Published on 12, July, 2020
My Universal Credit, work coach referred me to learndirect for a week long customer care course.
Yesterday I had my interview.
A lot of form filling, name, address, phone no. Email, national insurance, next of kin phone, etc etc etc.
Q... What is my ideal job?
What job I would refuse to do?
Any disabilities ???????
Around 10 Q about my style of learning. Multiple choice with 3 choices.
Formal face to face interview.
A Maths test.
Place four numbers in order from lowest to highest?
Someone spends £10 a week on travel. How much will he spend on travel in four weeks? Show all workings.
Etc
An English test.
Circle wrongly spelt words.
Add Capitals and full stops to a sentence.
Identify a verb in a sentence. They even explained that a verb is an action or doing word.
Week long course starts on Monday 29th Jan.
Did you answer 'Yes' to 'Any disabilities?' I always do now.
I was wondering about whether I should now answer yes or no to that question. I want to answer yes, so I guess I should!
I answered 'No' on my employers' medical questionnaire - but they already know I'm on the spectrum, and I explained that I answered 'No' because I don't like to think of it so much as a disability as a 'different ability'. But that's a personal thing - and I'm confident that my employer (being an autism trust) will be understanding. But in any other circumstance, I will answer 'Yes' in future.
The social model of disability no longer sees a person as 'disabled' all their life. That doesn't mean their 'disability' will go away, but a person may need less or no support at different times. The disability laws and benefits etc are to give people, as far as they can, equal opportunities and I know right now, I would consider myself disabled, under the social model of disability and therefore entitled to certain rights and protections as well as reasonable support. So I've kind of changed the way I see myself, in certain situations and in doing so, I have gained more confidence in who I am. I think I will probably always class myself as disabled until neurodiversity is accepted as an equal and we have a say in how we live our lives. So I guess I'll be ticking the disabled box from now on, if I come across that question.