Get Smart ADHD Support with Access to Work

Episode 10

Duration: 13 minutes 19 seconds

Episode Theme: Content

June 6, 2024

There’s something that’s really helped me in my business as someone with ADHD. Unfortunately, this is only available in the UK. But, if you’re outside the UK, it’s still worth reading on to see if help is available where you are. It’s called Access to Work.

In this episode of the Smart ADHD Podcast, I delve into the UK government's Access to Work scheme and how it’s transformed my business. Diagnosed with ADHD at age 46, I share my journey through the application process, the incredible support I received, and tips to help you navigate this scheme effectively.

In this episode:

[0:00] Introduction: The Key to Business Success
[0:21] Welcome to the Smart ADHD Podcast
[1:30] Exploring the Access to Work Scheme
[2:15] Eligibility and Benefits of the Scheme
[2:53] Personal Experiences and Challenges
[5:04] Application Process and Tips
[6:40] Navigating Payment and Support
[9:18] Finding the Right Assistant
[12:58] Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Understanding the Access to Work Scheme

The Access to Work scheme is a lifeline for anyone with a disability or health condition, including ADHD. But what exactly is it? Essentially, it’s a government grant designed to help people overcome work-related obstacles resulting from their condition. This can include anything from specialised coaching to assistive technology and even virtual assistants.

The first step is understanding whether you’re eligible. Generally, you need to be employed or self-employed and have a disability or health condition that makes work difficult. Once you’re deemed eligible, the scheme opens up a world of support options tailored to meet your specific needs.

My Personal Journey with ADHD and Access to Work

Diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 46, I faced numerous challenges in managing my business. From struggling with organisation to battling procrastination, it was a tough ride. However, the Access to Work scheme turned out to be a game changer.

One of the most valuable supports I received was coaching, which helped me develop strategies to manage my ADHD symptoms effectively. Additionally, the scheme funded virtual assistants who took over some of the more difficult and mundane tasks, allowing me to focus on the creative aspects of my business.

Tips for Navigating the Application Process

Applying for the Access to Work scheme can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be. Here are some tips to make the process smoother:

Be Prepared: Gather all necessary documentation, including medical evidence of your condition and details about your employment.
Be Specific: Clearly outline the difficulties you face at work and the types of support you think would help. The more specific you are, the better.
Follow Up: After submitting your application, follow up regularly to check on its progress. Persistence pays off!

Navigating the payment and support aspects might also seem tricky. But remember, the scheme is there to help, and there are resources available, such as Headstuff ADHD and ViVa, that can offer additional guidance.

Finding the right assistant is another crucial step. This person will play a significant role in your daily operations, so take your time to find someone who understands your needs and can offer the right support.

What’s Your Experience?

What’s your biggest challenge with setting up your content creation studio? Share your thoughts in the comments section below, and don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast for more valuable insights!

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Transcript

[0:00] Ian: What's the most important thing that's going to help you in your business. And for me, that's been absolutely working with an assistant an assistant helping me with all the tasks that I really struggle with on a day to day basis.

[0:12] I had to get over this feeling of like I'm taking government handouts and surely there are lots of other people that are more deserving of this than me. And look, I've been doing alright...

[0:21] Hello, I'm Ian Anderson Gray, and this is the smart ADHD podcast.

[0:36] Now if you're a smart, creative entrepreneur or business owner navigating your life with ADHD, This is the podcast for you. Now, I'm no ADHD expert, but I'm eager to share my story on what I've learned by talking with experts, as well as digging into the personal ADHD stories of successful creatives and entrepreneurs.

[0:59] I was diagnosed at age 46, and it answered so many questions in my life. But of course, that was in many ways, only the start of my journey. So let's learn together. Smart stories, smart strategies, smart ADHD.

[1:26] Welcome back to the smart ADHD podcast. I'm Ian Anderson Gray. And in this episode, we're diving into the wonderful world of the UK government backed scheme, grant scheme called Access to Work. This has been like a game changer for me. Now this is only available in the UK. So sorry, my lovely international viewers and listeners, but there may be schemes where you are, so do check that out. And hopefully you'll still find what I'm saying in this episode really useful. When you're looking for similar help in your country, I hope that's going to be helpful for you. But this has changed so much for me I've realized there have been so many things in my business that I've really struggled with as someone who has ADHD And going through this whole process really opened my eyes to that.

