Help for people with a disability
If you need specific help because your disability or health condition significantly affects the kind of work you can do, or it affects your chances of finding or keeping work, you may wish to contact a Personal Adviser at your local Jobs & Benefits office / JobCentre.
What can the Disablement Advisory Service do for me?
- (DAS) is committed to helping employers recruit and retain disabled employees. It provides a range of practical and financial help so you can find the right person for your vacancy or organisation, including people with disabilities.
DAS can also advise you about:
- Job Introduction Scheme (JIS) – If you find a job you would like, and you or the employer are not sure whether it would be suitable, JIS allows you to try the job and DAS will help the employer with your wages for the first few weeks;
- Workable (NI) – Is a programme that gives people with disabilities the opportunity of working in a wide variety of jobs. The persons disability must have a significant adverse impact on their ability to carry out the particular job they are currently doing or the job they are applying for, Workable (NI) can offer a range of supports designed to meet their needs and the needs of their employer. A copy of the information leaflet aimed at either Clients or Employers is available to download;
- Access to Work (NI) – If you have a disability and are unemployed, self-employed or in a job, Access to Work(NI) offers practical advice and help in flexible ways, so that it can be tailored to suit your needs and make your working life easier:
- Communicaton support at interviews
- Adaptation to premises
- Special aids
- Assistance to travel to work
- Travel to Work
- Support Worker
- New Deal for Disabled People and all the other New Deal programmes available from your local Jobs and Benefits office/ JobCentre
- Employment Assessment and Occupational Psychology Services
- Employment Assessments are tailored to the individual;
- help identify abilities and strengths;
- help to find out how disability or health conditions affect employment; and
- plan the steps needed to be taken to obtain or retain suitable employment.
- Work Preparation - This is an individually tailored, work-focused programme to help you address barriers associated with your disability and prepare you to enter the labour market with the confidence to achieve and sustain your job goal.
- Condition Management Programme (CMP) - CMP aims to addess the health conditions of those clients in receipt of Incapacity Benefits with mild to moderate health conditions. It is based on short-term, work-focused support and advice supplied by healthcare professionals with a view to helping clients understand and manage their condition, in order to assist in their return to work.
- Vocational training to help you update or gain new skills e.g. DAS specialist training; and
- Local / national disability organisations who can advise you about issues relating to a particular disability; you may benefit from their experience and information, so it may be worth getting in touch.