Hi everyone,
I havent posted for a while but I spoke to a workforce inclusion officer in my relatively new job and they suggested that I apply to Access to Work to consider getting funding support for a work coach. I wondered if anyone else has accessed Access to Work and how you have used it, whether it has been beneficial etc.
I've also had negative issues with the Shaw trust the last three months as well, they keep trying to harass me into working with livestock again or in a slaughterhouse or seasonal work which is not a realistic long term employment goals either.
Genuis Within have been awful. They keep closing my referrals down and only offering group sessions, the basically offer pointless advice of the phone.no practical support whatsoever.
I'm in Norfolk too. I was referred to Shaw Trust in early 2020 for the current 'Work and Health Programme' with the hope that I could have got onto work trials, but then Covid lockdown hit and all I got was phone calls, and phones are the means of communication I find most difficult. Shaw Trust just kept suggesting "do online courses", "have some video-call coaching" which all feel futile as these do not get me in front of an employer and able to show what I can do. I too encountered Genius Within as this video-call coaching was with them, I found that really difficult. With my very hesitant speech, being put through Zoom calls and asked a lot of questions was difficult and I clammed up many times. I was often unable to fully think through answering one question before another would be asked.
There have been many threads suggesting a consensus that DEAs in DWP and associated providers such as Shaw Trust and Genius Within have a lack of understanding of Asperger's.
I've also had negative issues with the Shaw trust the last three months as well, they keep trying to harass me into working with livestock again or in a slaughterhouse or seasonal work which is not a realistic long term employment goals either.
Genuis Within have been awful. They keep closing my referrals down and only offering group sessions, the basically offer pointless advice of the phone.no practical support whatsoever.
I'm in Norfolk too. I was referred to Shaw Trust in early 2020 for the current 'Work and Health Programme' with the hope that I could have got onto work trials, but then Covid lockdown hit and all I got was phone calls, and phones are the means of communication I find most difficult. Shaw Trust just kept suggesting "do online courses", "have some video-call coaching" which all feel futile as these do not get me in front of an employer and able to show what I can do. I too encountered Genius Within as this video-call coaching was with them, I found that really difficult. With my very hesitant speech, being put through Zoom calls and asked a lot of questions was difficult and I clammed up many times. I was often unable to fully think through answering one question before another would be asked.
There have been many threads suggesting a consensus that DEAs in DWP and associated providers such as Shaw Trust and Genius Within have a lack of understanding of Asperger's.
I don't suppose you live in the Breckland area & have access to Thetford. If so i recommended you look for "The Chances project" & ask for the women working for them called Lyn Keane. The Chances Project is another council run scheme so as an organisation/scheme it is terrible. But Lyn Keane who works for them is actually worthwhile to seek out and offers one to one support, Reviews you CV and teaches you the Do's and Don'ts on CV's and cover letters instead of just doing for you. She also doesn't pretend to understand Autism or ADHD and actually listens to you as an individual and comes up with coping mechanism, skills and out of the box methods to get you into long term sustainable employment.
I am lucky enough to be getting Post Autism Support at the moment from the "Autism Service Norfolk & Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust" which has been actually been rather good. Because my situation was complex they changed their strategy towards me. They are currently during my sessions creating a health passport and list of reasonable adjust for future employment.
I've had the same experience with the Shawtrust they keep setting up online sessions with other people and cancelling them at the last minute. I've been with them since april 2020 and they have not help at all. They reviewed and altered my CV and i am now seeing someone from an organisation called chances and she agrees they are not helping me they are using me to achieve their targets.
Genius within is basically where the shawtrust send people with Autism and Learning disabilities because the Genius within was built to support autistic individuals and people with learning disabilities and honestly as useless as the shawtrust. It's not a lack of understanding it a lack of everything.
I find telephone and video calls difficult and exhausting. It is definitely a downside of the world of work right now.
