Getting The Best Career While Living With A Disability

Last Updated: 

November 20, 2023

If you’re looking to find your ideal career path, then it’s important to be able to honestly assess and work with the specific challenges that you’re likely to face. There’s no denying that people with a disability can experience more challenges than most when it comes to having more control over and thriving in their careers, but this doesn’t mean it's impossible. Knowing the resources and assets available to you can be a great help.

Key takeaways on having a great career with disability

  1. Know and stand up for your rights: Familiarise yourself with your rights as a disabled worker and the protections against discrimination in the workplace. Document any instances of discrimination and gather evidence to support any claims.
  2. Get help breaking through barriers: Use job assist services and collaborate with professionals to improve your capacity for work. Career and workplace consultants can provide job-seeking education, job placements, career advice, and employer networking assistance.
  3. Consider careers that work with your needs: Assess your limitations and choose a career path that best fits your abilities and needs. Prioritise your mental well-being alongside your physical capabilities when evaluating potential career paths.
  4. Seek professional guidance: Work with professionals who can help you find tailored solutions to your unique challenges and needs in order to advance your career as effectively as possible.
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Know and stand up for your rights

Unfortunately, as many people who live with an injury, chronic condition, or disability know, one of the major barriers in any workplace can be those people who are willing to discriminate, either interpersonally, or as a means of preventing employment and advancement in the workplace. The Disability Discrimination Act makes this unlawful, but it does still happen, and standing against it is important. Get to know your workers’ rights, including your rights as a disabled worker. It’s important to know you’re protected against discrimination, be it in terms of getting a job, getting promotions, receiving training, or being dismissed. Taking notes or records of when you think you have faced discrimination and collecting evidence can help you make a claim against an employer if you think this has happened to you.

Get help breaking through those barriers

If your disability puts up some barriers, be they vocational or non-vocational, then learning how to address and work around them can be a huge help. However, the effort to do this shouldn’t be on you alone. With the help of job assist services, you can get the help you need in improving your capacity for work by collaborating with professionals and with your employer. With the help of a career and workplace consultant, you can find job-seeking education, job placements, career advice, and employer networking assistance. This can make it easier for you to get your foot in the door, metaphorically speaking, and to get help with the vocational and other training that can make you a valuable asset to the teams you work in.

Think about careers that work with your needs

You may have your mind set on a certain career, but if you’re looking for professional experience or a pathway ahead, it’s a good idea to think about which career path you really want. If you have certain limitations in the job functions you can perform, these have to be taken into account, whether they affect your ability in social capacities, speech, physical abilities, or otherwise. There are careers that you can flourish in, it’s often simply about finding the best fit for you. It’s not just about your physical capabilities, but about how you feel about the prospect of the work, as your mental well-being is vital, too.

The tips above are just the beginning. To advance your career as best as possible, then you should work with the right professionals who can help you find the answers specific to your own challenges and needs. Hopefully, these tips can help point you in the right direction, all the same.

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