Working after a SAH

[catman]

Has anyone else had issues with an employer not understanding their brain injury and how it's likely to affect their work?

[cat3]

Yes catman it's a frequent topic on here, in fact if you take a look at Gaia's post 'Struggling', from earlier today, you'll see that the favourite advice is to contact 'Remploy' who will help you though any issues you're facing presently.

Alternatively you can contact the Headway helpline or your own union if you're a member of one. But Remploy have a great reputation for getting good results.

Best wishes xx

[moo196]

Yep...big time!! My suggestion has already been mentioned by Cat...get remploy involved asap. They came to see me at home within 48hours of contact....understood my difficulties without me explaining, drafted an email to employers and came into work to discuss my issues with them along with coordinating with community neuro rehab team. I Coulb not here coped without their support.

Good luck

K

[neilhapgood]

Hi cayman,

I, like most here, had issues with most people understanding, I put this site together to help my own recovery after sah and help others understand, you can read it here, braininjuryftp.com really sorry if I have mentioned it to you before!

[steve55]

catman they cant understand my friend, theyve never had one!!!

[Gaia_rising]

Hehe, I've spent a good chunk of today researching the Disability Discrimination Act, and Health and Safety Executive guidance on return to work policies... It would have been good practice for my employers to have familiarised themselves with those, rather than just assuming because I looked the same, I could still do the same. They sought no external advice, from Trade Union reps, or Occupational Health, they let me write my own Risk Assessment six weeks after emergency brain surgery, and they just kept piling on the workload, because I just kept absorbing it. (Wouldn't say sh*t if I had a mouth full of it...)

To be fair, colleagues DID drop more clangers than I did, but, because of the nature of my work, the ones I dropped were HUGE, and there was no resolution to WHY I'd acted out of character the first time, they just slapped my wrist, and told me not to do it again.

So, waiting for 'work' to contact me about the next stage of the disciplinary process, which will, in effect, probably prevent me from ever working in Safeguarding again. My union rep has been brilliant, and plans are afoot, but, in short, no, employers don't seem to understand Brain Injuries, and that's a colossal area for improvement. With surgical and technological advances, more of us are surviving, functional, to a greater degree than historically. We're not ready for the scrap-heap, but we're not the same as we were.

[Kavib]

Hi Catman,

Yes I have this all the time. It's difficult for them to understand what you have been through and going through currently and I feel there needs to be more support maybe from the doctors or physiologists to explain to employers the state of mind so that they have a better understanding. I'm writing a book about my experiences and this is also part of it.