve hours. Shawtrust and the job centre advised me not to take it.

In June 2009 Shawtrust said they had arranged a job trial as a care assistant. The trial was only a couple of days and before I knew it I had the job. It could be said; it made me one of the fulltime employment statistics. Asperger’s syndrome shares traits with dyspraxia. An example of equal not being identical is a person in a wheelchair may need a ramp to get somewhere. I believe that justice for Asperger’s people means giving them work they are employable for. I took my degree with a conscience, and with a wish to be an asset to a company and not a liability. A few times because of my condition I nearly dropped residents and had no dexterity in my fingers while I had gloves on. Asperger’s is neurological condition, which can affect co-ordination and balance.

After three months they moved me to a different role, as they had to make reasonable adjustments under the 1995 Disabilities Discrimination Act. When they made the “reasonable adjustment” they cut my hours. I earned nowhere near enough to be a taxpayer and then had some of my housing benefit paid as well as tax credits. I served the breakfast in the morning and washed up. I would have colleagues saying, “I don’t mean to sound disrespectful, but you’re not a carer.” A year later I was moved again and Shawtrust applied for funding from ‘Access to Work’, another government-based agency. I kept asking Shawtrust to help me find another job that I was employable for. The answer I would receive was “we can only support you in the job you are in.” I told Shawtrust that Asperger’s shares traits with dyspraxia and they said, “Oh I didn’t know that.” There was a man with muscular dystrophy working for the company, who also got his work from Shawtrust. He was being made to do heavy manual work with the residents and in the kitchen. This makes you wonder if Shawtrust minions become dehumanised. They are keen to get people into work, when they do not have a concept of their occupational health. I believe treating people equally is respecting them, and treating them as individuals and not statistics. For example you could give two people different presents but they are worth the same to each person. Everybody deserves work they are employable for. Two different jobs for two different people can be worth the same value to both people. I was labelled a “slow learner” so that they could receive funding for a mentor to help me learn how to clean a kitchen. A year later they had to sit me down and tell me I was severely depressed and needed time away from the job. I did not get any Statutory Sick Pay from the company because I didn’t earn enough. I then ended up on anti-depressants, which also cost the taxpayer money.

In conclusion it could be said that I am a “prime example” of how the employment system doesn’t do justice to people with disabilities or to taxpayers. When you think of Access to Work, funded by the government, companies can get away with cutting hours and call it “making reasonable adjustments,” I am back on benefits, because I had to leave as a result of my mental health and I am still taking antidepressants to this day. I felt obliged to take the job, as I could not pass interviews. A lot of people with Asperger's syndrome do not get work that is to the level of their academic merits because they are perceived as less intelligent.

In some ways it could be said that Aspes are victims of capitalism as companies are paid by government agencies to take people with disabilities on. I still have a conscience but I am confused because I am disillusioned with the system.

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Sorry Comments Closed

Comment left by Lis Edgar on 30th September, 2013 at 21:00
Legacy of so called "inclusion". Nice to see you today Erica.