Steve Ratchford – Connexions Assistant, Manchester

“Employers must realise that a disabled person is a person. They need to look at the person and not the disability.”

Connexions Assistant, Steve Ratchford, of Northenden in Manchester, has the self-belief to know that he can work as productively and successfully as any other employee. But he is also realistic about his limitations and the fact that he does need some help from his employer to do his job.

Steve, who was born with mild cerebral palsy, has come a long way since he was told that he would never be able to do office work. One of the effects of his health condition is that he cannot write quickly or very clearly and long before people used computers to process or record words, the belief held by many employers was that good handwriting was essential for any type of office work.

Encouraging views

“You’ll never be able to work in an office because your handwriting is not good enough” were the immortal words of one trainer early on in Steve’s working life. However, when he started work as an Information Assistant with the Library Service, he received far more encouraging views from his manager at the time who said, “All we’re interested in is what you can do and not what you can’t”. And these are the words which have helped to shape Steve’s own self-confidence in his abilities and potential as a talented employee.

Employer's story

In a sector where a key function is to raise aspirations of young people who fall into the NEET group (not in employment, education or training), aspiration raising is important not only for ‘clients’ but also for employees and that, according to Manager Linda Willson, includes disabled employees.

The company approach to supporting disabled staff is to be employee-led. Rather than impose support on disabled employees, managers invite them to suggest how best they feel they can be supported. “We try to avoid making assumptions or being led by labels” says Linda. Disabled employees are treated as individuals as opposed to a separate ‘group’. Changes are made to equipment or working practices as necessary and as appropriate.

Costs are not prohibitive says Linda and the cost of supporting disabled employees is seen as negligible. Some staff in the company use Dictaphones to help record notes, others have adapted keyboards but these are seen as minor adjustments which enable valued staff members to do their jobs.

Seeing the person first

The focus adopted by the company is seeing the person first and foremost, not the disability. In practice this means as an employer, they try to be flexible about physical adjustments, purchasing equipment and making small changes to working practices in order to enable employees such as Steve, reach their full potential.

Although travelling can be an issue due to accessibility, Steve has been able to make regular visits to a careers class attended by children who have a range of disabilities. The company has no deliberate strategy to use any of the disabled employees as role models but the benefits of having disabled employees has not gone unnoticed. “Being able to present role models of disabled employees can be of help to young people who are disabled and looking for work” says Linda.

Employee's story

For the last fifteen years, Steve has worked in various roles which involve dealing with enquiries and with people. In his current position as a Connexions Assistant, Steve handles enquiries from employers who want to advertise vacancies and from people looking for jobs.

Although much of the work involves verbal communication, it also includes an element of written communication too because information about vacancies or employment needs have to be recorded. Steve has a simple method for recording details from employers who want to place vacancies. “If I’m on desk duty and somebody rings up with a vacancy, I give them the option of speaking to a colleague or of my calling them back at a later time. That gives me the opportunity to call employers back from my own computer which has the recording software installed. I also have a tracker ball mouse on my computer which makes it easier for me to navigate around the screen”.

Something which needs to be managed

In addition to having cerebral palsy, Steve also has difficulty with his mobility as a result of arthritis in his knees, and he has back problems. However, he sees this as something which needs to be managed rather than as a barrier. When he carries out his duties, the work of re-stocking and classifying information for the display shelves involves a lot of standing which he can’t easily do. Therefore, for half a day a week he has the support of another member of staff who helps him with the physical aspects of the role.

Steve recognises his own boundaries but doesn’t want pity or to be treated as a ‘special case’. From his own experience of being unemployed for seven years after leaving school and from prejudiced comments during his life, he knows that there are certain issues and challenges disabled people may face. But his approach in life is to “always think the best of yourself and maintain a positive attitude”.

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