tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34940564.post319525807840368066..comments2023-11-25T01:12:34.326+00:00Comments on Benefit Scrounging Scum: Hard Working Species, The 'Striver Scrounger' #BADD2014 Blogging Against Disablism Day 2014 BenefitScroungingScumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08939136229593231935noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34940564.post-31740449935906867032014-05-21T02:13:36.884+01:002014-05-21T02:13:36.884+01:00You totally put this across so precisely. I have ...You totally put this across so precisely. I have fibromyalgia (my gp's suspecting Ehlers Danlos, I'm not really sure myself) and you explain the struggles I have with work. I haven't worked since 2008 and always struggled in various jobs. Now I'm battling an ESA dispute since 2011. It's ridiculous. I blog to keep myself sane and give me a reason to live and I too hope to have my holy grail job at some point before it's late.Becky Magson | Becky's Boudoirhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16375412772942027365noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34940564.post-77967373292376107472014-05-13T22:41:25.630+01:002014-05-13T22:41:25.630+01:00This only makes me realise again how lucky I am. I...This only makes me realise again how lucky I am. I've generally had third sector jobs in large agencies which have given advances to cover that gap till the first pay packet; which have increasingly allowed working from home; and which have genuinely tried to make access easier. For these reasons I haven't needed benefits. <br /><br />None of the adaptations I've received have cost the organisations I've worked for a penny, other than a few weeks' sick leave. Doing things flexibly has been built into the organisations. Because of this flexibility I've been able to develop a career which enables me to pay decent amounts of income tax. <br /><br />You'd think legislation for carrots and sticks would encourage more employers to do the same. Surely it would be worth government investing in inclusive workplaces rather than punishing and unrealistic ESA assessments, so that people aren't forced out of work in the first place, wherever possible. misspiggynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34940564.post-23835467793498065722014-05-09T22:51:42.628+01:002014-05-09T22:51:42.628+01:00Sorry to hear Access to Work hasn't gotten any...Sorry to hear Access to Work hasn't gotten any better since I needed to use its equivalent in 2003... but so pleased to hear you've managed to find work you love and value, and that you've ended up better off! Everything crossed that things continue to work out!<br /><br />I have mental health issues and am prone to stress-related laryngitis. I work as a university lecturer. We are only required by our contracts to be on campus 4 days out of 5, as long as our teaching schedules allow. In order to rest my voice and recoup mental health spoons, I need the day when I'm off campus to be mid-week; five days in a row is often not possible for me, I've learnt. The university will accomodate fixed teaching times for parental requirements (e.g. some colleagues are able to request a schedule that lets them leave by 4 every day to fetch children from school), and for people with large research grants (who can pre-identify 'research days' when they won't teach). However, they have consistently found reasons not to accomodate my health-related request (despite backing from Occupational Health), and I ended up having to switch to a 4-day-a-week contract - with associated pay cut and damage to promotion prospects etc. (promotion criteria such as number of publications are not pro-rated unless you work 50% or less). <br /><br />At least I've managed to stay in work - at a cost to my health, recovery rate and ability to maintain a private life and look after my house and garden, which may not have been a smart choice - my fear of and awareness of the difficulty of getting BACK into work and of the inadequacies of the benefits system especially for a fluctuating (and for my various physical issues, lacking in a proper single provable diagnosis) condition made that a priority!JaneBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17779448611795379774noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34940564.post-36688836401458576672014-05-06T17:12:44.403+01:002014-05-06T17:12:44.403+01:00Thanks for all the comments - its clearly an area ...Thanks for all the comments - its clearly an area where there's a long way to go! BenefitScroungingScumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08939136229593231935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34940564.post-10617156816628519962014-05-06T17:11:55.578+01:002014-05-06T17:11:55.578+01:00It's in English here...perhaps you need a new ...It's in English here...perhaps you need a new computer Babel fish?! ;) <br />Lovely to hear from you again, hope all is well @stonehead?BenefitScroungingScumhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08939136229593231935noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34940564.post-80962020389187331242014-05-06T15:31:44.996+01:002014-05-06T15:31:44.996+01:00Well, my comment went through but it's in Ital...Well, my comment went through but it's in Italian! :DAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34940564.post-88076709828197568372014-05-06T15:30:53.557+01:002014-05-06T15:30:53.557+01:00I'm glad to hear it's working out so far. ...I'm glad to hear it's working out so far. Or at least, I think that's what the translation implies. For some reason Google insists my IP address is Italian and serves everything up via it's Italian servers and translates English posts into Italian. I then have to translate it back. Hmm, sounds like the Government! (I've tried commenting over the past few months, but blogger/Google keeps rejecting me so I'll give it another shot now and see if they Italian branch likes me more!)Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34940564.post-19846693659058270822014-05-02T03:27:02.295+01:002014-05-02T03:27:02.295+01:00Aspects of the programs that are "supporting&...Aspects of the programs that are "supporting" you to work sound like the ones that are present in Canada (specifically in Ontario, where I live and work) - they're trying to provide incentive for people on the disability support program to get out and work if they can, but doing so is so risky that people are scared to. And, as you've said, the culture of the workplace in general isn't a good one for people who need some flexibility to accommodate medical needs.<br /><br />I'm glad that you've found a job that's able to work with you that way - and they're lucky to have you! :)GirlWithTheCanehttp://www.sarahlevis.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34940564.post-44946295848814107672014-05-01T23:01:55.434+01:002014-05-01T23:01:55.434+01:00This post really resonated with me. I'm incre...This post really resonated with me. I'm incredibly lucky to live in the most accessible flat (adapted as it was built by the housing association to a spec for a wheelchair user - and the OT who designed the spec did it with my specific needs in mind even though they weren't allowed to specifically allocate it to me as they built it) which means the struggle to do day to day tasks for me does exist but is so much reduced I almost forget about it (in part I think due to being life long disabled). But it's still an energy drain. And because I can mostly do those tasks I can't get social care. Could I work? I don't know. But I do know that I definitely couldn't if I didn't have a care package in place to do those little things like wash my clothes and make me dinner.Emmahttp://writerinawheelchair.co.uk/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34940564.post-22879434780185207492014-05-01T19:43:47.750+01:002014-05-01T19:43:47.750+01:00It really would be wonderful if more employers wou...It really would be wonderful if more employers would make the effort like your have, but you are right, for many jobs they just cannot (or will not) be as flexible as those with fluctuating conditions need.MurderOfGothshttp://murderofgoths.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com