You will find open up tabs about this option, lower down on the  What Next? Moving into Adulthood page.

If you are currently studying and facing challenges, talk to your Uni / College’s  Disability Adviser.

You can also get advice from Disability Rights UK:

Or contact our Community Support Team.

National Careers Advice Services

• England: The National Careers Service – Phone: 0800 100 900
• Northern Ireland – Phone: 0300 200 7820
• Scotland – Phone: 0141 285 6000
• Wales – Phone: 0800 028 4844.

Colleges and Universities also offer Careers Advice Services.

Many organisations are geared up to help with:

• Your Curriculum Vitae (CV) so that you give a brief but snappy account of your education, qualifications, any previous occupations, voluntary work and other relevant experience). Lots of model templates for CVs are available for free on the internet.
  • SCOPE offer a CV template and advice that might be useful
• Interview Advice
• Support you can expect at work
  • Evenbreak’s Career Hive’s careers professionals have lived experience of disability and offer accessible careers support for disabled candidate.

Advice and tips are pretty standard and include:

• Applications take time and need to be individually tailored. Prospective employers can usually spot applications that are just churned out.
• You may want to review your CV and / or any cover letter to make sure you are highlighting information that is specifically relevant to the opportunity you are applying for. This can mean spending a lot of time.
• It can be dispiriting to get rejections or not to hear back at all, but it is fair to say that this happens to the most experienced of people. Determination and persistence are pretty vital.
• If you do get offered a job or training opportunity that is not obviously going to lead to your dream career, but it will give you good experience and is practical for you, talk through the pros and cons with someone you trust to listen carefully and give good advice.

Jobcentre Plus – cover all of the UK. They have Disability Employment Advisers (DEAs) and / or Work Coaches who will be able to tell you about programmes and grants including Access to Work (see the section below).

You can find related information in A-Z Of Useful Work-Related Organisations (see the section below).

Employers’ Responsibilities To Make Reasonable Adjustments

Employers must make reasonable adjustments to make sure workers with disabilities, or physical or mental health conditions, are not substantially disadvantaged when doing their jobs. This applies to all workers, including trainees, apprentices, contract workers and business partners.

For more information on the sort of things that are includedsee Gov.UK / reasonable adjustments.

Access To Work

If you are disabled or have a health, or mental health condition, and the help you need at work is not covered by your employer making reasonable adjustments, you may be able to get help from Access to Work. Support is based on your needs and may include a grant to help cover the costs of practical support in the workplace.

You need to have a paid job, or be about to start or return to one. A paid job could include self-employment, an apprenticeship, work trial / experience or internship.

Eligibility criteria apply and how much you get will depend on your circumstances. The money does not have to be paid back and it does not affect your other benefits, (though certain benefits may affect whether you can get an Access to Work grant). Access to Work grants are given for items and services such as:

• Adaptations to the equipment you use
• Special equipment or software
• Taxi fares to work if you cannot use public transport
• Adaptations to your vehicle so you can get to work
• A support worker or job coach to help you in your workplace
• Confidential support and advice from a trained healthcare professional from the Mental Health Support Service
• Disability awareness training for your colleagues
• The cost of moving your equipment if you change location or job

England, Scotland and Wales all offer the Access to Work scheme. (Northern Ireland has its own Access to Work (NI) scheme).
For more information speak to the Disability Employment Adviser (DEA) or work coach at your local JobCentre Plus, or phone Access to Work on 0345 268 8489.

Employers can also gain guidance about employing disabled people:

• Access to Work Guide for Employers
• Disability Confident Campaign

Disability Rights UK: Access to Work Factsheet 

These can be paid or unpaid, but unpaid internships are not considered good practice. They advantage people who can afford to work for no pay. In general, if you are using your skills and doing a job that benefits the company, you should be paid. However, you may want to consider a short-term unpaid internship to gain experience.

Paid or unpaid, an internship should be time limited. It should offer a structured opportunity to work and develop skills. It is worth checking out beforehand what experience you will gain, what skills you will develop and what support or mentoring you will receive. It needs to feel fair and to work for you and your career.

Check out: Employment rights and pay for interns

Some large organisations and companies have schemes aimed to increase the number of disabled people gaining work experience and employment with them. If you are interested in a particular company or organisation, contact them to see what opportunities they have to offer.

Whizz Kidz: offer a range of work placement, internships opportunities, and work skills days for young disabled people aged 14-25 years old.

