Adjusting to life post treatment

It's now six weeks since I finished my third round of Alemtuzumab, the disease modifying drug I opted for to treat my relapsing-remitting Multiple Sclerosis. I'm still fatigued and while the pattern of that is predictable it's frustrating to deal with each day. I know it's not permanent, and recovery will come, but it is troublesome when you're attempting to work and enjoy family life.

Mornings are where I am able to think most clearly and sustain effort - I'm writing this blog post before midday for example, just to be sure that it's coherent. That makes me wonder how I would navigate a busy working day with meetings or tasks that drop in urgently. Maybe I'd manage the morning OK, but the afternoon would be more of a challenge. 

Every time I've had the treatment, I've been lucky that I've not been in formal employment, which has allowed me to take as much rest as I need. But, how would I have tackled this had I been working a 9-5 role?

The answer would have been reasonable adjustments, as they're known. It's the right of any disabled person, under the Equality Act 2010, to ask for reasonable adjustments to accommodate their disability. Employers have a legal duty to consider a request for an adjustment, and provided it doesn't compromise the running of the business, it should be granted.

The problem with reasonable adjustments is that to ask for them, you need to have disclosed your disability. Under the Equality Act 2010, a disabled person isn't required to disclose - indeed, many people who have a disability choose not to, for fear of it being used as a reason to deny them career advancement or worse, redundancy or redeployment, despite these being unlawful. So how can businesses support individuals in the workplace, when they don't necessarily know if someone has a disability?

• The first step is ensuring a safe and inclusive culture. This allows for open conversations and employees should be able to approach their manager or colleagues to talk about where they need additional support. This allows everyone to share, not just those with a disability
• Provide rest spaces that are open to all. Those who are neurodiverse, suffer with chronic conditions or those returning to work from an extended period of leave may value somewhere that allows them to recover away from the hustle and bustle of the office. A space like this could be a valuable asset to all, not just those with a disability.
• Since the COVID-19 pandemic, hybrid and remote working practices have become more common, but are not widely adopted. For some with a long term health condition, attending the office takes significant energy that might be better spent on other tasks. It's worth looking at the structure of tasks and the working week to make remote working possible.
• Accessibility to the workplace is an important consideration for those with hidden disabilities. Is there step free access for the ambulant disabled? Is there disabled parking on site? Is there a lift fitted? Is there signage in Braille for those with visual impairment or loss? Are hearing loops fitted for those who are D/deaf?

Improving the reasonable adjustments process  is an important part of the journey to becoming a more disability inclusive organisation. If you'd like to talk about this, or anything else to support your organisation to be more disability inclusive, please use the contact form and let's chat.