[2:15] So first of all, what is the Access to Work grant or the access to work scheme? It's a UK government scheme. You have to be 16 and above. You have to either be employed or self employed living in England, Scotland or Wales. I'm not entirely sure what happens if you're in Northern Ireland.

[2:32] And the type of grant that you can get you can have ADHD coaching. It can pay for assistance, support workers, virtual assistants, that type of thing. And also you could look at getting a grant to help with equipment, such as a standing desk, software and tools to help you like dictation software. Or it could be noise canceling headphones would be amazing. So my personal experience has been, yeah, it's been up and down. Let's be honest about it, but I'm immensely grateful for this scheme because it has enabled me to be so much more productive, enabled me to grow my business to do the things that I want to do. And yes with all the struggles that I have had over the years with ADHD and running my own business, yes, that's amazing. But there are some downsides. Applying for it was really hard and getting the payment every month is not exactly easy and I'll talk a little bit more about that.

[3:28] And the other issue that I had is getting over the guilt of actually applying in the first place, I had to get over this feeling of like I'm taking government handouts and surely there are lots of other people that are more deserving of this than me. And look, I've been doing alright I've actually been quite successful in my business.

[3:45] But this is why I think it's important to get some help in the application process. And this is what I did. I actually got help from Headstuff ADHD they're based in the UK. They offer therapy and coaching and all that kind of stuff. They've got this service as part of this to help you with the process of applying for Access to Work.

[4:07] And so I spent some time with this guy who basically interviewed me, tried to understand my business and to try and understand the struggles that I've had. And I realized through that process of him asking me all these questions, how much I have struggled in my business with certain tasks. A lot of them are admin related, but some of them are, imposter syndrome that I've had struggling with, well I mean, I think procrastination, chronic procrastination, all these things.

[4:34] Now it's been a while since I went through that process. At least it feels like a kind of a couple of years now, but I highly recommend doing that because this has been so helpful. So you can watch the video on the Headstuff ADHD therapy website. You can see whether you're eligible for that as well and then you can go through this system there, because I think it's definitely something that you should get help with. But I do know some people who have applied and it's been absolutely fine. And I will go through some of the process in a second, because you can do it online now, which is great. In fact, you could do it online when I did it more on that in a bit.

[5:08] So when you apply, you need to work out what is the priority? What's the most important thing that's going to help you in your business. And for me, that's been absolutely working with an assistant an assistant helping me with all the tasks that I really struggle with on a day to day basis. That's been a game changer for me.

[5:25] The other thing that's been a game changer for me is ADHD coaching, working with a coach to help me there.

[5:31] You may find also that getting a standing desk or noise cancelling headphones are really important. I think they are important. I've got both of those things, but what I will say is I've been recommended that you only really apply for the things that are absolutely crucial for you because you may not get everything. So you have to think if you apply for a standing desk, noise cancelling headphones, coaching and an assistant. What if you were only to get a standing desk grant for a standing desk and ADHD coaching, but you don't get the ongoing support from an assistant, then you're going to be missing out. So you need to think about that.

[6:08] Positive experiences. On the whole, the team, when you phone them up at Access to Work, they've been really helpful. They, on the whole, really lovely people. They are overworked, I think. And there has sometimes there's very long wait times on the phone and in the actual application process, once you've sent that application form in, it can take a very long time before you hear. Now, I believe the wait time has gone down, but when I applied and this was not long after the pandemic, I had to wait nine whole months for this.

[6:40] And the other thing that can be a struggle is being paid. I'll come onto that in a bit, but that can be a big problem is currently a big problem for me. I haven't been paid from the grant for two or two, two to three months now because of a glitch. So you have to think about that as well.

[6:57] So what you do in terms of applying, you need to go to the Access to Work website. On the government website and then you go down to the application apply for an Access to Work grant you click on start now. You have to then check all these boxes So I have a physical or mental health condition or disability that means I need support to do my job. Or to get to and from work. That's absolutely the case if you have ADHD and you're running your own business.

[7:24] Are you aged 16 or over? Yes. I am in paid work in England, Scotland or Wales. Yes. I live in England, Scotland and Wales. That's the case for me. Are you a civil servant? I think most of us are going to say no for that. Then it says you may be eligible for Access to Work. So we can now start the application. And then we can go through your details I'm not going to do that how we contact you then you can put in your conditions and disabilities so we can go through that What are the names of the conditions or disabilities that you have?

