Case studies
Case Studies
Arthritis
Frieda is a 47-year-old woman with arthritis developing in her hands. She works as a receptionist in a doctor's surgery. When the condition started five years ago, she found writing with a standard pen increasingly painful. Her manager ordered 'sticky' pens with a larger barrel, which Frieda found helpful. As her condition progressed, the manager changed the phone for a model without 'fiddly buttons'. Later the manager also changed the way in which the work was allocated, so that a reception assistant took out all the patients' files at the beginning of the sessions and re-filed them at the end because Frieda was no longer able to do this.
Frieda was able to continue to be an effective part of the team and she was able to keep the job she had done admirably for 15 years. Frieda does not want the arthritis to stop her 'doing anything she wants to do', but she also does not want it to have a negative impact on anyone else. She says that she will leave her job rather than having her colleagues 'carrying her', and feels that the changes that have been made have ensured that this does not happen.
Vision
Maria has restricted vision and works as a receptionist in a social services department. Every month she attends a departmental meeting in a room away from her workstation. The minutes of the meeting are usually printed in 12-point type, which Maria cannot read without her desktop magnification aids. The secretary prints out the minutes for Maria in 36-point type, which she is able to read in the meeting room with just her glasses. This simple adjustment is very effective in preventing the disadvantage that would otherwise occur.
Learning
Claire has a learning disability and is unable to read. She works as a cleaner in a residential home for older people. During her induction training, it became clear that she found it hard to tell which cleaning material was which. Her supervisor created a system of marking the bottles of cleaning fluid with different colours and buying cleaning cloths in the same colours.
Claire knew to use the bottle with the yellow spot and yellow cloth to clean the toilet, the bottle with the pink spot and the pink cloth for the furniture, and so on. This was a very effective method for Claire and an easy step for the employer to take. Claire's confidence has grown as she is valued at work for the first time. She discusses anything she finds unclear and does not have to 'hide the problems' as she did in her previous employment for fear of being told off or laughed at.
Mobility
William is a highly skilled draftsman who designs public areas in new office buildings. He had been working for his company for 10 years when he had a climbing accident which left him severely disabled, and unable to work for 18 months. When he returned to work, it was on a part-time basis. With the support of the Access to Work team and a Workstep provider, his company identified alternative ways for William to do his job and provided enhanced computer hardware and software, training and travel to work support. The total cost of the package was over £20,000, most of which was paid for by the Access to Work Team.
As a result of the experience, the company used its knowledge of access for disabled people in its new designs, thus giving them an advantage over their competitors.
Next - providing support for dyslexic employees