Employment
Introduction
Starting your journey into the work can happen in a variety of ways, it does not need to begin with full-time paid employment. It is important to recognise that any person with additional support needs has a right to work. Employers must make reasonable adjustments to accommodate for any needs. There is a range of working roles such as: traineeships, apprenticeships, volunteering and private sector employment.
Your Rights in work
People with a learning disability have the right to access a paid job, volunteer role or training opportunity, just like people without a disability. Young people may benefit from adapting their place of work to allow them to fulfil their full potential. Organisations who host people with additional needs must make these changes, these are called reasonable adjustments. It is important to remember you do not need to tell people about your disability if you do not want to.
Reasonable adjustments
These are changes that support people to overcome substantial barriers to access work opportunities. These can vary and will depend on each individual person. Some adjustments include:
Creating documents in various formats i.e. British sign language, large text
Creating specifically adapted spaces i.e. quiet zones in shared spaces, adapted lighting
Physically accessible work places
The equality of human rights commission explain reasonable adjustments here . They also have video resources on their YouTube channel.
Helpful links to knowing your rights
Disability Wales - find out more here
Disability Wales - This booklet summaries key legislation and what your entitlements are. Resource can be found here
Autism Wales - find out more here
Scope - this resource helps people with disabilities explain their support needs to their workplace, click here.
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