[7:56] So we can put in the details there. What are your conditions and disabilities?

[8:01] Ian: How do your conditions or disabilities affect you at work? You have to put everything in there. You have up to a thousand characters. Then you can put in your job or employer. So obviously if you have your own business, you'd put you in there and then you can apply for specialist equipment, mental health support. So that would be coaching support workers in our case, that's virtual assistants, traveling to and from work.

[8:24] I can't personally see how that would help me with ADHD, but you may be in a different situation there. So that's something to think about and this is why getting some help when you're applying would be really helpful. Travelling during work, changes to your workplace, that might be helpful particularly if you are employed.

[8:43] Adaptions to a vehicle and then anything else you want to add. So I personally found this really helpful to get help when I was applying on this I tend to get overwhelmed with these things.

[8:53] Once you've heard and you've got the grant, you'll get a letter. I think it's sent from Northern Ireland, which is interesting. And then you can start to claim, but you need to first of all get some quotes for your assistants or your support workers and for coaches as well.

[9:09] Once that's all been done and you're ready to go, you can then start to work with your coach and work with your assistants, but you've got to find an assistant as well.

[9:18] I do want to give a big shout out to Viva. You've got to find an assistant that's going to work for you, but I really like the people at Viva. That's vi-va.co.uk and actually the owner of this business is a friend of mine, Sarah Rugg. She's awesome. And they do some really cool things here that their assistants are actually, or not all of them but some of them are trained to work with business owners with ADHD. They've had neurodiversity training, which is really great.

[9:47] And so I've been working with them. I've got an awesome VA. She's been amazing. You don't have to work with them you can work with whoever you find.

[9:55] Now, what you did have to do is then you work with your VA. You get all the hours that they've worked for you that month and then at the end of the month you get the invoice and then you send it in the post with the claim form. You have to first of all actually put them on the system so you have to have a separate form for that.This is s an absolute nightmare for those of us with ADHD and this is why I actually got some help with the regular monthly claim form stuff. So you need to do that but now actually, you can do it all online, which is great.

[10:27] The online portal. Let's talk about that. So now this is a relatively recent thing. It's in beta. It's great that you can now do this online because before you had to do it in the post, you had to go to the postbox. You had to get a stamp. It was an absolute nightmare for those of us with ADHD, an absolute nightmare. So now you can do it online. But the problem is if your virtual assistant is outside the UK, that causes problems. I've been told that you can't actually do that. And one of my assistants is in the US so that is a problem.

[10:59] And things like, for example, when you look back at your previous claim history. It's not in chronological order, which is completely nuts. So they're working on it. I've also heard that there's sometimes it can just crash when you're applying or you're putting your claim form in, which is not great.

[11:15] So what a lot of people do is they will arrange for the payments or for the grants to go directly to their virtual assistant or their coach. The problem with that is that it works in arrears. So my assistant has worked for me. And then at the end of that month, the idea is that they will get paid. Not all assistants and not all coaches work like that. A lot like to be paid upfront. So that's something you've got to think about, but also there can be delays. And sometimes it's two weeks. Sometimes it can be months, two months, and even three months in delay. And that is no good. Your assistant is going to say, sorry. I need to pay my bills.

[11:53] So what I've done is I've found VAs who are happy to be paid by credit cards. I pay on my credit card and that gives me a buffer of 40 to 50 days before I then have to pay it. I make sure that they get paid. They also have to be okay with the paying in arrears. You've got to find a bit of flexibility there, but that can then obviously cause problems for you if there's a delay in payment, but at least you are getting help with an assistant.

[12:18] So you need to discuss payment preferences with your VA beforehand and then you will hopefully get paid and it's all great. Usually, the grant is for three years, at which point I believe you can then reapply. I've not done this before. I'm still in my first three year period. But yes, you can then reapply. Apparently it, you don't have to wait like the eight or nine months. It's quicker. But I will tell you how we get on when we get to that.

[12:44] So yeah, there's ViVa. vi-va.co.uk is for the ADHD trained VA's Headstuff ADHD, for that application support as well. Yeah, I think that's probably everything that I need to say to you.

[12:58] It's definitely worth looking into if you are in the UK, if you run your own business, if you're an entrepreneur and you want help with coaching or support from a VA, it's been amazing. So there we go. I think that's probably enough from me. Let me know how you get on. And until next time, I encourage you to be smart with your ADHD.

[13:19] Toodaloo.