By Sam Everard FIOEE FIEP FRSA, Founder and CEO, SAMEE charity
“I want to be a tree,” said the young disabled person meeting me for the first time. As a self-employment adviser, that is not always the best way to start a conversation but, as an entrepreneur myself, I knew that I needed to unpick the statement.
As the discussion continued, the young person explained that many of the professionals involved in their life did not understand the daily challenges that they faced, a comment which has been supported by a 2019 Department of Work and Pensions report (Pearson. et al., 2019). And, as a mother of a young person with multiple disabilities, I knew that this person was not wrong.
When working with a disabled person, I always have a box of stationery and other goodies with me to help them share their narrative. These conversation catalysts are a good way of encouraging the disabled person to engage without having to hold eye contact or feel the pressure of an interview-style conversation. Not surprisingly, the young disabled person selected some yellow paper and a brown pen and proceeded to draw the trunk of the tree. I asked them to explain what that meant, and they said that was their life, the here and now and the stability that surrounded them. The bark was strong, it was protection against the world and the roots were their family, the life they had and the security of their home. They explained that the trunk was round so that their circle of support can surround them and keep them safe, but they wanted so much more.
Branches appeared on the tree, one branch for education with lots of twigs being added. Each twig identified a new topic, a new thought, a new experience that had been explored. The young person explained that their ADHD meant that they could not concentrate on one thing, they needed variety, independence and to be able to fly, although they loved to analyse and do a deep dive into things that interested them. The second branch appeared and there were no twigs or leaves. I asked what that signified and they said, ‘the traditional route to employment’.
When the third branch appeared, I knew that it symbolised self-employment. The twigs, leaves, and colours meant that this was an avenue to be explored. This branch represented a new life, one where any challenges were overcome and aspiration, inspiration and growth were expressed as ultimate goals to be achieved.
The question here is why I am sharing this with you? It is because the main discussion about this tree was the potential opportunities it offered. The disabled young person wanted to explore the options available to them for the future and self-employment was one of them. They did not want to be an entrepreneur with a multi-million-pound business and hundreds of employees, but someone that freelanced into different organisations and offered support and advice about disability and things that mattered to them. As I was candidly told, it is all well and good to google a disability, such as ADHD, but what exactly does that tell you? Research will demonstrate that there is a generalised list of symptoms, behaviours and causes along with many ways of how to ‘reasonably adjust’ but, what it does not tell you, is the real-life daily challenges faced by the person.
This young person asked me if they could be honest – something which I like! They explained their morning challenges to me. Getting up is not always easy, they said, as you do not know what will happen that day and that anything unknown causes a lot of anxiety. How do you know what to wear when the weather is not what was planned for last night? When you went to bed last night, the weather forecast indicated that it would be dry and now it could be raining. How do you know if there is any of your favourite cereal left when other people in the house share the same food? What if someone is having a shower when you want to get ready? These challenges are real and incredibly important to the young disabled person, as they can cause anxiety and stress even before they leave their home.
The next potential obstacle discussed was public transport and it became apparent why this particular young disabled person did not want to work in traditional employment. The sensory overload from the bus, the noise, smells and movement of passengers was all too much. Added to that pressure was the fact that a disabled person’s concessionary bus pass cannot be used on public transport before 9.30 in the morning, meant that an employed role may not be accessible (Government, 2024). And, if they did manage to travel after 9:30am, comments from colleagues and the stigma of always being late meant that the anxiety would build leading to the potential breakdown in relationships at work and ultimate failure.
Just these few daily challenges, remembering that we have not got past 9.30 in the morning yet, can create anxiety and distress for our young disabled people. They want to work and yet the environment around them will not let that happen, so they turn to alternative options. Self-employment allows them to create a role for themselves, one which is achievable and manageable but, sadly, UK Government support mechanisms are not yet in place to make that possible.
As a qualified self-employment adviser, I have met hundreds of young disabled people who want to explore their aspirations, and many have been successful because they have had the right support to make it happen. We should never say no to their self-employment ideas as they need to have the opportunity to find out for themselves. Mentoring is key in the early stages to ensure that they have the answers they need to make an informed and balanced decision about whether to proceed with their self-employment goals, and ensuring it is the right career pathway for them.
The UK Government needs to consider setting up a supported self-employment programme, and I am campaigning and working for this. Challenges such as Access to Work not being available until a person is registered with HMRC, due to the need for a unique taxpayer reference number (UK Government, 2021), are difficult to overcome. The young disabled person needs the support from day one whether that be transport support, a personal assistant or a piece of equipment. If the young disabled person does register immediately with HMRC to access that support, we then have the Minimum Income Floor barrier (UK Government, 2020) meaning that they only have 12 months in which to make the self-employed role sustainable, adding unnecessary pressure. Then there is the lack of available personalised formal self-employment support with tailored resources to meet the educational needs of the young disabled person. There is a lot to be done!
In 2015, I founded a charity called SAMEE (Support and Mentoring Enabling Entrepreneurship) to address the needs of disabled people wanting to consider self-employment as a viable career option alongside their disability or long-term health condition (SAMEE charity, 2023). To give you an example, we were asked to work with a young gentleman who wanted to be a gardener. It was said that he would need day care services through the council due to his multiple disabilities, but his mum knew he had a talent. At the point of referral, he was not leaving his house, did not speak to anyone new and spent his time pottering about in the garden. His mum showed us the amazing things he had achieved in their garden and asked whether we could help.
Five years on and he has a thriving horticultural business with regular clients. In fact, he is often too busy to see us for mentoring meetings, so we must work around his diary! What went from a few houses in his road, has led to gardens being tended to across the town with increasing requests for his service from glowing word-of-mouth recommendations. He has developed that role from mowing the neighbours’ lawn to planting up borders and beyond. There are restrictions due to his disabilities which prevent him from offering certain activities but that has not stopped him as he has teamed up with another young disabled person offering a similar service. This meant that he has not only started a small sustainable business but created his own peer support network removing the social isolation barriers he once faced.
Inspiring and encouraging a young person to explore self-employment is key. Your confirmation that they are good at what they do is paramount to their confidence and self-esteem; the patience shown to them by you, a professional practitioner, as challenges are overcome, is proof that they can be independent and that the skills they learn are transferable to daily life. Watching a young disabled person grow honestly makes you feel humble and something that I recommend you do. It takes time, it is not a quick fix or a 12-week programme, it takes nurturing, confidence building and a lot of patience but, when you see the results, you know that every minute invested has changed someone’s life for the better.
UK GOVERNMENT. 2024. Transport Support Services for Disabled People.
PEARSON., STEWART., HOLKER., ADAMS., FOXWELL. & FOSTER 2019. Understanding self-employment for people with disabilities and health conditions. In: PENSIONS, D. F. W. A. (ed.).
SAMEE CHARITY. 2023. SAMEE charity home page [Online]. Available: www.sameecharity.org [Accessed].
UK GOVERNMENT. 2020. Self-Employment and Universal Credit [Online]. Available: https://www.gov.uk/self-employment-and-universal-credit [Accessed].
UK GOVERNMENT. 2021. Access to Work [Online]. Available: https://www.gov.uk/access-to-work [Accessed].