Leonard Cheshire Change 100 – offer paid summer work placements, professional development and mentoring. They match talented university students and recent graduates with any disability or long-term condition with progressive employers. There are eligibility criteria and applications are only open at certain times of the year.

The development of technology and acceptability of working from home has made this much more possible. It may allow you more flexibility with the hours you work. There are rules about things like tax and national insurance contributions so careful research will help you plan.

England, Scotland and Wales: Gov.UK / Business & Self-employed

• Jobcentre Plus can provide you with information about setting up your own business.

You might be able to get financial assistance from:

• Access to Work

Northern Ireland

• My New Business
• NIDirect / Starting your own Business

This can be a good way to build up work experience. It also provides opportunities to meet new people and learn new skills.

Volunteering Matters – information on volunteering and opportunities

Do-It – online database of volunteering opportunities throughout the UK and overseas

• England: National Council for Voluntary Organisations
• Scotland: Volunteer Scotland
• Wales: Volunteering Wales 
• Northern Ireland: 
  • Volunteer Now 
  • NI Direct / Volunteering

How open you are about your SMA is a personal decision. People often worry about discrimination, prejudice or lack of confidentiality. If you do decide to be open, most employers will be unfamiliar with SMA. You may need to start at the beginning and explain in detail its impact on you and your work and what this means in terms of your individual needs. You are the expert on your condition, what you can and can’t do, and what works best for you.

Sharing this information can be helpful. Advantages could include:

• Some employers are keen to employ disabled people
• It could provide an opportunity to talk about yourself positively
• Adjustments can be put into place earlier
• You might build a better working relationship
• You can explain any aspects of your CV that might otherwise count against you. These might be gaps in your education or work history due to periods of ill health

The Equality Act 2010 covers the whole of the UK. It makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against disabled people. It also requires them to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to prevent disabled people being placed at a disadvantage. The costs of this should not be a problem because of the ‘Access to Work Scheme’ run by JobCentre Plus. This can help pay for:

• Communication support at interviews
• Special aids and equipment
• Personal Assistants at work
• Travel to work, which can include taxi fares

In practice, it may mean things like making physical changes to an office or allowing flexible working.

For more information see the Disability Rights UK Factsheet F56, ‘Understanding the equality act: information for disabled students’:

You don’t have to tell an employer about your SMA, unless you are asked direct questions about your health on a medical questionnaire. Under the Equality Act 2010, employers cannot ask candidates questions about their health that are unrelated to their job role.

The main benefit of telling an employer is that it gives you more protection under the Equality Act if you have a dispute at work.

If your employer needs specific medical information to support you at work, your clinical team or SMA UK Support Services may be able to write a letter on your behalf.

Equality Advisory and Support Service – Phone 0808 800 0082  You can contact them if you work in England, Scotland or Wales and feel that because of your disability you have been discriminated against. This can be either in your job, or in getting a job.

Acas – Phone 0300 123 1100  – this is the Government pay and work rights helpline.

Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission – Phone 0289 024 3987

Acas (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service) – free and impartial information and advice to employers and employees on all aspects of workplace relations and employment law.

Association of Disabled Professionals (ADP) – Phone 0120 443 1638 – registered charity working to improve the education, rehabilitation, training and employment opportunities available to disabled people. Provides advice and information and helps disabled professionals and managers find and retain employment.

Capability Scotland – Phone 0131 337 9876 – practical support and advice to disabled people in employment or looking for work in Scotland.

Citizens Advice – useful work-related resources

EmployAbility – Phone 0785 276 4684 – works primarily, but not exclusively with disabled university undergraduates and graduates to ease the transition from education to employment.

Enham Trust – a range of services for disabled people age 16+ including advice and assessment for employment and training.

Evenbreak – online jobs board for disabled people.

MyPlus Students’ Club – students or graduates looking for work – detailed information on recruitment processes and how to manage at work.

Leonard Cheshire – charity offering training and support to help gain employment.

Maximus – has taken over from Remploy. They offer community-based support to a diverse range of people who are likely to face barriers to employment, including disabled people.

Prince’s Trust –  Phone 0800 842 842  – for aged 13-30 – free training courses, experiences, support, mentoring and finance.

Purple Space –  professional development hub for disabled employee network and resource group leaders. Paying members have access to online learning, professional networking and development

SCOPE – offers a range of online and offline employment support services for working-age disabled people.

The Shaw Trust – national charity that supports disabled and disadvantaged people to prepare for work, find jobs and live more independently.

YouthAction Northern Ireland run a regional youth employability programme for young people aged 16 – 24 years who are outside of training employment and education.