
What is a disability?
What do we mean when we hear the word 'disability'?
"Disability refers to a substantial impact in the capacity of a person to carry on a profession, business or occupation in the state by reason of an enduring physical, sensory, mental health or intellectual impairment"
Did you know that this definition includes the following?
Multiple Sclerosis, Crohn's Disease, Long Term Illness, Depression, Dyslexia, Cancer, Chronic pain. And many more...
When we reference an 'enduring' condition, do you know how long this is?
The chances are that if you are a HR professional, manager or team lead you have had a colleague with any one of the above conditions working on your team at some stage. If you work in any mid to large sized company, you almost certainly have someone with a disability working in your business right now.
Are you proactive is looking to provide them with accommodations?
Does your organisation have a reasonable accommodation policy?
Do you have a clearly defined reasonable accommodation process, one which all colleagues are aware of and have access to?
The lack of awareness around reasonable accommodation in Ireland is such a significant barrier to job retention for people with acquired disabilities.
The first step towards ensuring your organisation is genuinely disability inclusive is to complete disability awareness training. Ability Focus is the leading provider of cpd accredited disability awareness and reasonable accommodation training across IREland and the UK and has delivered this important training to thousands of people across Ireland, UK and mainland Europe since 2019.
Our client list for disability awareness training delivery includes government departments, state sponsored bodies, SME's and multinationals. Our award winning programmes can be delivered either onsite or online and are always delivered by fully qualified instructors with vast knowledge of workplace disability inclusion.
Most recently Ability Focus have worked with Holiday Inn, Uisce Eireann, Central Bank of Ireland, Fidelity Investments, A&L Goodbody, Law Society Skillnet and many more well known organisations. It was a genuine pleasure for the Ability Focus team to work with such committed teams (as those noted above) who demonstrated a genuine and meaningful desire to create disability inclusive workplaces.
As 2024 progresses we are seeing increasing numbers of organisations looking to complete disability awareness and reasonable accommodation training for their teams.
Get in touch if you are interested in finding out more about our disabilityawareness and reasonable accommodation programmes on (01) 69 1150 or email info@abilityfocus.ie
If you are part of a private sector business operating in Ireland you will be entitled to a grant rebate which will return 90% of the total cost of disability awareness training. Contact us to find out more!